Forget fish, try tentacles instead

This new eatery in town tames down every possible kind of seafood into delicious concoctions right onto your plates

If you are a seafood lover, you might have forked in squids in varied formsu00a0-- tossed in butter garlic sauce or stir fried with Oriental sauces. But have you ever munched on its tentacles? Oyster Bay, as the name suggests, a new seafood speciality restaurant will show you how to eat tentacles the right way.

Oyster Bay
Food: delicious
Service: attentive
Ambience: minimal

Jewels of Sea

For one of the first starters we picked at this three week-old eatery were the Spiced Pesto Tentacles (Rs 125). The tentacles came coated with freshly made spicy basil pesto and were tender, pink with the steaming and were a delight combined with the slightly bitter pesto.

Look around and you will see clean lines themed with the colours of the ocean, seashells and waves. No tacky what-you-see-is-what-you-eat aquariums or banal fish patterns on the walls here. An extension of an already established business (the Kerala-based owners import seafood abroad), Oyster Bay gets ready access to a fresh seafood haul.u00a0

Our choice of a Lobster Cappucino soup (Rs 110) arrived in a soup bowl designed like a coffee cup complete with foam on top. The soup had a mild, sweetish taste from lobster meat and was flavoured with brandy. The broth arrived with a satay comprising grilled prawns and fish and a tiny bite sized piece of Kerala paratha topped with cheese.u00a0The most interesting part from the food is the tableware sourced from China. Every starter dish had grooves and sections meant for sides and entrees.

The other starter, Oyster Otang Otang (Rs 135) was oysters marinated in spicy Balinese sauces, wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled. It had a spicy-tangy note and there was no fishy smell to the tender oyster meat. Before you sign off Oyster Bay as a hardcore seafood joint, they have a proper menu for vegetarians too. The Cajun Aloo Tikki (Rs 75) was a regular tikki given a twist with Cajun spices and topped with chopped onions.u00a0u00a0

All the mains served here give you an option of choosing rice, pasta, parathas or rotis that come complimentary with the meal. The Goan Prawn Curry (Rs 240) served with steamed rice lacked the tangy punch, signature to Goan dishes. The dish was missing on the vinegar and was too spicy.

The Drunken Teriyaki Telapiya (Rs 290), were fillets stuffed with cheese and grilled to a crisp with Chinese sauces. Beneath the charred top layer was the delicate meat. However, what we would recommend are the Jewels of Sea (Rs 400), a platter full of herbed squid tubes, prawns, mussels, cuttlefish and crab claws roasted with garlic.

The cuttlefish was a bit tough but the mussels were perfect with a flecks of roasted garlic stuffed inside. The much touted Baked Crab Makhani (Rs 320) didn't cut it for us because the buttery masala stuffing inside did not really gel with the cheese on top. For dessert, you can choose between desserts like Bibinca, Palada Payasam and even Tiramisu here.

What works for Oyster Bay is the unusual fusion of coastal seafood infused with European and Oriental flavours and cooking styles. Every dish has some surprise sprung on you in the form of sides or condiments.

At: Oyster Bay, 77/A, Cygnus Chambers, Near Bhima Jewellers, Jyothi Nivas College Road, Koramangala
Call: 42090000
Meal for two: Rs 1,000