We are two!

15th Dec has brought a lot of anticipation and joy to us. Perhaps thats natural given the significance of the day. Usually Dec 15th was no different earlier until we tied the knot on this day two years ago. We turned two this year! Since the Doc was working his night shifts I went ahead and planned a surprise for him.

I reserved a table at the famed Olive Beach. By far, this is one of the most exquisite dining experiences we've had in Bangalore. The ambience and decor is really simple and stark yet leaves an indelible impression. Its a sort of a cross Spanish/Italian style structure with uneven whitewashed walls interspersed with niches, a warm ochre flooring with a slanting azure roof, pretty crystal chandeliers adding the little dash of color lit by candles that are placed in the niches and tables. The outside seating has a sort of quasi seaside atmosphere with white sands, rattan furniture, a little water body and some pretty greenery. The place is pretty simple but exudes an understated elegance. The DJ dishes out subtle & muted jazz . The whole atmosphere was simply awesome and heavenly. It felt like I could not have made a better choice, given that this was our first visit.

The Olive Beach dishes out a awesome Mediterranean style fusion menu. We really had to look at the menu and took a while to decide what to order. We ordered our drinks from a fabulous and exotic array. They serve quite a wide and innovative range of martinis like the Tamaritini (with a subtle tamarind base) or the Pinatini(pineapple based) in addition to the wine and other cocktails. I decided to pick a fabulous French Merlot and the Doc settled for the Pinatini. We began our first course with a vegetarian crostini and an aromatic salad of bocconcini, zucchini and tomato mildly spiced with olive oil, basil, parsley and thyme. The crostini was fabulous with toppings of mildly flavored tomato, aubergines cooked in olive oil and a simple tomato sauce and basil. The salad was very light, delightful and very refreshing.

We refilled our glasses a few times before our entrée which was the epinaca y verduras - a simple mashed potato base topped with lots of aromatic and flavorful greens, vegetables and again a mildly flavored spinach and cream sauce with olive oil and thyme. This was followed by a simple pasta in a simple and delicious arabiatta sauce.

The dessert was of course the best. I picked the chocolate mousse while the Doc had a praline gelato. The mousse came dressed in glory with a white flowery patterned ribbons of chocolate.
The deep dark rich chocolate stood in striking and attractive contrast to the white platter it was served on. Simply yummy and delicious, it makes me want to go back right away. By the way, we were also made to blow a candle and cut a little portion of their most fabulous chocolate fondant(a cake oozing with liquid chocolate)!! It was a very memorable private celebration and the folks at the restaurant have really done their bit with the personalized service and fantastic food.

We returned happy and content. It was an evening really well spent.