Food Blogger Meet – Spa Lunch at Out Of The Blue, Bandra

Last Friday we were invited to try out the ever so amazing Spa Lunch Buffet at Out of The Blue’s second outlet in Bandra, Mumbai. The place is located in the Le Sutra Art Hotel, just off Carter Road. What an amazing spot to be!

We arrived just a little later than we were expected and the valet took our keys at the door of what looked like a really cramped up entrance. But little did we know, we walk inside and there is this humongous place with all the amazing seating one would ever dream of. From dates to family meals to just friends chilling out, Out of The Blue, Bandra has a space which is fit for each type of customer.

Although the outdoor area was very inviting, we decided to settle into a nicely air conditioned corner, thanks to the heat and humidity. That is also the reason for extremely poor pics coming your way coz there is only so much my cell phone camera could do! We were served this amazing Orange-Ginger-Mint concoction as a welcome drink. Perfect way to beat the heat.

I also ordered for a Grand Cosmopolitan, one of my most favorite cocktails, and it was pretty spot on. But the house specialty and the general favorite throughout the lunch was the Jaljeera Mojito! The perfect balance between the hit of the Rum and the tang from the Jaljeera, the fragrant aftertaste of the Mint, it was like a party for all senses.

Since we were wasting too much time chattering away, we decided to do so over a plateful of the awesome Salads on their Buffet at the time. Oh did I mention? The Buffet is priced for Rs. 375 + taxes, and offers a pretty large variety of Salads, Breads, Dips, Live Pasta Counter, A Main and Desserts. Add Rs.45 for a Glass of wine. Isn’t it awesome? I think it is 🙂 Here is why.

The Salad Bar included Salads like a fabulously refreshing Beet and Pear Salad, A Carrot and Raisin Salad, An Egg and Avocado Plate, A Mexican Chicken Salad, A Herbed Chicken Pasta Salad amongst more! One could get full on these alone.

Their collection of breads baked in-house is fabulous to say the least. They should probably think of serving them warm though!

And how can you let those gorgeous beauties be left without dipping sauces? The Chef outdid himself with the amazing dips, we had Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Nutty Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Dips. The Pumpkin and the Sweet Potato were favorites, Nutty Mushroom was good too and no one really cared for the Caramelized Onion Dip.

When you have so many choices, your plate ends up looking like this. At least mine does, coz my middle name is “Confused” when it comes to buffet Lunches or Dinners.

And then there is no space for Bread so you pick up another plate and do this.

And then you have to get up so many times for dips that the ever so courteous staff offers to get you this.

It was really sweet of them to do that by the way!! Well, moving on to the Live Pasta Counter. I did not have any coz I really wanted space for Mains and DESSERTS. But here is a pic!

The best part about this Spa Lunch is that you also get to order a Main Dish from their Spa Menu. Non Vegetarians had the option between a Spiced Basa with Lemon Caper Sauce and a Chicken Preparation, whereas the Vegetarians had a choice between Polenta Cakes and Polpettes.

Both options for Vegetarians were unavailable on that day which was a disappointment, but they opted to go for Paneer Shashlik. I ordered the Spiced Basa and another friend ordered the Spiced Chicken. Both of them were equally good tasting. I liked my fish dish better though.

There is only so much one could do with Paneer Shashlik, I feel, but I think it was liked too.

We were recommended their baked Pasta dish which did have a different flavor with the Red Chili Flakes, but I found the Chicken Pieces to be a bit too big to chew on.

Like a good girl, I only “tasted” the food coz I really am a dessert person. Plus Kunal, the organizer asked us to keep space in our tummies for a surprise. We decided to tour around the dessert section and got these.

There was Mango Cheesecake and Baklava, both of which were purely average. The base of the Mango Cheesecake was soggy.

The little pink Tartelettes from heaven were perfect with their crust and creamy with their Strawberry topping, Chef hit a home run right there. It was unanimously praised. The Chocolate cake was good too, and I did not care much about the Chocolate Roulade and the Chocolate Krispies. Chocolate Eclairs were Average.

But then came in the Surprise, THE surprise, to save the day, and people I am not kidding, you HAVE to order this to experience the kind of awesomeness that happens with you when you pop in anything dipped in this Gorgeous to perfection Chocolate and Peanut Butter Fondue. Words cannot explain how amazing this was. Out of The Blue should really push their Fondues out more. It’s what they do best. With the Desi Fondue and the Chocolate and Peanut Butter Fondue, people are going to be very very happy.

The dipping assortments included a lovely chocolate mini biscuit, fruit skewers, densely rich Brownie and a spongy Pound Cake. Within few minutes, this happened.

And then there was another plate of assortments. But as much as we loved the Fondue, we were really, really full and it was time to pay compliments to the chef and say our good byes.

Oh and yes, how could I miss out on the Spa part? There are also free Hand and Foot Massages at this buffet 🙂 But we were a bit too engrossed with the food to try them out!!

Until next time, Out of The Blue! You guys are doing a great job!

Special thanks to Kunal who invited us for the great experience!

The special foodie gang present for the meet up included

Salonee from Belly First , @BellyFirstTweet on twitter
Reema from Sumthinz Cooking, @ScrollsNInk on twitter
Amrita from Life Ki Recipe, @AmritaRana on twitter
Gaurav from Eating Out in Bombay, @GauravGJain on twitter
Kunal and Amy from Out Of The Blue @OOftB and @KunalAilani7 on twitter
and last but not the least, yours truly, @CaramelWings on twitter