Olive Bistro

The pebbled parking lot and the gate with shades of blue, the stony pathway amidst rocks and flowering trees leading up for a moment and then leading all the way down, and while doing so giving a faint glimmer from the lake beneath. I am not poetic at all, but this place drove me crazy with its ambiance, for it was like a mini Santorini out here in Hyderabad. I asked myself - why did I not come here earlier?

Olive Bistro is located on Rd 46, Jubilee Hills, quite literally sitting atop the hill overlooking Durgam Cheruvu(the Secret Lake). With a breathtaking ambiance and amazing food, this place indeed has won quite a lot of hearts. It was Sunday and it was unexpected news for me that they have a brunch instead of la carte. I still went ahead with my family, and this is where an amazing culinary experience started.

We had a table reserved for us near the window and we settled down, while still admiring the interiors. The staff took our requests for mocktails and cocktails(and for my daughter too!) and we started looking at the food options that were on the display. A good array of salads was what my eyes fell on. They were not only enticing by looks, but tasted equally great. I particularly liked the Mediterranean Crisp Chicken salad for the crunchy veggies in it which was complemented by the crispy chicken bits. A mix of crisp and crunch with a very delicate balance of flavors! 

Recreating Mediterranean dishes, and to do so very consistently does indeed reflect on the skills of the chefs. This was the first time I have tried each and every variety of salad served in a buffet and liked them too! Vegetarian, Chicken, Seafood - there were about eight salads. I have already mentioned how delicious the Mediterranean Crisp Chicken salad was earlier, but I cannot negate the fact that the roast pumpkin and goat cheese and the couscous were one of the best dishes in the vegetarian section. The roasted pumpkin slices pampered in typical Mediterranean spices, and the goat cheese in it gave a mix of sweet and savoury flavours. The Baba Ganoush is defintely the best I have tried so far, made with tender aubergines and I really couldn't find the seeds!

Coronation Chicken Salad

Fennel, Chilli & Fish Salad

Mediterranean Crisp Chicken Salad

Baba Ganoush

The cous cous here is a notch ahead in quality when compared to many places. The last time I have had cous cous was almost 4-5 years back in the US, thanks to a Moroccan friend there. I would say the one I tasted here in Olive Bistro definitely had all the elements of taste in it. Soft, granular, non-sticky - and the capanota added the right amount of sweet-sour flavor to it.

Cous Cous & Caponata

Classic Greek Salad

Roast Pumpkin & Goat Cheese

The tiny rubble of breads was a visual delight, though I only tried the prune danish. I can't say if it was perfectly made, but I would say the sweetness complemented the crisp pastry.

Assorted breads and relishes

Wild Berry Cheese Cake

Drunken Fruit Cake

left to right - Honey Soaked Polenta, Drunken Fruit Cake, Prunes Danish, Wild Berry Cheesecake

left to right - Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Brownie Swirls, Coffee Cake, Pineapple & Rum Upside Down Cake

left - Charmoula Basa, right - Chicken Espatada

The charcoal roasted mushroom was the best thing according to me in the whole brunch! It tasted so wonderful, with the right amount of roast, not too soggy, giving out flavors of olive oil, the chef told me that only about 3-4 ingredients were used to prepare it!

Charcoal roasted Mushroom and Harissa Cottage Cheese

I tasted an apple and leek vichyssoise for the first time. I was told that it is served cold. It had a mild sweet taste and I guess it was garnished with chives, but I am not sure. I may not have liked that cold-sweet(mild) taste on the first sip, but my palate got used to the taste gradually. I have been thinking - why not serve this as a warm soup?

Apple & Leek Vichyssoise

Chicken and Sweet Corn Pizza

We ordered waffles for our daughter but eventually ended up finishing it ourselves. Great taste, accompanied by maple syrup, but I felt it gave out a little of eggy smell. Gave my feedback to the chef who said he would look into it.

Waffles & Maple Syrup

The vegetarian paella was really not up to my expectation. It felt more like an Indian pulao rather. I would say this one dish was kind of odd one out from the b(r)unch!

Vegetarian Paella

The OB Courtyard Grill

Spaghetti Aglio Olio with basil chicken and veggies

The spaghetti aglio olio that we asked for at the live pasta station was something which astonished us with its taste. A simple dish with a handful of ingredients(yes, I had requested a handful of veggies and chicken to be added) and it taste was delicious.The next time I am there, I might try the pasta with alfredo or carbonara or even pomodoro sauce, but I definitely will order an aglio olio as well!

on the plate,clockwise from left - Crockpot Bourbon Chicken with Broccoli, Charmoula Basa, Veg Paella, Mushroom & Pepper Fricassee, with a serving of Sangria(right)

Sangria

The Sangria was heavenly! I was told they used Sula brand of wine for it. The fruits were cut of the right size, which I find many other places make a mistake with. The cut has to be just small enough to nibble on, not a tad larger to consciously chew them - that's my type of Sangria. But frankly speaking, I didn't find much difference in taste for a martini(vodka based) and a vesper(gin based). The pina colada was good, but still second to the sangria.

left to right - Vesper, Pina Colada, Sangria

Olive Bistro is definitely a premium priced Bistro to dine in, but with the fabulous ambiance and the fantastic food, I would definitely recommend it for anybody who loves food and loves to try out cuisines. The price, in my opinion, justifies the great food and the marvelous hilltop setting, not to forget about spotless service. And yes, the next time I will try to have a fresco dining!

Ambiance - 5/5(best in class!)

Food - 4.5/5(the drinks were a tiny wee bit down than the food)

Service - 4/5 (good service!)

Money Matters - 4/5 (that says its pricey, but it justifies the food served!)

Go or  no-Go?   Just GO!!!!

Habanero - Tex Mex comes to Hyderabad!

There being various Mexican specialty restaurants in the city, one would wonder how will a new one match the current sceanrio and expectations. Tex-Mex, as the name suggests, combines Texan and Mexican style of cooking and techniques. I have had my fair share of exposure to Tex-Mex and Mexican cuisine during my trips to US, but I have had never an opportunity to enjoy the same here in India until I got an invite to visit the newly opened Habanero for a bloggers' table on its launching day at Hyderbad. Habanero does exactly that! It brings full fledged Tex-Mex delicacies right to your table without you having to leave the city! 

Habanero is the brainchild of husband-wife duo Griffith David and Elizabeth Bowden-David who have spent a considerable part of their lifetime in the American southwest and have been captivated by the flavors of Tex-Mex cuisine. They have teamed up with Dan Durkin, an American chef who has a rich experience of more than 15 years in US and Asia, to bring authentic Tex-Mex cuisine to India. Their first destination in India was Bengaluru. In Hyderabad, they have tied up with La Sano Vidda(Pardhu Kanala, Lalitha Dutta, and Harsha Penmetsa) for their latest outlet of Habanero.

As I entered, the decor indeed left a good impression on me for being pleasant and well lit. the walls had the traditional color combinations as you would find in Mexican/Spanish homes. Though I felt they could have done a bit better by adding traditional paintings to the decor and arrangements.

The thing to notice was the fully stocked bar and they had it open on the launch day itself.

The menu, featuring Dan Durkin, Chef and COO of Habanero

Griffith David, CEO and Dan Durkin, COO

We all were introduced to the brand Habanero by the CEO Griffith David himself, who talked about their history and on Tex-Mex cuisine. Dan Durkin gave us more insight into the flavors of Tex-Mex cuisine and how he has incorporated them into the menu.

It was hard to miss the sombrero and poncho clad waiters scurrying with orders on their trays. The first thing that was presented to us was the signature tamarind margarita which definitely was something I had always given a miss during my sojourns to Mexican restaurants in US. A glass rim dredged in red chillies, the tamarind added a distinctive flavor to the margarita.

Tamarind margarita

Margarita

Sombrero-Poncho clad wait staff

The food that we sampled was quite good. The most important thing was that I could relate the taste of most of the dishes to what I have had in Mexican restaurants in US, proving the point that the team has spared no effort in keeping the dishes as authentic as possible. Kudos to them for that!

The food was scrumptious and we ended up sampling quite a number of dishes.I may not be able to recollect the name of all dishes, but I distinctly remember a few that were outstanding. The one that I liked the most was the chicken wings with ranch sauce dipping. The wings had that familiar tangy and spicy marination and it was spot on with taste. An absolute delight - so much so that we ended up having 3-4 servings of it! The Queso dip was again a hit among us, with the right texture and spiciness. The Jalapeno poppers tasted good, but lack the punch of Jalapeno. We were told that procuring the right quality Jalapeno was an issue and they were working towards resolving it.

Tostada salad was quite refreshing too. An almost melt in the mouth crisp tortilla with quite a soft crunch. There was a chicken combo platter which had chicken wings, breaded chicken tenders, onion rings, loaded potato skins and mini chimichanga. I would say this to be a good combo platter if one is interested to taste a variety of dishes, or if one wants to sample out before ordering larger portioned dishes.

Did I mention chimichanga? well the chimichanga was as delightful as it could have been! I loved the stuffing and the crisp burrito and I didn't need any dip or sauce or salsa to go with it. It was plain delicious for me. They served a dessert version of chimichanga as well with a dollop of icecream and it did taste good as well.

Mentioning desserts, and I cannot miss out on an authentic Mexican speciality - Churros. Churros are fried sticks made from doughnut dough, dredged in cinnamon sugar and served with chocolate sauce. The Churros were definitely good, if I may exempt the fact that the sugar coating was a bit of excess such that the chocolate sauce flavour became subdued. Otherwise, the Churros are definitely worth a try!

They also have a chef's trolley concept wherein the chef would bring in the ingredients trolley right up to your table and prepare a salad and present it to your table. Chef Dan Durkin was supposed to prepare a guacamole salad for us, but since this not being the season for avocados(and decent ones too), he prepared pico de gallo instead, which is a Mexican chopped salad. I would say this is very similar to the salad that we make at home but this had a slightly different mix of ingredients. For example, the chef used chopped/shredded garlic in it.

I would now let the pictures do the talking and take you through a Tex-Mex journey!

Habanero fiesta salad and Jalapeno poppers

Queso dip

various kinds of salsa. The leftmost is papaya salsa and had a sweet & tangy flavor

Jalapeno poppers

Chicken Combo platter - chicken wings, breaded chicken tenders, onion rings, mini-chimichanga, loaded potato skins

Messy bean dip - a combination of various beans

Zucchini fritters

Chicken wings

the food enthusiasts

Chef and COO Dan Durkin presenting us the pico de gallo salad

Chilli cheese fries

pico de gallo(mexican chopped salad)

Sangria with pico de gallo

Prawn Diablo

Quesadilla

Tostada salad

Eggplant & Black Bean Stack

Chimichanga

Churros

Chimichanga dessert with icecream

I would say, if you are looking out for an authentic Tex-Mex joint without having to burn a hole in your pocket, then Habanero is the place to be!

Thank you team Habanero for accommodating us and taking us through a culinary journey so rich in flavours!

~By Invitation~