Where food is concerned, I love experimenting with different cuisines and trying new places to eat out. Given a chance, I'd happily dine-out 4 out of 7 days in a week! ;)My husband, on the other hand, is more conservative and once he likes a place he'll happily go and eat to his heart's content there every single time we decide to dine out. I love Continental, he can't imagine surviving without Mughlai and Indian. As you can well imagine, this leads to, erm, 
Top on this list is Oceania, a 30-cover multicuisine restaurant housed on the ground floor of Hotel Southern Plaza on Southern Avenue- one of Kolkata's posh-est and leafiest localities. We've been frequenting it since the past 6 years- ever since it opened- and I can say with perfect honesty that it has never disappointed us in all that time - with food or with service. The food has been great EVERY SINGLE TIME that we've been there - no matter what we've ordered- which is, in my opinion, quite a feat for a multicuisiner. In fact, people to whom we've recommended the place have come back and raved to us about it. Needless to say, we love it to bits.
So when two dear friends came visiting the city after a long time, it was imperative that we go and check this place out for their benefit, as they'd frankly gotten sick of all my raving. We went there last night, had a whale of a time, and since the food was AWESOME as usual, I decided to review it for the benefit of anyone who might be interested in exploring this hidden jewel as I like to call it. :)
The restaurant's been renovated and restructured about 8-10 months ago, and as you can see from the pictures, it's quite a small place with a laidback and unpretentious decor. I especially love that screen on the left wall, it makes a lovely backdrop to all the pictures we love clicking. The decor is understated, the ambience cheerful, quiet and pleasing - nothing snazzy or over-the-top. So you can easily have a romantic dinner, a family lunch or a girls'-night-out (GNO) here; I've also gone there alone with only a book/my preschooler son for company when my husband has been out of town, and I've enjoyed the experience without anything feeling awkward or amiss. And the place is child-friendly too, so another plus! :) On the other hand, a stags' night out might not be as fun if you go there since the restaurant doesn't have a bar license due to being located near a school. For us though, it is not a negative.
The service is unobtrusive and efficient- standard serving of food is 15 minutes to 30 minutes depending on what you order- so it's moderately quick. If the place is not crowded and they are not too busy, the host and the servers also engage in a quite friendly manner with any child/children that might be accompanying you, leaving you to enjoy your meal in peace!
Now for the most important part- the food. As I've mentioned above, the food has been amazing every time we've had a meal there, so let me just elaborate on the GNO dinner we had last night. We'd ordered a nice selection of dishes- ranging from Chinese to Indian to Continental - so it'll give you a fair idea of the quality of food at the restaurant.
We started off with a Virgin Mojito and Sinful Chocolate Coffee.
The Mojito was perfectly balanced without being overly sweet/sour, with the punch of mint and lime shining through. The coffee (not pictured) - a cold mocha latte with vanilla ice-cream- was as pleasing to the senses as all such sinful concoctions are. Nice!
For starters, we ordered a platter of Konjee Crispy Lamb, and oh! was it great or what!
Long shredded bits of lamb tossed together with juliennes of green pepper and onion, drenched in a sweet, tangy, spicy garlicky sauce- crispy yet tender and juicy. Perfect!
Coming to the main course, the first dish to arrive was Murg Mirch Masala with Tandoori Roti which I stupidly forgot to photograph. But going by their past record with Indian cuisine, and the expression on the face of the person who was consuming it, it couldn't have been bad.
Next up was Grilled fish with Bar-due Sauce.
Honestly I didn't know what Bar-due sauce was, but it turned out to be a beige-grey coloured barbeque sauce served alongside the most perfectly grilled fillets of fresh bekti accompanied by crunchy lightly sauteed vegetables and french fries. The fish was fresh, flaky and moist; dipped in the sauce it almost sent me into a state of blissful nirvana - you know when you take a morsel in your mouth and your eyes close automatically and your mouth seems to make sounds like "mmmm" ""mmmmm" "mmmmm" of its own accord?! In other words, it was DELICIOUS!
Then came the Chicken Stroganoff served with a mildly spiced Mediterranean Rice Pilaf.
I don't eat chicken so can't tell you first-hand how it tasted exactly, but the friend who ordered it, and who by the way is quite an epicure AND eminently well-travelled, went into a similar state of bliss as I and polished off the entire serving. We tasted the rice and it was lovely. Verdict- "Awesome" in the words of my friend!
For the Oriental course we'd ordered Mixed Pan-fried Noodles (without chicken) and Chili-Garlic Prawns.
The noodles came loaded with mushrooms, veggies and shrimp- each in its individually perfect state of done-ness: crunchy vibrantly green broccoli and beans, sauteed, not soggy/watery, mushrooms, sweet carrots and soft juicy shrimp.
The level of spice was finely balanced, and the noodles themselves retained their crunch without being either extremely al-dente or soggily limp. Another friend (an epicure too!) who "has pan-fried noodles everywhere she goes" and is hence considered quite an expert, pronounced these to be among the best she's ever had, and I felt as proud of the restaurant as if it was my own baby! ;)The prawns too were fresh, soft and well-done, doused in a red sauce that was spicy without being tear-inducing. The heat of chillies and garlic was well-complemented with a very slight undercurrent of warm, sweet ginger. It was the perfect accompaniment to the noodles, and we loved it.It is impossible for me to go without dessert even if I'm stuffed to the gills with food, so my friends couldn't escape ending the evening on a sweet note.
We ordered Oceania's signature dessert - Baked Alaska- and three of us finished 3/4th of a dish meant for 8! The softest sponge cake layered with home-made vanilla ice-cream- cold inside, warm and patterned with light caramel stripes outside- melt-in-the-mouth! Ooooh heaven!The restaurant has priced its offerings on the mid-range: the items on the a-la carte menu are neither exorbitantly priced, nor are they absolutely on the budget side. The meal mentioned above set us back by about 3.5K; the portions are very generous- each of us had a parcel (I REFUSE to call them 'doggie-bags') to take back home, so overall it comes out to be quite pocket-friendly.
To sum up:
Pros- Great food, nice ambience, friendly service, not too heavy on the pocket.Cons- Small place, not luxury dining, liquor not available, generous portions might be too much for small eaters.Lazybirdie rating- 4.95/5.
As for me, I love Oceania and would definitely suggest you try it at least once.
