I spent a good amount of my childhood in a boarding school. Apart from all the things I learnt and the friends I made, there was one thing that I always looked forward to – Food. Food at my school was one of the best in the region, from Missal Pohe to Paneer Bhurjee and peanut butter, we loved it all. However, there were a few things that I absolutely hated – the noodles, Schezwan rice and anything Asian. The guy didn’t make it well.
Blame it, even today I have not been able to develop a taste for Asian food. However, being a food blogger in Hyderabad, I got opportunities to relish authentic Asian food which has changed my views. One such place that I visited recently was Ohm at Hotel Avasa. I was here with a friend of mine who is a die-hard fan of Asian food.
I didn’t know what to expect, but I was ready to experience what Ohm had to offer. This blog post is going to be my review of trying Asian cuisine in Hyderabad at Ohm restaurant, Avasa hotel.
Trying Asian Cuisine in Hyderabad at Ohm, Hotel Avasa
Ohm is located on the ground floor of Hotel Avasa, Madhapur. The same hotel that has the Noya rooftop bar. Reaching the place is pretty easy as it is right across the Madhapur metro station.
Contemporary Ambience
In the age, we are living in, aesthetics and ambience matter a lot. Especially when it comes to food and dining. Hence, a lot of restaurants focus on having an ambience that goes with the cuisine. Talking about Ohm, they have a pretty luxe ambience. Though not very large in terms of space, they’ve done a good making it look big.
The red-black interiors with spotlighting just add to the whole dining experience. Whether you’re a large group dining in or a family that needs a private dining space, Ohm has all of them. Huge circular tables with comfortable seating.
If I have to nitpick, then I’d say they should have smaller tables for smaller groups. We were two of us and they made us sit at a 6-seater table. I did get a great feeling dining but just could have been a smaller table. Also, they could have Asian/Oriental-themed music to just add to the vibes of the place.
Trying out the set menu
The last time I visited a restaurant that serves Asian cuisine in Hyderabad was Zega at Sheraton. It was a good experience. I was invited for that so had a lot of dishes being served. This time at Ohm, I decided to dine in with my friend who I said earlier is an Asian food aficionado.
They serve both a la carte and a set menu – kaiseki. The set menu is a recent addition to the offerings at Ohm and is available only for dinner and there are two variants of it – kaiseki – ichi, kaiseki -ni. Unfortunately, both of these are non-vegetarian offerings.
The good part though is that they can make a vegetarian version too. They say that the demand is low for the vegetarian version and hence it’s not on the menu. The 8-course meal is carefully crafted to bring in the different oriental flavours. There’s also an appetizer that would be added to this.
Let’s get into the food. Do remember that, I’m not used to the Asian flavours, still acquiring them.
Delectable Starters and Appetizers
The meal started with a serving of hot Jasmine tea. A subtly flavoured tea with a good fragrance. The first time I had flavoured tea was during my first restaurant invite back in 2016 at Tea Trails (now closed)
We started with a cheese cigar as an amuse-bouche, it was like our spring roll with a cheesy filling. Crisp on the outside, gooey on the inside. The next time that was served was soup Spinach Edamame soup. This soup had a striking green colour and a very thick consistency. Edamame, I don’t know are premature soybean! It was grainy, warm and just perfect.
Then there was a slice of tomato with avocado on it. It looked pretty neat and tasted good too. The tanginess of the Tomato is what was the highlight of the dish. Next in line was the salad – Asian Greens. It had lots of lettuce, zucchini, Avocado, Edamame and pine nuts. The dressing was pretty subtle and each of these fresh ingredients retained its own flavour. I feel the pine nuts just improve the mouth feel and the overall taste and feel of the salad.
Oriental Sides and Mains
While we were relishing our starters, our server Puja brings in the sides. The first in line was the Turnip Cake. It had two big chunks of turnip tossed in the typical Oriental sauce. It was topped with fried spring onions, chillies and lots of garlic. While the turnip didn’t have any taste of its own, it was the topping that just made it perfect. A must-try.
The next thing we had was Dimsums in Laksa soup. Laksa is a rich coconut-based soup that is mostly a base for noodles in parts of Southeast Asia. While the dimsums were mild and subtle, the laksa brought flavour to the dish. Post this we had a bao. Bao traditional is a bun with a filling, popular in Chinese cuisine also known as Baozi. The bao that was served to me had crispy Shitake mushroom along with some veggies. It was again a pretty good preparation, the mushrooms were crisp as they should have been.
We were almost full and the main dish was yet to arrive. I’m glad that there was only one main dish! They call it the three treasure rice. It was served with a chunk of tofu along with crispy beans with rice. It was a complete meal in itself. There was white rice, and black rice too and the flavours were pretty good. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Had pretty balanced flavours.
Fusion Desserts
When we talk about desserts in Southeast Asian food, there aren’t many when compared to French cuisine. We all know that Asian cuisine had good use of coconut and our dessert for the day was also a coconut-based one.
We were served a Coconut Panacotta with Passion Fruit gel. Never in my wildest dreams, I have seen this combination and hence was eager to try it. The Pannacotta was perfectly done and had the right consistency and texture. The tangy passion fruit gel complimented the rich coconut flavours well. The orange peel dressing was just perfect. Overall, one of the finest desserts I’ve had off late with such good flavour. Again a must-try.
Set Menu at Ohm is a Must Try
I became a fan of set menus at Once Upon A Time and since then I’m always on the lookout for set menus. I was told by Mr Andrew Fleming, the Dy. British High Commissioner that this set menu is something worth trying. And I won’t deny it, this was a pretty good meal.
At first, I thought, that there would be dishes that I’d hate just because I’m not used to the flavours, but I was wrong. In fact, there were so many dishes that I wanted more servings of. From the simplest Spinach Edamame soup to the turnip cake and three treasure rice, I absolutely loved the flavours.
The meal is priced is at Rs 1800+ for the set menu, and the dishes justify the price. Since they don’t have a menu for vegetarians, I couldn’t confirm the price for that.
Also, though this was a dine-in meal with my friend, the staff at Ohm decided to waive our entire bill and hence the food was on the house. Not something I would have liked, but thanks Ohm for this. A big shout out to Chef Vignesh, Rajkamal, Pradipta, Venkatesh and Puja for the wonderful dining experience.
So, if you’re looking for a restaurant that serves authentic Asian cuisine in Hyderabad, visit Ohm at Hotel Avasa, Madhapur. You’ll not be disappointed for sure!
That’s about it for this blog post, do let me know your thoughts on this. You can drop them in the comments below, tweet to me at @Atulmaharaj, DM me on Instagram or Get In Touch.