You can find Mix Lounge and Bar just on your right as you enter the lobby of The Westin Hyderabad. A cozy place with elegant interiors and live music, it is a nice spot to relax with a drink after a hectic day.
The lounge is organizing a promotion called Tantalizing Tapas. About two dozens of popular Spanish tapas dishes are on offer in this festival, giving the discerning food lovers an opportunity to enjoy some of the best snacks and finger food from Spain.
The idea behind Tapas is to design a variety of food which can be enjoyed in bits and pieces – originally these were combination of flat items of bread and meat or seafood used to serve as a cover (or ‘tapa’) for the drinks. From there, it evolved into a cuisine of short eats where instead of huge main courses, one enjoyed different preparations over a casual conversation. Tapas originated in Spain and has now spread as a popular cuisine all over the world. Localization has even resulted in fusion cuisines such as “Indian tapas” – where local food are served in bite sized quantities.
At Mix, Chef de Cuisine Mukesh Sharma has put together a menu of some delectable tapas items for the promotion. Invited to try out the items in the new festival, we were served about seven varieties from the menu along with some good red wine.
We started with Tabla Espanola – cured pork with olives and cheese. The pork was a bit too dry but the olives were juicy, and the combination just about worked out for a porkaholic like me.
Then came Vieira’s – a preparation which had grilled scallops with Spanish serrano ham. The styling of the dish made it look mouthwatering, and taste did not belie expectations either. My friend who does not take pork was served a version with cheese.
I may be biased towards seafood as a Bengali – and it delighted me that the tapas menu today had a lot of these items. Fritura Mixta was a seafood platter with fried prawns, calamaris, and octopus all lined up together. Boquerons had anchovies in olive oil and served with dressing on a small round toast. The anchovy meat had a lovely texture and a fresh nice taste.
Then there was a dish resembling a small satay – known as Brocheta Di Apollo, these were small chicken skewers which had a basil and lime based marinade. The marinade was tangy and had permeated well into the chicken making it one of the winners for the day.
The other items included a bruschetta type of bread preparation with onions and Manchego sheep cheese on top and Salmon Ahumado (or smoked) served with crème cheese.
Overall, I got to taste a range of dishes from a cuisine not so familiar to me. The festival is a-la-carte and goes on till 25th July.
Address:
The Mix Lounge and Bar
The Westin, Mindspace IT Park,
Hitech City, Hyderabad
Telephone 67676856
 |
| The Tapas Spread |
The lounge is organizing a promotion called Tantalizing Tapas. About two dozens of popular Spanish tapas dishes are on offer in this festival, giving the discerning food lovers an opportunity to enjoy some of the best snacks and finger food from Spain.
 |
| Live Music and Cozy interiors |
The idea behind Tapas is to design a variety of food which can be enjoyed in bits and pieces – originally these were combination of flat items of bread and meat or seafood used to serve as a cover (or ‘tapa’) for the drinks. From there, it evolved into a cuisine of short eats where instead of huge main courses, one enjoyed different preparations over a casual conversation. Tapas originated in Spain and has now spread as a popular cuisine all over the world. Localization has even resulted in fusion cuisines such as “Indian tapas” – where local food are served in bite sized quantities.
At Mix, Chef de Cuisine Mukesh Sharma has put together a menu of some delectable tapas items for the promotion. Invited to try out the items in the new festival, we were served about seven varieties from the menu along with some good red wine.
We started with Tabla Espanola – cured pork with olives and cheese. The pork was a bit too dry but the olives were juicy, and the combination just about worked out for a porkaholic like me.
 |
| Grilled Scallops with ham |
Then came Vieira’s – a preparation which had grilled scallops with Spanish serrano ham. The styling of the dish made it look mouthwatering, and taste did not belie expectations either. My friend who does not take pork was served a version with cheese.
 |
| Scallops with Cheese |
I may be biased towards seafood as a Bengali – and it delighted me that the tapas menu today had a lot of these items. Fritura Mixta was a seafood platter with fried prawns, calamaris, and octopus all lined up together. Boquerons had anchovies in olive oil and served with dressing on a small round toast. The anchovy meat had a lovely texture and a fresh nice taste.
 |
| Boquerons |
Then there was a dish resembling a small satay – known as Brocheta Di Apollo, these were small chicken skewers which had a basil and lime based marinade. The marinade was tangy and had permeated well into the chicken making it one of the winners for the day.
 |
| Fritura Mixta (Foreground) and Brocheta Di Apollo Pic Courtesy : Vishal Fernandes |
The other items included a bruschetta type of bread preparation with onions and Manchego sheep cheese on top and Salmon Ahumado (or smoked) served with crème cheese.
Overall, I got to taste a range of dishes from a cuisine not so familiar to me. The festival is a-la-carte and goes on till 25th July.
Address:
The Mix Lounge and Bar
The Westin, Mindspace IT Park,
Hitech City, Hyderabad
Telephone 67676856
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