We all know that soup is good for the soul, but do people really order a soup when they are at a restaurant (apart from Chinese)? It is ironic, but while eating out at an Indian restaurant, or even a European one, diners tend to skip the soup section, worried that they might be full even before they have begun their meal. And that is not necessarily true, unless you want to make a meal out of your soup.
Moving away from the predictable Asian soups, there are some delicious concoctions out there that you cannot avoid when you go out to eat.
Take the yakhni shorba at Samarkand, for instance. This delicate mutton soup, finished with mint and lemon juice, is healthy and delicious and actually stimulates the appetite. Or the chettinad kozhi soup at Anjappar, whose fiery flavour will make you come back for more.
Alibaba Café and Restaurant at Frazer Town has a few Arabian soups that you might want to check out. The shorba adas, made with lentils and onions, is truly heart-warming.
Sure, tomato soups are popular, but the smoked tomato soup at Olive Beach (Wood Street) is special. Enhanced with fresh fennel, basil and grana padano cheese, this literally warms the soul.
And for those really warm days, the chilled tomato gazpacho at Caperberry Restaurant (UB City Mall) is an absolute treat. Its fresh flavours and the hint of olive oil are instant fresheners.
And have you tried the pumpkin and apple soup at Sunny’s on Lavelle Road? It might appear to be a slightly odd combination, but the flavour of the fruit and the vegetable together work really well. Or even the carrot orange soup, for that matter.
The 100 FT Boutique Bar Restaurant also has a lovely curried pumpkin soup on the menu; perfect for slightly chilly evenings, it goes well with a cheese platter, for instance.
Le Cirque Signature at The Leela Palace has two soups on the menu, and one of them is a bisque. Made with poached lobster and a tomato brunoise, the soup is refreshing and wholesome. And while on Italian, Ottimo at ITC Gardenia serves a lovely traditional soup called ribollita alla toscana, a hearty dish that is enhanced by aged pancetta (bacon made with pork belly).
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Priyadarshini is an independent journalist from Bengaluru whose life pretty much revolves around food, good music, literature, and cinema. She’s worked with different publications over the past 10 years, and has written about travel, theatre, films, books, music, food and lots of food! She’s travelled wherever her feet and budget would allow, discovering cultures through local palates and social behaviour, and in an ideal world would probably resort to using food and music to resolve any dispute.
