Cuisines with a twist at Zoe

It was just that kind of stuck-in-the-middle Wednesday. One weekend a distant memory, the other too far away. Work was settling into a tedium, when a colleague whispered, “Want to wake up?”

Before you could say good morning, we were at Zoe, a resto-lounge tucked away in a quiet lane of Indiranagar. Bright and peppy, its bistro-like interiors injected immediate life into our day. No-fuss, all-fun was the unstated motto of this casual-dining restaurant, and it carries over into the eclectic menu: Sourced from Italy, Turkey, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Spain and Greece and elsewhere, the food is fine-tuned to Indian tastes without compromising on original flavours.

We started with the spicy lamb chimichanga and mushroom fritters (mushrooms stuffed with chicken and cheese served with beri-beri sauce). For the main course, I decided to go in for a well-cooked Moroccan lamb. The batter-grilled chicken piccata that followed was marinated in mustard and herbs and served with tangy caper sauce — a delish whole meal in a dish.

Even as I filed away that reference for a future ravenous-for-lunch day, my colleague was chomping her way through a Greek salad with a touch of feta cheese and a superb Fish D’Casa, a grilled fillet of pomfret topped with spinach and cream sauce.

Zoe doesn’t serve alcohol — we certainly didn’t need any more temptation! — but we did enjoy a chilli-cilantro mocktail. And for pud, we split a Blackout, a sinful layered chocolate cake.

We staggered back to office, but the short walk did us good, and we were buzzing the rest of the day. So much so, our boss has offered to host our weekly meetings at Zoe!

Zoe. 3169/H, Opp, Bangalore Public School Service Road, HAL 2nd Stage Bangalore 560038. Ph: 41538088. Meal for two: Rs 1000.