The Shore By O! has become one of the most popular venues to go out and have a drink. It’s still one of the most affordable places in town, with the obvious allure of the beach, but we feel they’ve let their standards drop in certain areas.
Drinks
If there’s one thing that no one can dispute, it’s that O! has got their pricing right down the tee. This is partly due to their affiliations, but we don’t really care about that now do we? Most of their cocktails are ranged between Rs.400 – Rs.600, and a mug of lion larger can be had for just Rs.150 which is less than other bars during Happy Hour.
Spicy GirlWe had the “”Spicy Girl”” (Rs.400), “”O! What a Feeling”” (Rs.400) and the “”Dark Knight”” (Rs.450). I’m sure you’re probably trying to figure out what in god’s name all those are, but we’ll try to break it down. The Spicy Girl (Rum, green chilli, mint & soda) was the most interesting of the 3. We weren’t really sure what to expect since we hadn’t tried it before, but it turned out quite well. It had a good balance of flavours with the mint and chilli having a yin & yang effect. Think of it as a somewhat stronger version of a Mojito with a nice hit of chilli at the end.
Dark KnightThe Dark Knight (Brandy, mango juice, white wine & stout) was a little too mild for us. That being said though, the mango juice and white wine worked well together to give it a fruity taste which we’re sure others might enjoy. We would have liked a bit more brandy and stout, with a little less of the mango juice, but thats a point of personal preference.
The O! What a Feeling (Gin, cranberry & lemonade) was the most disappointing. It pretty much tasted like cough syrup. From what we tasted, it felt like they had opted to use Cranberry concentrate as oppose to juice which made it way too sweet, completely overpowering the other ingredients to the point where you could barely taste it.
Food
After visiting The Floor By O! recently, we were optimistic that the food at Shore would be of a similar standard, but sadly that wasn’t the case here.We ordered the Pork Chop (Rs.700), Chicken Burger (Rs.500) and the Grilled Chicken (Rs.600). While the prices are still very reasonable, the food in general was under seasoned and presented quite poorly.
Pork ChopsThe Pork Chop was the only one of the three that was worthy of any real praise. It was served with mashed potatoes and a fresh salad. The pork was cooked well with the sauce adding a hint of sweetness and the salad giving it a nice crunch. The other 2 dishes though, were quite disappointing.We took a couple of mouthfuls of each and wasn’t tempted to really go any further.
Grilled Chicken ( that presentation..)Both the Grilled Chicken and the Chicken Burger were bland and needed a lot more seasoning. The patty in the burger lacked a binding agent, so it kept crumbling and spilling every time we took a bite of it, which needless to say was quite annoying.
Ambience & Service
The Shore By O! still offer one of the best experiences when it comes to ambience. We’d even go so far as to say that it’s the most chill bar to hang with your friends. Being just a few metres from the beach, you can feel the breeze and hear the waves hit the shore, which is quite relaxing after a long day.
The service for the most part was good. The waiters were very friendly and unassuming, although a bit more coordination would have helped since there was quite an area for them to cover, so there were a few occasions where a waiter was no where to be seen.
Conclusion
The Shore By O! is still a great spot to meet up, have a drink (or three) and just relax. They’ve got arguably the most affordable drinks in town, so we suggest you go for the drinks and take a rain check on the food.
