Dinner With A Side Of Drama: These Spots Offer Experiential Dining In The City

The Turkish restaurant brings drama to their service and how the food is presented. They want to give you an immersive experience and they do deliver on that. You have the staff igniting dishes such as Testi Kebap at the table and we're told it's not just for the show but also for a final flourish for the dish to release its flavours and aroma. Even their mocktails have a smoke show. The space follows the ocakbasi concept that highlights the open grill and barbecue. 

If you are looking to impress your loved one on date night, then nothing like the bespoke dinner by the pool at Seta. Located inside Hilton Bangalore Embassy Golf Links, you have a curated 5-course meal that's made OTT with a personal butler, welcome drinks, a decorative cabana, and a cold pyro gun. Oh and did we tell you there's also a celebratory cake to dig into? And sparkling wine. 

The restaurant has tableside cooking when it comes to their Dal-E-Zarf where the chef pops over to your table with a hot stoneware and finishes cooking the dish in front of you. All while taking you through the menu, the concepts, and what's in store next. You can customise your dal according to your flavour profile since the chef will prepare it just the way you like it.

The izakaya-style Japanese restaurant takes the whole experiential dining to a whole new level right from when you enter the restaurant—expect the entire staff (including the culinary team) to welcome you loudly. If you have social anxiety like us, you can just awkwardly smile and run to your table. The staff will indulge in playing Jyan Ken Pon, a Japanese rock-paper-scissors game where if you win, you can get a bigger glass of beer. The open-kitchen format lets you see all the action. Oh, and if you are sitting in the private spaces, the squeaky chicken toy is the way of calling the staff. 

Another of our favourite North Indian restaurants that brings a bit of drama to the tableside. Be sure to start your meal with Dal Ki Chaat. The chef comes to your table and makes the delightfully piquant crispy chaat featuring besan and gehun crisps and chilli oil. The chef talks through why the chaat is made that way giving a sneak peek into Loya's menu diversity and cooking methods. 

One of the newer Korean restaurants in town, the K-BBQ here is elevated from the other K-BBQ places in town because of how the set-up is done. The staff expertly prepares the meat and the assorted veggies on the table grill next to you, constantly making sure you have meat that's cooked to the right doneness you want. 

The sushi counter at Yataii is where you need to sit to enjoy a live sushi bar experience. From the chefs expertly carving the salmon and tuna to rolling the sushi, there's a lot of hustle and bustle going around. And of course, you will feel like you are sitting at a sushi bar in Tokyo when the chefs place your sushi on the pass one by one. 

The city's only ramen bar serves up some of the best ramen in Bangalore along with the ramen bar vibes akin to ones in Japan. When you are sitting by the ramen bar counter, you've one of the chefs (founder-owner Kavan, Ezra or Tapas) taking down your order and then occasionally chatting with you. Chef Kavan usually will take you through the etiquette of having ramen especially if it's your first time. Oh, and what's not to be missed is the drama that unfolds when the ramen is prepped—strain the noodles to the plating. 

The hot pot at Shang Palace is truly an experience you cannot miss. Not just for the whole experience but also for the food. The completely interactive session starts with the chef mixing the sauces for you to dip your various proteins and greens into—seafood to pork belly and tofu skin to fresh tofu, there's an array to pick from. Plus, the several different kinds of broths as well to choose from. Our favourite is the Sichuan one which has a numbing sensation thanks to the Sichuan peppercorn. The Hot Pot experience is available daily for lunch and dinner, so go ahead and book a table for yourself and your gang.