Three Dots And A Dash, Indiranagar
What is a Tiki Bar? Well, a Tiki Bar is an exotic-themed watering hole that serves elaborate cocktails, mostly rum-based. Such establishments have interior decor inspired by the tropical cultures of Polynesia. The Tiki Culture flourished for decades since the inception of the very first Tiki Bar- “Don the Beachcomber”. The name Three Dots & A Dash is inspired from a drink which was made by the legendary Ernest Gantt (aka Donn Beach). Three Dots And A Dash is Morse code for the letter “V” which was used to symbolize victory in World War II.
We were invited to the 1-year anniversary celebration which also marked the launch of a new array of cocktails and a specially curated food menu complimented by the Chef’s in-house special sauces and dips. The ambiance at Three Dots is characteristic of a Tiki bar- hanging “Tiki god” masks, tropical fabrics, bamboo at the entrance and wooden interior decor. We were greeted at the entrance with a small garland and after that shown the way to a table which was beside the bar counter. We had about a few minutes before the cocktails were served. The cocktails were served in Tiki mugs which were visually appealing and each mug had its own story which was quite interesting. It holds true to what they believe in at Three Dots, it is not what you drink, but what you drink it in!
It was a little bit chaotic at first because there were so many cocktails served and we were trying to determine which is which. Here are the names of some of the cocktails served,
- Dark & Stormy – Gosling’s Black Seal Rum, Lime Juice, Ginger Beer.
- Fog Cutter – Aged Rum, Gin, Orange juice, Pineapple juice, Lime juice, Orgeat syrup and Honey syrup.
- Jungle Bird – Campari, Dark rum, Lime Juice, Cointreau, Orgeat, Spiced maple syrup.
- Pineapple Daiquiri – Aged rum, Lime juice, Pineapple syrup.
- Rum Crusta – Aged rum, Cointreau, Maraschino, Lime juice.
- Rob’s Mistake – Light rum, London dry gin, Lime juice, Passion fruit puree, Frangelico, Pineapple syrup, Grenadine, Dark rum.
Of course, there were a long list of ingredients used to prepare these cocktails which I found interesting. But, I cannot say the same about the finished product. Some of the cocktails lacked a punch whereas some were really potent. Some of them felt like the ingredients were not meant to be together. If you ask me to pick a favorite- it would be the Dark & Stormy. I was sort-of disappointed because it was my first experience with Tiki cocktails and I expected more. But, never expected food to be the savior at this cocktail-centric bar.
I enjoyed the food served at Three Dots- right from the Caesar Salad to starters like California Spud Chicken, Green Marinated Chicken Kebab and the Polynesian Baked Fish. Among the main course dishes- Tuna Poke Bowl, Spicy Chicken Quesadillas, Vegetable Tangine with Cous Cous and Mushroom Leek Saffron Risotto were cooked beautifully. The experience at Three Dots was somewhat different from what I had expected. It was a case where the key element (the Tiki Cocktails) failed to deliver whereas the pertinent element (the food) stood out and saved the day!
