By now, most of us would have oohed and aahed at the drone shots of Gladia in all its Romanesque glory, and up close, it is quite stunning with its wide double doors that open into a cavernous interior while statues in flowing robes loom overhead.
Stone pillars and lit arches, silken pennants and mottos inscribed on the walls set the stage for an epicurean feast. An indoor fountain and majestic stone lion are the cynosure of this space, and the clever lighting sets the scene for a modern day banquet, which with a capacity to seat 700, it pretty much does.
Purists could argue the decor and design conflict at some points, but honestly, a couple of drinks down and everyone is more Don Quixote than Sir Galahad.
At Gladia, one almost expects the drinks to arrive in bronze goblets, but thankfully they do not or you would miss the visual delight they present. On the bar menu, it is not just word play that wins with offerings such as Festum, Octavia and of course, Romulus. The Maximus Elixer, for instance, is a concoction of lime, watermelon and peanut butter in a base of white rum, while the Augustus is a whiskey-based winner with bergamot honey, plum ratafia and cucumber tea.
Gladia offers six in-house brews with amusing names such as Levendrix and Hopus Maximus that bring to mind warring Gauls and their tribe.
The food menu is a straight forward listing of their dishes because truth be told, titling each serving from different corners of the globe would have rendered it tiresome. As befits any Roman bill of fare, there is a range of pizzas, pastas and sourdough bruschettas to choose from, and much like every watering hole in the city, one can indulge in pub grub, sushi, Continental, Indian (North and South), and Chinese cuisines.
Still, Gladia stands out for the effort to include dishes that one does not come across regularly, and these are what we focused on. The pumpkin seed chicken was delightful surprise, bringing a nutty taste and texture to a staple, while the Gowda mutton chops were excellent, bursting with flavour and falling off the bone.
Another welcome twist was the vada and chicken curry combo which won a lot of brownie points at our table, as did the playful mango and strawberry maki roll, and the succulent lamb chops in red wine pepper jus. The butternut squash ravioli, one of their signatures, will have even non-vegetarians sighing with satisfaction.
However, the fish tawa fry was quite disappointing despite being one of their specials.
Still, their menu is bursting with dishes and one tummy is not enough to sample other bar unusuals such as the avarakaai saaru, fish steamed in pandan leaves, lal maas and more.
We wind down our feast with a mango passionfruit crunch bowl, another one of their signatures, which is refreshing, creamy and light on the palate after an extravagant meal.
Published – January 31, 2026 10:27 am IST
