Tangerine

The disclaimer is that this is by far our favourite sizzler joint in bangalore, and while the review might be dripping with this enthusiasm and affection, most of it is justified.

Its located on 100 ft road In Indiranagar towards its Old Madras Road end, the place where the metro construction is happening. When coming from the CMH road side, you’ll find it on the left, after Domino’s Pizza, and in the same building as Cafe Beanstalk. Parking of 4 wheelers might be a small problem, you might have to walk a bit, but 2 wheeler parking can be found right in front.

Its not usually very crowded till about 8.30, so you can choose to reserve accordingly. The windy outside we came in from prompted us to go for a soup rather than a starter, though there are enough options for the latter too. We ordered a Spicy Chicken and Corriander soup, and that’s how I now have a new favourite soup. Its a thick soup, and as the name goes, it is spicy and has chicken and corriander, but what brings in the real flavour are the green chillies and the coconut cream. Its absolutely scrumptious and highly recommended.

The extensive menu spoils us for choice, as far as the main course goes. After rounds of discussion, we finally settled on a Chicken Torreon and a Sliced Chicken Citronelle. It has to be mentioned that there are some excellent options in fish, lamb and beef as well. The Chicken Torreon is diced chicken, done in a mexican style and served on a bed of rice. As with everything else I have eaten here, it has a unique flavour, this one, a tangy, spicy mix. The Sliced Chicken Citronelle is chicken in an unusual lemon, chilly and coconut milk sauce, and served on a bed of rice. This one would’ve been bland but the excellent sauce gives it an absolutely awesome flavor. Another absolute must have.

The unfortunate part is that all of the above left us no room for dessert, for which again, there are lots of options. From an earlier visit, I’d recommend the beer mousse. Its not something I’ve seen anywhere else, and is worth a try.

All of the above cost us about Rs.650, and its a no brainer that we’ll continue to be regular visitors here.  

Vicky’s Tava Lounge

I had seen it on my way to China Pearl and had bookmarked it then for a visit. For those not well versed with the Koramangala eatery landscape, here’s how to get there. When coming from the MG Road side, take a left from Forum, continue straight till you see a temple and a park right after it. Take a right (one way), if you don’t see a Samsung showroom on your left in the first 50 metres, you’re lost, repeat the entire process. If you do, proceed until you see a Unilet showroom and a ’Cottons by Century’ on your right. Vicky’s is opposite the latter.

The Tava lounge is on the second floor, and they also have a Continental cuisine joint on the floor above. Since we felt like having desi stuff, we decided to stop at the second floor. We were quite early, so we easily managed to get seats. Since there are many options on the same road, I think you can afford not to make reservations, the phone number is anyway not working

Vicky’s has been in the restaurant business since 1935 in kolkata and Bangalore (Church Street and Hennur road, funny, never noticed the former), says the menu card. Meanwhile, the interiors have been done very well, with some Fab India seating also thrown in, for the Indian touch. In essence, the work lends the place a soothing cosy ambience. Three of the tables also offer a good view of the road below (always love to eat, watching life pass by)

Since it was another rainy night, we decided to go for a Shorba, against the common practice of starters in desi dine outs. They have about 3 options, including one veg, we chose the Murgh Badami. It was extremely good, with some unique flavor, in addition to the almond. Even with a ‘by two’, the quantity was quite sufficient. They also offered us some complimentary munchies while we were waiting.

The menu does not offer a range of choices for animal lovers, they have around 3 options for sea food, 4 for poultry and other meat each, but significantly more for the other kind of animal lovers – vegetarians. For the main course, we decided to try the Murg tava Pyaz, which seemed to be the chef’s special mix of spices, pickled onion and boneless chicken. Since we were told that it would be a thick gravy, we also ordered a Machi masala. To go with it, we ordered an onion kulcha and an aloo kulcha, followed later by a Naan. The food is simply amazing, with both the dishes competing for attention and share of gut. Although it looked like the quantities might only be just right, it turned out to be very filling in the end. The Murg has a very distinctive taste, and is a definite must-have. Meanwhile, they were also nice enough to get us some Chaas, on the house. The only snag was that, all this didn’t leave us enough space for dessert, though they have a fairly good mix of Indian as well as Continental stuff.

All of the abvove cost us about Rs.650. This is definitely a good place to visit for some tasty North indian food in a pleasant, cosy setting.

3 Storys

I used to visit the place quite regularly when my workplace was around the area, but those were for the executive lunch. Its located off Lavelle road – when coming from MG Road, take the left on to Lavelle Road, and take the right just before the turning towards Airlines Hotel/Corner House.

3 Storys offers three stories of seating options and specilaises in Goan/Mangalorean/Coorgi/Kerala cuisine. The best thing about this place is that its almost ‘Empirical’ in terms of being able to hog multiple dishes, thanks to the adequate portions and value for money.

The top floor is a good option if its not raining, but since it was, we opted for the second floor. The seating is very comfortable on all the floors and has options for largish groups as well as cosy couples

We started with a Caldo Verde soup, perhaps the only veg soup I don’t mind having. They make it quite well here and the by-two portion is almost as large as a normal full portion. We wanted to have the Sear Peri Peri but unfortunately, they didn’t have any fish available. That also meant no Kana Rava fry. Inspite of that, there were still plenty of starter options, so we finally settled for a Coorg Fried Chicken, and I’ve bookmarked the Goan Sausages for next time. The Coorgi chicken was delicious and had a distinctive flavor. Now I’m no expert on Coorgi cuisine so i dont know if it was a Coorgi flavor, but whatever it was, it was awesome.

For the main course, we ordered Malabar Erachi Chops and Brown Chicken Stew and to go with it one plate of Idiappam and one plate of Appam. There are lots of options for seafood lovers. even if you aren’t (like me), phikar not, because the options available, that too from multiple cusines will make you wish you had a larger appetite. We also ordered one Malabar Porotta (yup, we spell it that way there ) and a plate of Sannas. We’ve always liked the brown stew here, but this time, the Eratchi chops was just leagues ahead. Except for the Sannas (which were a little harder than usual) everything else was just great. I would also recommend the Mutta Porotta (thats Kerala porotta with an egg bullseye on top). There aren’t too many dessert options available though you could try the Bibinca, if you haven’t tasted it before. Anyways, there’s Corner House nearby, and now Mocha too.

Meanwhile, 3 Storys is the place to come to, when you’re in the mood for a different, but value-for -money food experience. All of the above cost us about Rs.600, and thus ends this story.

Sahib Sind Sultan

Our first tryst with these guys was documented in my other blog, and you’ll notice that the relationship didn’t begin well. We’ve had mixed experiences with these guys, and I think its one of the most snobbish places as far as the BJN group’s restaurants go. We’ve had occasions where they didn’t take reservations, and then asked us if we had a reservation when we reached. But something that’s been consistently good is the food, and since that’s one the most important parameters of judging a restaurant, we manage to go back. But as far as the service goes, go there if you’re into masochism.

This time we were told that no reservations would be taken after 7.45 pm, so we asked for a table at 7.45. We got two calls to confirm that, one in the afternoon, and one at about 7.43 pm. I fully agree with a restaurant calling me if I don’t arrive on time, but this irritated me. Unfortunately, the location at Forum Mall makes sure that they get patrons inspite of themselves, and because of the food.

The theme of the restaurant is the first train in india, and that’s what its named after. the restaurant consists of two sections -  the ‘platform’ and the ‘compartment’. As you’d have guessed, the former is an open kind of area with flexible seating arrangements (large groups, couples etc) and the latter is a more cosy 4 seaters affair. The platform has graffiti that resembles an actual platform, including the old station master gong that sounds once almost every hour. The inside also does the theme justice, with overhead storage space that hold some old English style lady hats and handbags, and you can also see the kind of fans you see in trains. (don’t worry, its not for the function, the entire restaurant is air conditioned )

We ordered a Royal Velvet Chicken Shorba, which judging from the way it was consumed, was extremely good. We’d also asked for a starter to be brought along with the shorba, but of course, they really don’t listen to you. So three of us watched one person drinking the shorba, while munching breadsticks. Speaking of breadsticks go for the cheese and cumin sauce, the other two are miles behind. Meanwhile exactly 5 minutes after the soup was finished, we got the starter – Laupathgamini Bhatti ka Tikka (that first name coule have a spelling error, though it would roughly match ). Thankfully, it was extremely tasty, and was just right in quantity for 3-4 people.

For the main course, we ordered a Makhmali Murgh Tikka Masala and a Vulcan Foundry Murgh Badam. We’d gone there expecting to get a Havelock’s Fish Musullum, but for the first time, it was not available. But I’d definitely recommend it especially if you’re agroup of 3-4. Anyway, we ordered a Tandoori Roti, a Butter Naan, an Aloo Anardana Kulcha, and a Paneer & Peas Kulcha. True to character, they ended up forgetting the Aloo Kulcha and gave us 2 Paneer Kulchas, and expected us to believe that it was indeed Aloo, though it tasted like Paneer.

The quantity was not sufficient, and since i was voted down when i suggested the Dak Bungalow Roast, and the Makhmali Murg was extremely tasty, we ended ordering one more of that and an Aloo Kulcha. We got lucky the second time since we actually got it. The Vulcan Foundry Murg is good especially if you’re the white gravy kind. But I still prefer the Dak Bungalow Roast (brown gravy), though it’s not boneless. The rotis and kulchas were also good enough. The sad part was that all this did not leave enough room for dessert.

All of the above cost us about Rs.1500, and to top it, they didn’t get us any saunf etc after dinner. I assume it wasn’t just us, since i saw quite a crowd at the exit, picking it up from a table that had all the stuff. In essence, some of the best food you can find in bangalore, and possibly the worst service would sum up Sahib Sind Sultan.

Tandoor – Koramangala

Yes, really, i say. At the Oasis complex on the Intermediate Ring Road, the building which has Lifestyle and Spar. Tandoor is on the same floor as Polynation, Fire Wok, Sanjeev Kapoor’s Yellow Chillies, Cream & Fudge Factory, Bull & Bush and so on. So you won’t go hungry there even if you don’t get a place in Tandoor. But since we went with a single minded purpose, we reserved in advance and after many weeks, found some kindred souls who believed in the concept of reservation. (no not the controversial type, the normal table booking kind). For those who want to go there to watch IPL (as their ad says), there are about 4 tables which could offer you a view, so let the objective be food.

They gave us a ‘table in the centre of the room’ for two, which wasn’t quite appealing, especially since the group at a nearby table gave us looks that could be read as being snobbish. So we bullied the staff to give us a better one.

The menu, though looks better than the MG Road one as far as aesthetics go, is much lesser on content. And they don’t serve liquor, I think the MG Road one does. I especially missed the Patiala on the menu, the Murg kind. So, while there were around 3 shorbas and a few starters to choose from, we skipped them, since the Tandoor quantities are usually large.

We ordered a Shahi Fish Tikka (served on a sizzler), a half Kadai Chicken, a butter naan and an onion kulcha. The fish came first, and the fowl didn’t follow as quickly as we’d have expected, especially since we had explicitly asked for it to be brought with the main course. So it wasn’t in as hot a state as it should have been eaten in, and that perhaps was the reason it tasted so bland. The kulcha was a very young one, it hadn’t been allowed to grow to its full potential. But the naan was. Dont expect the same quantities as the Tandoor on MG Road, the chicken was just about enough for two, though it tasted quite good.

The service was good, except for the late delivery, for which they apologised. The ambience could’ve been better, and they could’ve avoided the flies, especially since they were on the house, er, houseflies . Bad ambience, bad PJs !!! All of the above cost us (hold your breath) just below Rs.950. (It took us a while to get our breath back, you? )That, plus the options weren’t enough to convince us on dessert.

Tandoor: 4th Floor, Oasis Mall, Koramangala Ph: 41747008/9/10

Kobe Sizzlers

Talk about focus… You only come here if you are in the mood for sizzlers… We couldn’t even try our regular strategy of one starter + one sizzler + dessert approach, since the starter options are almost nil… Even with this focus, we felt that we could’ve got more choice of sizzlers in say, Yoko, Indijoe or Tangerine.

First things first, the joint is located on the 5th floor of Garuda Mall. We tried reserving in advance, but as usual were met with ‘We don’t take reservations on weekends’. What surprised us were a few tables there with a ‘reserved’ sign, and I only got a smile in response to my query. We reached there by around 7.45, and could easily get a table, but the place got crowded in another 15 minues.

Since I was still reeling from a heavy lunch, we ordered a Chicken Salad and a Nasi Goreng. The salad came in no time, was very tasty (just the way I like it, with lots of mayonnaise) and was quite large, in terms of quantity. The sizzler took some time, but that might have been because they were waiting for us to finish the salad.

The sizzler was made of boneless chicken on a bed of fried rice. And what a bed it was – king size!! I’m quite sure that even with a free stomach, I wouldn’t have been able to finish it. The lack of options, I think, is made up for by the extremely good quality and quantity of the food that one gets here.

The dessert options are the regular suspects – custard, brownie. They also have a few beverage options like iced tea, cold coffee and something called the Kobe special coffee, have to try that out sometime.

The ambience is quite pleasant, with very comfortable seating and cosy seating for 2 people. The food is absolutely value for money, the entire meal cost us just about Rs.400.

Kobe Bangalore. 5th Floor, Garuda Mall, McGrath Road, M.G.Road, Banglore-560025 Tel: 080-65600872

China Pearl

When in koramangala, and in the mood for chinese food that doesnt land you in a financial crisis, think China Pearl. For the third week in a row, a restaurant refused to take reservations. The times, they really are a changin’

To get there, when coming from the MG road side, take a left at Forum, keep going straight, and take a right turn after you see a park on the right side. No, not a software park, just a normal old fashioned park. Geez!!Its a one way, the same road that has GK Vale among other things, that also include a truckload of restaurants – Chung Wah, Filling Station and so on…..

We reached there around 9, and had to wait for about ten minutes. Since Bangalore ain’t so cool anymore, we skipped the soup and had fried chicken momos for starters. That, along with the spicy sauce meant we started well.

We ordered a Teriyaki Chicken. thought it sounds a bit like what Harbhajan said a while back, its actually only fillets of chicken in teriyaki sauce. It also has mushrooms. Its a dry dish, and is quite well made. The only snag was that we got it at least 10 minutes before the rest of the main course. Thankfully, it didn’t get too cold. The rest of the main course was made up of a Drunken Chicken and Chicken Malaysian Noodles. Although the former led to a discussion between us on how exactly they got the chicken into such a condition, its chicken in rice wine, and is extremely tasty. Its a unique flavour, and definitely worth a try. If you are fine with thin noodles, the place has a lot of options. I’d have taken a Chow Mein, but we already had a gravy dish. The Malaysian Noodles is something we’ve had before and didn’t disappoint.

The quantity is more than ample for two people, and reasonably priced. All the above cost us less than Rs.600. The service is usually good, but somehow the waiter this time didn’t quite fancy us, I guess. But China Pearl is a regular haunt and we’ll be back.

China pearl, 5th Cross, 6th Block, Koramangala. Ph-25501735, 41105060

Indijoe

No, not the one on Airport Road- the one made famous by what I consider is the one of the best value-for-money lunch buffet in the city. They have recently opened an outlet on Old Madras Road. To reach there, go down OM road towards KR Puram. After crossing Big Bazaar (on your right), you’ll see RMZ Infinity on the right, would be difficult to miss it with the Mc Donalds M neon. That’s where you’ll find the new Joe. Among other things in the same complex/mall(?), there’s a food court, a Subway, a CCD, Beijing Bites, Pathankot, Hakka (Mainland China).

Though we called for reservations, we were told that they don’t take reservations on weekends, which seems to be becoming a trend these days. Anyway, with all those options above (and I’m sure I’ve missed a couple) that drive would be worthwhile, i guess.

We got there by around 7.45 and the place was about 75% full. The IPL could explain the crowd at this relatively early hour. You could either sit inside or on the lawn /road facing vernadah. We chose the outside since it was surprisingly more quiet (again thanks to a raucous IPL cheering crowd inside). The ambience inside is a replica of the other Indijoe, and the menu seems to be a truncated version of the same.

We ordered a non veg combo and a chicken satellite sizzler. The non veg combo consisted of chicken pyramids (er, mini samosa like ), chicken tenders, mozzarella in carrozza (the taste was worth the spelling), dynabites (these guys know their branding – bread pakoras :D ) and spicy chicken wings. The non veg combo is a good way of having a little bit of a lot of things. It actually gives you a feel that you have eaten a lot, and tasty things at that. Dont mistake the red sauce they serve alongside for the normal tomato variety, this one is special, if you are the spicy type. They also give a mustard based sauce, that made me change my impression of mustard in general. The different stuff on the platter also gives you an excuse to try the different sauces one finds at Indijoe – tabasco, worcestershire, and something called HP sauce (wonder if its a tribute to a similar sounding organisation’s office nearby )

The chicken satellite sizzler has grilled boneless chicken with mushroom sauce, with sauteed mushroom garnished with cheese and fresh cream. Yes, and fries. The stuff was good, except that the mushroom was almost charred. We would give the benefit of the doubt to the cook, since the match was evenly poised around that time. I’m sure he didn’t mean it. The good part is that even with all the above, it didn’t give us a bloated feeling, so we decided to plod ahead with a ‘Chocolate Decadence’, that, according to the menu was a four storey high chocolate avalanche. In looks, it lived upto its name, but the secret is that its a lot of fluff Though it was quite good, it’s no match for those monstrosities one gets at Frescoes. Now, thats chocolate.

The service is quite good. We got the food very fast. But i think he didnt expect us to have the dessert, so he’d already got the bill made. Indijoe, I’ve always felt, is the least snobbish of the BJN array of eateries, and this one lives up to that image. All of the above cost us about Rs.600. If you don’t mind the longish ride (for anyone not around Indiranagar and its surroundings) a visit would be worth it.

Indijoe, RMZ Infinity, Old Madras Road. Ph-41113377/3553

Serengeti

A little googling tells me that its the name of a wildlife national park and ecosystem in Tanzania. Since I’m not particularly adventurous by nature, I restricted myself to visiting the dining ecosystem in Madivala. After all, it was supposed to have an African rainforests theme.

A call for reservation was answered, the second time, and we were politely told that since it was Saturday night, reservations could be made only in specific timeframes – 7.30 to 8.15 pm and 9.45 – 10.30 pm. We chose the latter.

Its on the 3rd floor in Total Mall alongwith Zanzibar, Silver Metro and a food court. The mall is quite easy to reach. When coming from the MG Road side, turn left onto the road that goes to St.Johns (you don’t have an option anyway after you cross Forum :) ), then take a U turn onto the road that leads to the Madivala market. You can see Total on the left but the entrance is on Hosur Road.

There was a crowd waiting to get in, when we reached, and even with reservations, and landing up exactly on time, we were made to wait about 10 minutes. Once we were inside, the undergrowth was not quite thick, so we got to see people dining among alligators, vines, elephants, waterfalls and so on . For those who don’t mind the gurgling water sound, the outside seating would be fine. I dont, and thankfully, we were taken inside the ‘Guffa’. Its a closed structure within the restaurant and is slightly better lit than the outside. We can also see animal-skull trophies on the walls, that add to the effect – what they have called ‘the wild side of dining’. In fact, they have tried to do that in everything, including the waiters who are attired like shikaris. No, don’t expect the hostesses in grass skirts!!!

Meanwhile, the cuisine is Lucknowi and Peshawari, which made me wonder about the connection with the setting. We went straight for the main course, though there were a couple of ‘not quite common’ options in the shorba and starters categories. We ordered a Murgh patiala kadai se and a Machi Mazedar, along with a bran roti, an onion kulcha and a plain naan. The quantity was quite sufficient, though i would recommend the fish dish to be eaten with rice. The food was good enough to warrant another visit. We also had a Sariska Panna, which is made of pineapple pulp. It was chilled and had quite a unique flavour. Though this was supposed to be an apertiff, we got it in the middle of the meal

That notwithstanding, the service was quite good. We were also given a potato chips based snack before the meal started, turned out to be quite good, with chat flavors. We opted out of desserts because there were only the usual suspects, inclusing a chocolate brownie. But then, dessert doesn’t need context, does it?

The above meal cost us about Rs.650, and we’ll definitely make one more visit, if only for the unusual setting. Reservations can be made at 9731558301/7.

Imperial + Cream & Fudge Factory

It’d been a while since i paid a visit to the friendly neighbour joint thats imperial, and someone had to pay for the dessert fetish, that turned out to be keeping dinner to a vfm joint . I doubt if Imperial would be the place to test out soups, though starters are a different matter altogether.

We skipped both (remember dessert?) and chose to have a brain onion fry (half plate) and a tandoori chicken masala, along with Kerala Paratha. For once, I was disappointed with the brain onion fry, it was too salty, and the roles of onions and chillies were interchanged. The quantity has also been reduced drastically.The tandoori chicken masala was also only passable, though the quantity was sufficient. But since the place has been an old favourite, it merits one more chance, especially since Empire’s brain fry doesnt hold a candle to Imperial’s.

The Cream and Fudge Factory is quite a place for the sweet toothed Bangalorean. I refuse to allow flavors other than chocolate to enter my dessert horizon, and despite this being the second visit, I’ve to make at least 4 more visits to complete the chocolate based stuff there, so you can imagine. This time we had the Cookie dream which had chocolate chips, chocolate cookies, and chocolate fudge with a vanilla base. While there are so many flavours to choose from, thats not all. You can make your own ice cream with your chosen flavor, and an army of toppings ranging from Ferrero Rocher, Snickers, M&M etc to hazelnuts, almonds and sooo many things in between. Yes, it just might be the closest you’d get to the mythical chocolate paradise, and as for price, while it’s not peanuts, it doesnt make you ask for a personal loan either :D

 The Cream & Fudge Factory, Opposite HDFC Bank, 7th Block, 80 Feet Road, Koramangala. Tel: 41726222.