Year: 2016

In with the new @ Raj Pavilion (ITC Windsor, Golf Course Road)

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There are many reasons I will always love ITC Windsor, one of them is the white, bright and beautiful Raj Pavilion. Built to emulate the 100-year-old Glass House in Lalbagh, just walking into it lifts my spirits! The décor makes me feel like I am in a sophisticated English Tea Party and for once colonial hangovers are never more welcome! I was invited to try the new menus being launched across the ITC Pavilion’s in the country (#trendingatpavilion) and was truly chuffed that Raj Pavilion was my calling. In keeping with the ‘Responsible Luxury’ theme of the ITC properties, the new menu focuses on locally and responsibly sourced ingredients fashioned into delicious and stunning entrees, appetizers and desserts.

Night Market Treats @ The Fatty Bao (12th Main, Indiranagar)

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A nip in the air, winter woollies and Christmas cheer all around – the holiday season is finally in swing. The Fatty Bao after bagging the “Best Pan Asian Restaurant 2017” at the Times Food Awards, has one more reason to celebrate! They are closing the year with a bang and letting us in on the festivities, with the Night Market Festival. This feast from the east will let you relive your Asian holiday shenanigans in Indirangar. The carnival atmosphere adds to the charm and gets you in the mood for some street food, grills and innovative ‘Root to Fruit’ cocktails.

My Favourite Food Festival – Aquafest 2016 @ Karavalli (Residency Road)

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It’s time to indulge! Karavalli’s famed Aquafest is back and is going to leave you in raptures till the end of this month. A veritable feast from the sea, Bangalore’s most esteemed dining institution brings to you sublime flavours of the southern coasts. Like every year, the menu is a careful composition of recipes gleaned from homemakers with a deep love for their cuisine, perfected in the rustic kitchens of Karavalli over 26 years. Chef Naren and team have an outstanding menu this November and I for one am always surprised on how they keep pushing the perfection envelope!

Cookbook Review: The married man’s guide to creative cooking

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With the gazillion cookbook’s I own, it would be a shame to let them collect dust. I do pick up my favorites and rummage through the pages greedily for some ‘flashbulb’ recipes, but the rest of them are read once and relegated to the back shelf. Samar’s book runs the ambiguous path of a cross between ramblings of one’s life and recipes that relate to that phase, scribbled onto pages of a scrummy diary. As he states in the preface to the book – he is a glutton. And if he needed to feed his rambunctious appetite without upsetting the balance at home (his wife is a vegetarian), he had to learn how to cook. Years of living away from home, coupled with hosting innumerable impromptu parties has given him the ammunition to be creative with his cooking techniques. The book is a result of him documenting his attempts to create palatable meals through a blog in the Hindustan Times and a column in the Mint.

Masala Fried Fish for rasam rice and other world problems

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Yes, I know what you’re thinking. A recipe for Masala Fried Fish?? I mean, how basic right?! You chuck some chili and turmeric paste and deep fry the fish and it’s done. Fini. Like honestly, why even bother listing it here. But I have, because we make this at home very often and it’s used as a bait to eat the rasam rice. It’s part of the family repertoire of quick fix meals when all we want to do is put our legs up and chill or in most cases, order in some greasy Chinese.

Breezy Lake Views and Pan Asian Delicacies at Aroi (Sarjapur Road)

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Aroi is not kidding when they call themselves a lakeview restaurant. The cheery terrace space adorned with large birdcages and rattan chairs with colourful cushions, overlooks the surprisingly well mainted Kaikondrahalli Lake. A venture by a foodie engineer called Jacksy Chan (it’s the truth) who gave up his IT career to bring the taste of South-East Asia to Bangalore – the cuisine on offer is true to its roots. Delicacies from Malaysia, China, Vietnam and Thailand vie for your attention here and with good effect!

Lazy Afternoons @ Fresh Pressery Café (Lavelle Road)

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I’m always on the lookout for wonderful little spaces that serve as an oasis from the hustle and bustle of our dear burgeoning city. Located on the Lavelle Road offshoot in the erstwhile space occupied by Cinnamon and now the GoodEarth store, is the very welcoming Fresh Pressery Café. An extension of the cold pressed chain – Fresh Pressery’s ideology, the café caters to all those health nuts that like their food and drink – light and healthy.