All posts filed under: American

Feeling Blue – News Cafe (Indiranagar, Bangalore)

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News Café is like the poor cousin of Smoke House Deli. They opened pretty much the same time on 100 ft road in Indiranagar and both have a similar cafe/ all day dining format. SHD created quite a buzz in the Bangalore food scene, whereas News café failed to garner anything newsworthy. The reason we ventured there was also because of SHD – they were full one Saturday afternoon and could not accommodate us. We were hungry and had already parked our car close by and it seemed like too much of an effort to drive again. So we walked next door to News Café and zoomed up the elevator to the terrace. (Seems like the trend in Bangalore to have restaurants and café’s on the terrace – is the rent cheaper?) News Café is a South African chain of restaurants and boasts of having 50 outlets with two in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. (Concentrating on the IT hubs, are we?). Their website claims that they have won the ‘Best Cocktail Bar’ 11 years in a …

There’s a Dragon in your Cafe – Coffee on Canvas (ST Bed Layout, Koramangala)

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Prost is not open at 10 AM in the morning, apparently. So we walked across the street to Coffee On Canvas. This was not my first visit to the place and the last one did not go down well with my finicky friend. The Toast, you see, was not warm and the Honey Chilli Chicken acted all dicey and only spicy with me – so there goes. So my second visit was more out of circumstance than choice. But the dragon turned it around and so I decided to sing.   The last visit was at night and I must say mornings compliment this place a lot more. Airy and filled with light, the potted plants and creeping vines give the impression of a large, fun balcony in an old friends house. And then there is the Dragon. You don’t notice him at first – sly and shy that he is, hiding behind the windmill bookcase. And then you notice a tail, then a claw and then finally his face. I think I have a …

Who wants to eat at The Tuck Shop? (Koramangala, Bangalore)

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If you studied in a school in Bangalore your most likely hangout would be the canteen or what we convent-educated kids liked to call it, “The Tuck Shop”. This was one place that you would rush to, as soon as the Tea break or lunch break was announced with a loud bell. The place where you would buy fryums and samosas and wolfed down cutlets and burgers (if you were lucky and feeling rich) even wash it down with a milkshake. So of course this little eatery will pull at your heartstrings with nostalgia! Started by two young (really young) entrepreneurs and hotel management graduates Mayank Agarwal and Ahmad Sharif, The Tuck Shop tries to help you re-live your fondest school memories. The ambience is one of a spruced up garage made pretty with creeping vines, casual seating and fun paintings of crazy kids in a school bus. Though the target audience is college goers, surprisingly the place has an equal number of office goers and families that throng the all day diner. Being in …

Zomato Lunch with Rocky and Mayur (HOMP) @ Bak Bak Bar (Koramangala, Bangalore)

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(Pic Courtesy: Ruth and Sudhakar Prabhu) I was sick with fever last week…so sick that I couldn’t get out of bed. What bothered me more than being sick, was missing the Zomato Food Guide 2013 launch at the Sheraton! And to add to the misery, Zomato had a special treat lined up for food bloggers over the weekend – a lunch date with NDTV’s Highway on my Plate superstars – Rocky and Mayur!! Saturday morning came and my energy was still zero. I hate to go under medication for a regular fever, but this time I made an exception and popped some pills, tidied my act up and headed to Bak Bak Bar! Oh, come on…don’t roll your eyes…how many times do you get to meet Rocky and Mayur??? I had heard about Bak Bak Bar from a couple of foodie friends, but still hadn’t planned an outing. It’s the old Manchester United Bar – refurbished and redone in a new avatar. The co-resident will be mighty pleased, considering he is a Chelsea fan! The …

Mangrove – Restaurant.Cafe.Wine Tavern (Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore)

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I live at a point where going to Indiranagar or Koramangala or MG Road is the same distance. I know, lucky me! With so many food options scattered at my doorstep, I hardly travel beyond these areas for a quick bite. But after a point it becomes same old same old and this weekend we decided to travel to the beyond. Ok, that’s Kalyan Nagar near H.R.B.R. layout for you. We took the Bypanahalli route because the GPS on the co-resident’s phone said it was the shortest and fastest route, but we din’t know it would lead us to a defunct railway crossing! After a few more adventures, we reached Mangrove. It’s a new American cuisine restaurant that’s opened its doors, to entice the sudden population burst towards Manyata Tech Park and ORR. There is a big sign painted on the entrance wall so that you don’t miss the restaurant on the quite road. J We expected to find the restaurant under a Mango tree, but realized that the young couple who run the place …