All posts filed under: Cafes

Hot Chocolate Shots @ Jus’ Trufs (Jakkur, Bangalore)

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When we think of indulgence, the first thing that comes to mind is smooth, dark, rich chocolate. Anything from a dull day to a roaring bad mood can be instantly remedied with a bar of chocolate. No wonder that it’s called the food of Gods! “A” likes his chocolate dark and dreamy and I like my chocolate rich and creamy – so between the both of us, we pretty much have a good collection. Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate, Chocolate with Nuts, Fudge, Mini Truffles…ok, the list kinda goes on! So when I walk into a Chocolate Cafe, you can bet your bottom dollar I’m going to go crazy! Jus’ Trufs call themselves ‘customized chocolatiers’ and have been crafting premium truffles since 2001. Chenddyna Schae is the lady behind the brand and her love for fine chocolate easily translates into a beautiful end product. While the focus all these years has been on corporate clients and event based gift boxes they have recently opened a lovely Chocolate Café to let people come and indulge …

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 …

Carrots and Vegan Food (Koramangala, Bangalore)

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No, I haven’t turned vegetarian or vegan (Not anytime soon at least)! Two reviews of vegetarian restaurants in a month, does raise its suspicions – but I assure you this was purely coincidental. A completely enraptured with bacon-and-all-things-that-crawl friend, suggested we head to Carrots for a weekday lunch. I had to wrap my head around two things a. Did he have a sinister plan in his head and b. was the name of the restaurant really Carrots?! The answer to both was a resounding yes! The name board of the restaurant is a ‘blink and you miss it’ size – so use the 80ft road bus depot/ Legends of Rock as a landmark, if you don’t want to drive around in circles. I entered the restaurant and was greeted by cane furniture, some art on the walls and bamboo plants on every table. A specialty store (rack) selling vegan and organic goodies was strategically located next to the blackboard menu with the day’s specials. The evil friend arrived and I set about trying to dissect …

Breaking Bread at Lavonne (Domlur, Bangalore)

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Now anyone who knows me well enough will know that I shy away from baking bread. All attempts of bringing forth a glorious loaf of bread or a soft buttery croissant have always yielded the opposite result. The kneading is another killer exercise that my arms do not want to do. So why would I bother going to a baking class? The dishonest answer would be ‘to learn how to bake a good loaf of bread’. The honest answer would be ‘to massage my ego’. I just wanted to witness the making of a loaf myself, so that I could find some secret ingredient that the baker added into the dough. Then I could console myself that a failed loaf at home was a result of  the omission of that ‘secret ingredient’! Was this too harebrained a scheme to work? Well last Sunday I learnt a few lessons! The baking class was to be held at Lavonne Academy of Baking Science and Pastry Arts in Domlur. A couple of food bloggers were invited for the bread …

Raspberry Mascarpone Pie

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Raspberry Mascarpone Pie @ A Spoonful of Sugar, Indiranagar, Bangalore I drove furiously; a few motorists were roughly pushed to the pavement. Six kilometers was nothing to satisfy a craving. And this time it was bad. I couldn’t think straight, I needed the fix…now. I had the rest of them on speed dial, but this one was different. If I wanted it, I had to go there myself. The anticipation builds up as you come closer. Maybe that was part of their plan? Parallel parking was not my scene, but I did it anyway. I didn’t want the moment to be interrupted by the cops. I walked into the space. There were others like me, reverently consuming their poison. He looked at me from behind the counter. The clear glass displayed everything that I wanted and more. Which one would I choose today? Something dark and dangerous or something sweet and exotic? There was one in Red calling out to me. I looked with scare concealed desire. He smirked and handed it over to me. …

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 …

French Macarons and Amande Patisserie

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There has been a flurry of activity around the Macaron in Bangalore. Suddenly home bakers have taken to trying their hand at churning these pretty treats out, Taj Vivanta has a Macaron festival, patisseries are selling them hot off the mint and  there has even been serious discussions on a popular food group around their spelling! Adding to this is Masterchef Australia – I don’t think there’s been one season where the contestants have not tried their hand at impressing the judges with a fancy macaron. I guess we’ve reached critical mass for the Macaron in Bangalore and Amande Patisserie has come in at the right moment! Before you read any further, I have a few things to profess. When I first came across Amande, I was just a happy customer. Being a click crazy person, of course I had to take pretty pictures of the Macarons and cry out to all and sundry on Facebook on how much I loved them. Owing to this evangelist behavior Amande’s customer list included people from my friend …

AU BON PAIN (Koramangala)

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Au Bon Pain (pronounced O-Bo-Pa) literally means ‘the place of good bread’. So when you walk into the ‘international bakey café (as they call it) that’s what they expect you to expect.  I like that they call it a bakery café – sets them apart from the gazillion coffee shops around. Not that they don’t serve a mean coffee… but you get the drift! The outlet at Kormangala is located at the Sony world junction. The said junction becoming a kind of a food fest, what with ten to twelve restaurants within a 500 meter radius! Au Bon Pain is quite easy to locate considering the trademark cheery yellow colour of the café. (I have the same colour painted on my walls, so excuse me for thinking it’s a great colour!). That said – where do you park once you reach that junction?? Street parking in this area is like a game of musical chairs and most often than not, you are left without one! We parked next to Sapphire and gingerly crossed the mammoth …