All posts filed under: Restaurant Reviews

The FPD Quickie: Breakfast at Red Fork (Indiranagar, Bangalore)

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Procrastination is a much maligned word. In my opinion, all of us should give ourselves the benefit of putting away things that can be done today to tomorrow, or even day after. I have been luxuriating in the knowledge that I have been lazy. And it’s an absolutely wonderful state of mind to begin the New Year after the mad rush of December. So Happy New Year to you…I might have even wished you in February, but I figured halfway into the month is a good upholder of the procrastinator flag. In keeping with the lazy attitude I bring to you a perfectly lazy way to enjoy a Sunday – Breakfast at Red Fork in Indiranagar. This one has been on my list for a very long time but I always postponed it. The current urge to dine here was driven by the fact that I was long overdue to meet my friend (there you go again… I’m so good at this procrastinating thing!) to catch up on happenings in our lives. Outdoor seating on …

The Monkey Bar Burger Festival (Residency Road, Bangalore)

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Monkey Bar has some tricks up its sleeve for the next two weeks – their Gourmet Burger festival! I mean, who better than the Gastro pub pioneers in the country, to bring us something out of the ordinary?! If you’ve read Malcolm Gladwell’s book – Outliers, you know the ‘10,000 hour rule’. It simply states that mastery in any field can be achieved with close to 10,000 hours of practice. Well, MoBar can aim to get on the master bandwagon – after all, they claim to have churned out 10,000 burgers since they opened! J MoBar has always been out-there when it comes to their interpretations of classics and I like that they push the envelope a little bit (ok, a lot!). How different can a burger get? Well, they promised us it was ‘the most fun we could have between two buns’ (ahem…), and I for one wasn’t planning to pass up an opportunity to try their creations. We were a little spoilt for choice – 8 different gourmet burgers to choose from, between …

Aquafest 2013 @ Karavalli (The Gateway Hotel, Residency Road, Bangalore)

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One of my favorite restaurants in Bangalore – Karavalli at The Gateway Hotel, runs a seafood festival every year. This year’s Aquafest runs from the 15th to the 30th of November and is truly a gastronomical delight. For those of you who have never heard of Karavalli (face turning blue), it is an award winning restaurant that focuses on home-food recipes sourced from the coastal regions of South West India. (Think Mangalorean Bunts and Konkanis, Kodavas from Coorg, Malayalees, Calicut Muslims and Syrian Christians of Travancore, Havyaka Brahmins of Vitla and the Portuguese of Goa). The only restaurant in India to feature in the Top 50 list of The S. Pellegrino Asia’s Best Restaurants, Karavalli has always lived up to its legacy of creating fantastic food and amazing memories for me. Last week I had the chance to dine with the most affable, humble and accomplished Chef Naren Thimmaiah during the preview of the Aquafest menu. I have to thank dear Monika Manchanda of Sin-A-Mon Tales, for taking me along as her date for the …

The FPD Quickie: Drinks and Dimsums @ Yauatcha (M.G. Road, Bangalore)

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This restaurant has been spoken about in hallowed hushes and reverent tones ever since it opened its doors to us poor Bangaloreans. The branch of a Michelin starred restaurant from London? Here? To grace us? *gasp, stutter, swoon*. Take a second – breathe. Now hear me out. For all the brouhaha – Yauatcha does not claim to be some super sexy, high-on-a pedestal brand. What it does claim to be and rightfully so (considering its pedigree) – is a contemporary dim sum teahouse offering an international experience. You would not wince to spend $70 on a nice meal for two abroad with the same quality of ingredients, similar setting and almost ditto execution of the dish – so why flinch now? All things said and done, I do understand that Bangalore is a price conscious city. We love to have our cake and eat it too (at the ‘right’ price :P). So it’s perfectly normal that the social food circles are abuzz with the higher wallet factor while dining at Yauatcha. So the restaurant has …

Of Picket Fences and a Lavender Door – Cafe of Joy (Whitefield Main Road, Bangalore)

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Now ‘quaint’ is a word that is loosely used with a lot of cafes in Bangalore – a practice that must stop, after visiting the Café of Joy. This café can now claim monopoly of the term, with its picket fences, an all white theme with lavender accents and the most interesting knick knacks! If not for the in-your-face-signage of Bhagini restaurant next door, I could almost imagine that I stepped into a gorgeous café in the German countryside. And I’m not saying that because of the cute figurines of the German baker couple, or the little white cow milk pourers, or the cow butter dishes, or the fact that the board says Brot.Gateaux.Biscotti. (Ok, that is very German :P) But I’m game for a little round of active imagination and if their desire was to transport me to a European café – game well played! We heard that apart from cakes, artisanal breads, and baked goodies (produced at their on-site bakery) they also serve lunch. So on Saturday, a really talented baker friend and …

Zen and the Art of Lounging @ Tao Terraces (M.G. Road, Bangalore)

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After reading mixed reviews about the Tao Terraces, it was time for me to check it out myself. I have always visited their gorgeous terrace lounge bar for a couple of drinks and to enjoy the best house music in Bangalore. Even through the restaurant on the 1st level looks like a setting out of an opulent Thai mansion, I’ve always headed straight up for the views and the wonderful Bangalore weather. This time I was determined to give their Pan-Asian restaurant a try as well, especially since I realized that they served Japanese, as well as Burmese cuisine.   Situated on the 5th floor of the 1MG mall, it’s not hard to find. The hostess will guide you to the big red door that opens into the lavish and distinctly Asian setting. We headed up to the lounge first for a couple of drinks before our dinner reservation downstairs. One thing the Tao Terraces can boast of is having space! The terrace is made up of Thai style open cabanas, water bodies and little …

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 …

Flight Of Cocktails – Sundowner @ LikeThatOnly (Now Closed :( )

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I like my cocktails. Why must I have a stodgy old rum and coke when I can have an exciting Cuba Libre with a dash of lime? Or if you’re a vodka drinker like me, a fancy Cosmopolitan to sip at, whilst we elegantly drape one long leg over the other, at the bar counter? Or to go all James Bond and have a Martini – shaken, not stirred. Sounds dated? Well it is! With so many permutations and combinations of heady liquor and even headier liqueurs, you would expect the bars in Bangalore to offer us something other than creations from the 1960’s! Yes, we like our cocktails and yes, we order them religiously on a night out, but just because we are easy to please – doesn’t mean you don’t even try!! For lord’s sake, a single cocktail costs as much as a main course in some places and if I’m going to get Vodka topped with Cranberry juice from Tropicana – I’d rather give it a miss. (Ok, I lie… I’ll still …