All posts filed under: Restaurant Reviews

Cruising Around – Fiat Caffe-Car-O-Bar (Domlur, Inner Ring Road)

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Fiat Caffe has been reinvented as Fiat Caffé-Car-O-Bar, which should tickle our Indian sensibilities. For all those who assume that Fiat Caffe is a cool looking car showroom – it is. But it also has another level which functions as a bar and café and the ground floor transforms into a space for performances and live gigs after dark. And if you want to dance the night away – they have a cool DJ console fashioned in the hood of a dismembered fiat! How’s that for sticking to the automobile theme?

10 years and counting – Olive Beach (Wood Street)

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Olive Beach didn’t shut shop. They just moved the iconic blue door a couple of feet to the right. They also decided to do away with the pebbles – because they obviously care for your stilettos. And they added a Tuscan Kitchen with a brick oven – just to indulge you with the perfect wood fired pizza. They placed large ornate mirrors that reflect the soft candle light – to make you glow as you dine under the stars. They even upped the ante on plating – pretty flower garnishes never hurt anyone. And the massive bar at the back – well, that’s kinda self-explanatory, right? The little white villa on Wood Street comes to you in a spruced up avatar in its 10th year in Bangalore. They haven’t dispensed with the underlying theme of Olive – a large (sunny in the daytime) courtyard will still greet you as you enter and the whitewashed walls echo the charm of a Mediterranean villa. But…they’ve opened up the space – both literally and figuratively! The ‘new’ Mediterranean …

Toscano – Always on my List! (UB City, Lavelle Road)

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I have a couple of favourite places that I keep revisiting in Bangalore. The years have only added to their charm and increased my love for them. When friends and family ask for recommendations, these names always pop up first in my head and I don’t have any qualms about literally pimping them to all and sundry. Toscano has been on that list ever since they opened in 2005 and I’m thrilled that they are rightly rated as the “Best Italian Restaurant in Bangalore” *Times Food Guide 2014*.

Lunch @ The Black Rabbit (100ft Rd, Indiranagar)

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I don’t know what it is that made me think of Alice in Wonderland and the ticking pocket watch when I heard of The Black Rabbit. I’ve always thought it was a strange thing to show a kid the craziness of a disappearing cat and a mad hatter in junior school, though it was cleverly disguised as a cartoon. I had decided that I never wanted to be Alice, if wonderland held such scary things as the Jabberwocky. The fact that I enjoy the book now, is altogether a different story. Maybe I took the magic portion after all 😉

Fun Asian Eating – Mamagoto (Indiranagar)

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Fun Asian Dining and quirky interiors might be all the rage these days, but in all honesty, Mamagoto was the true pioneer in India. Mamagoto literally means to ‘play with food’ in Japanese and that’s exactly what they set out to do. Experimental, Casual, and Affordable, this place tickles me in all the right spots. It all starts with walking through the big yellow door. Let’s go have a peek shall we?

Dakshin’s new menu – A century in the making! (ITC Windsor)

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Being a South Indian myself, I am wont to think that I don’t need to dine out in a restaurant that specializes in South Indian cuisine. Why, my mom could churn out the same things at home and I would probably like that better because my palate has developed a taste for it over the years. This deluded thought process however, has robbed me of one of the best fine dining experiences the city has to offer – till today. (Ok, it was three weeks ago, but let’s not get that specific!). Dakshin has been rated time and again as one of the finest South Indian restaurants in the country (It just won the Times Food Award for the third time in a row this Sunday). Specializing in authentic coastal and regional specialties of the five Southern states (Telangana included) – it strives to recreate the splendor and diversity of a cuisine that is definitely not restricted to Idly-Vada-Sambhar. The restaurant has taken it up a notch and now indulges us with an array of …

Hobson Jobson Festival @ Monkey Bar (Wood Street)

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Missy baba, Tip-top, Abli, Bleddy Buggers, Dekchis, Blessed thing, Suzies – If all this sounds like mumbo-jumbo to you, you probably didn’t have cool Anglo-Indian friends and neighbors like I did! Growing up in the Cantonment area of Bangalore, I was exposed to more than my share of ‘my girl, ‘junglee’ and ‘what men (man)?’ than I care to remember. But what it also did, was expose my palate to the wonder that is Mutton Ball Curry, Coconut rice, Railway cutlets, Bobo Curry, Kedgeree and Keema Puffs. I’m not ashamed to say that I sat close to Melanie Lushington during junior class, so that I could share her tiffin! So it is with some nostalgia that I welcome the Hobson Jobson Festival at Monkey Bar. A tribute to all things Anglo-Indian, but with the customary monkey-business thrown in!