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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 night. And what a fantastic date it was 😉 Natasha and Nitin were our other partners in crime and this night turned out to be the best! (P.S. We didn’t even drink a drop of alcohol the whole night and all of us were buzzing with the food high!). Chef Naren kept popping in and out of the scene to enliven the night with the most fun stories. It was like dining in an old friend’s house and that made the experience so much more special. Somehow I stay away from writing about my favorite restaurants, because I don’t want to be judged about my obvious love for them. Or for the simple fact that I will take up cudgels with anyone who dares say anything negative about them. But Karavalli cannot disappoint – it’s just in their lineage to be amazing. So I proudly present to you – Aquafest 2013.

I decided to just do a picture review this time because we literally ate everything on the new menu and also because EVERYTHING was amazing. I have to tell you that these dishes are created especially for the festival, so better get to Karavalli by the 30th to ensure you don’t cheat yourself of some amazing food. And go in a group, so that you can try more things from the menu – sharing is so much fun in this case! Needless to say, leave your vegetarian and non-seafood loving/ seafood-allergic friends behind (Oh, the unfairness of life!).
If I HAD to pick my favorites (so so difficult) the Octupus Uppumunchi, the Kane Jeera Meera and the Kuttanadan Karuvapila Konju absolutely blew my mind. The Ramasseri Idly was also da bomb. And Oh… the Banana Caramel Ice Cream! (it was not part of the menu but DO order it). I’ve told Chef I’m coming back for a tub! (Sweet Dreams are made of these…)
Karavalli
The Gateway Hotel,
No.66, Residency Road,
Bangalore – 560025.
Ph: +91 80 66604545
Parking: Valet available
Cost: Rs.3000/- for a meal for two without alcohol
The festival is on from 15th – 30th Nov 2013.

Pathway to Heaven with Bacon Wrapped Prawns

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There are many pathways to heaven they say. With most ending with some bearded gentleman manning the pearly gates. (Or in my case a portly gentleman sitting on a Buffalo who has a really long ledger of life events). And you would have to be good and do good and all that jazz to really even be considered for a chance to get there. Then steps in bureaucracy, where they make you wait at the gates (in a queue mind you…) before they proceed to check your files and then certify your eligibility to enter. Why, some may even be turned away due to a totally negligible mistake (Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, apparently!). So the chances to enter heaven for people like us are slim to none.
Since the final destination seems like a distant dream, are we to moan and groan about its inaccessibility? Hell No! (Oops… swearing I’m sure is not allowed. Especially when it involves Heaven’s direct competitor!). So again, you see the chances are really-really teeny-weeny. As I am a doer not a cribber, I have decided to create my own piece of heaven instead of waiting in line. It’s called Bacon wrapped Prawns. They come as a pair and are extremely adept at recreating the hallowed space. (You can thank me later for the cheat sheet). The gentlemen ‘above’ are welcome to some as well. After all, standing at the gates all day, can’t be that exciting 😛
Bacon Wrapped Prawns
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Serves: 4
What you need:
16 Large Prawns, deveined, peeled, with tails on
16 strips of Bacon
16 Toothpicks
1 cup All purpose Flour (Maida)
2/3 cup Cold Water
1 Egg
¼ tsp Soda bicarbonate
¼ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
¼ tsp Chili powder
Salt (optional, as the Bacon is already salty)
What to do:
Drain prawns on paper towel completely. Lay out bacon as well.
Wrap each shrimp with one strip of bacon. Skewer with a toothpick to hold in place.
Make tempura batter. In a bowl, beat egg and add cold water. Add all-purpose flour, pepper, chilli powder and whisk gently. Add the soda bicarbonate. You will notice small bubbles form on the surface.  
Heat groundnut oil/ canola oil in a large frying pan to ensure you can deep fry the prawns.
Dip each bacon wrapped prawn (along with the toothpick) in the tempura batter. Deep-fry on medium heat until crisp and golden. (5-7 mins). (if you are lucky enough to have a deep fryer set the temperature to 170°C).
Drain on paper towels. (You can sprinkle some salt on top now).
Serve with sweet chilli sauce.
P.S. I used this as a main course where I served 4 large Prawns per person with an Egg Fried Rice and a lovely sweet Chilli Sauce from Real Thai. This recipe is a keeper!

 

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 come up with the perfect foil to entice us into their glass doors. The restaurant has a contemporary look and feel that is almost bordering on pure functional. (I had strange visions of an airport). Sometimes minimalism is not everyone’s cup of tea. (Tsk, tsk, that is my evil alter ego speaking… it’s called The Alcoholporndiaries! :P).
On offer, (which I sampled last Thursday) is an I-can’t-believe-my-eyes fairly good deal. Two One of their signature cocktails with a dim sum basket of 8, for Rs.799/- plus taxes. Yup, that sounds about right! (The mocktail combination works out cheaper to Rs.699/- plus taxes). This is a great way to test the waters before plunging headlong into a hedonistic dim sum orgy. I chose the Mixed basket while my friend chose the Vegetarian option. (50% of Yauatcha’s menu is Vegetarian. Now that I’m sure is news, as well as a welcome relief to our much ostracized veggie brethren.)
There are only two choices of cocktails or mocktails offered with the dim sum basket, both vodka based. (Which suits me fine, as I never graduated to Whiskey). Thankfully they claim to use Belvedere Vodka and Zubrowka vodka, so my niggling cheap Bangalorean was satisfied. The Thea Martini has notes of ginger, vanilla, chilli sugar and apple juice. The Lalu (no reference to our Laloo Prasadji) is my pick of the two with lemongrass, lime, oolong tea and lychee juice. Both are very oriental in theme and taste. I also like that they used tea, stays in tandem with their dim sum-tea house spiel. (The rest of the cocktails that you see are what we started ordering off the menu, once we were sufficiently drunk!)
The Dimsums are fabulous. Seriously. Where else can you see the Hargow with the 17 mandatory pleats? Or the Crystal Dumpling putting up its innards on display with the translucent potato starch wrapper? Or the gorgeous Chive dumpling decorated with pomegranate seeds? Or the Sui Mai that held its shape and didn’t flower upon arrival? Case Closed.
As we were sufficiently tipsy and more important, after looking at their main menu – less intimidated by the prices (Veg dumplings start at Rs.195/-), we ordered the much talked about Crispy Duck Rolls. Succulent duck meat encased in pastry and deep fried – A spring roll version of the Peking duck, if you ask me. I wish they had served some crispy skin on the side…that would have completed the dish!
We stopped ourselves short of a full meal that day as a friend’s son’s birthday party needed our presence. (We fortified ourselves with enough cocktails, to smile and wave throughout the party :P) But I’m definitely heading back to Yauatcha to try the Scallop Sui Mai and the Poached Peking dumpling. I also need to try that much instagrammed dessert of theirs – the Raspberry Delice.
Both the cocktails and the dimsums are the standard fare available in their London restaurant. So what Yauatcha Bangalore is actually doing, is saving you the cost of a flight ticket to dine there 😛 Until next time folks…

Dated 14th Nov – Note: The offer is available from Monday to Thursday both for lunch and dinner. (I went there again and had to explicitly ask for the same. I would prefer that the waitstaff atleast tell us about the promo that they are running… )

Yauatcha
1 MG Mall, MG Road, Bangalore.
Ph: +91 80 67724422/ 18002661000
Parking: In the mall/ Valet available

Cranberry & Chocolate Chip Wholewheat Muffins

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Cranberries are not grown in India. So all those gorgeous recipes with Cranberries in them were pushed to the back, because let’s face it – I don’t want to pay an arm and a leg to import them. Nor do I want to grab onto someone else’s arm or leg and beg them to get some from their trip abroad.
The dried version however IS available here and I recently happened to pick some up for the heck of it. Foodhall offeres two types – one that looks all red and juicy (which is what I would expect a cranberry to be) and the other which looks like a mini blueberry. Of course I gravitated to the more familiar one, only to be told that they were not whole cranberries and are treated to some extent, with sugar and color to make them pretty and sweeter. I took the bait and bought the more expensive but tart, Whole Cranberries.
The idea was to keep them at my work desk and have them as a snack, a-la-Oprah. But the recipe books beckoned and I caved. A whole wheat muffin that called for dried cranberries had my name written all over it! I improvised and added some chocolate chips in as well…Who knew they would hit it off? 🙂

Cranberry and Chocolate Chip – Whole Wheat Muffins
Prep time: 10 mins
Bake time: 22-25 mins
Makes 12 large muffins
What you need:
2 cups Whole wheat Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 ½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
1/3 cup Oil (vegetable/ sunflower)
1 Egg
¾ cup Milk
½ cup + 1 Tbsp Dried Cranberries
½ cup Chocolate chips
What to do:
In a big bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar with a whisk.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together with milk and oil.
Fold this into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Add the cranberries and chocolate chips, but don’t over mix.
Line a cupcake pan with liners and add the batter till 3/4th full in the liners. 
Sprinkle the remaining one tbsp of cranberries on top of the muffins.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 180°C or till a wooden skewer comes free of crumbs when inserted into the center of the muffins.
Let it rest on a wire rack for 10 mins, before turning out.
P.S. This recipe works with all purpose flour as well. If you want the cranberries to look ruby red – use the processed cranberries instead of the whole ones.

Fizzy Batter Fried Fish

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Chemistry was an exciting subject in school – at least the part that required us to don lab coats and act like scientists. No matter that the only thing we were actually allowed to do, is heat some substances (washing soda/ copper sulphate) and note down the properties. I don’t want to give you the spiel about how recreating a recipe is nothing but chemistry, but in this case it’s true. I was supposed to use carbonated water or soda, in combination with soda bicarbonate powder to get the desired ‘fizziness’ to make the batter light and crispy. It’s anticlimactic that the actual reaction was nowhere near the explosion that I expected, but more of a tame bubble bath! But the end product was right as promised – crisp, light and almost see-through-lace like batter. Now that’s an experiment recipe worth repeating.
Fizzy Batter Fried Fish
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Serves 4
What you need:
125 gms Plain Flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of Soda/ baking soda
1 tsp Paprika
150ml cold, fizzy water (carbonated water/ soda)
250 ml Oil for frying
300 gms White fish filets, cut into strips (haddock/ betki/ sole/ basa)
What to do:
Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda, paprika and fizzy water in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper and whisk until smooth and tiny bubbles form on the surface.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep-sided frying pan. (About 200°C or till a cube of bread sizzles on contact with the oil).
Put the fish in the batter one piece at a time and coat well. Remove any excess and carefully lower into the oil. Cook turning occasionally for 3-5 mins or until the pieces are a rich golden brown. Make sure the pieces don’t stick together. If they do, gently separate them with the spatula.
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Sprinkle with a little salt and serve hot with pink sauce (ketchup and mayo) or lemon aioli (garlic-lemon mayonnaise).
P.S. if you use beer instead of fizzy water, it will result in a crisp, rich dark batter.

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 I, went to check out the café. Story goes that ‘the said friend’ is such a bread fiend, that she hatched a little ploy to steal the starter yeast from a famous bakery in Pune! Well, we weren’t planning any such heist at the Café of Joy and so this was just going to be a casual visit 😉

 

After some very talented parking on the roadside, we walked in to the smell of freshly baked bread! (They apparently have a plot next door that you can park in, but that’s before you hit the café and it’s more likely that you will miss it. Oh wait… I just told you – so don’t try your luck with the cops like me!). The all white décor and the lavender flowers already put me in a very good mood and the bread baskets drew us in like bears to honey. (Or was that bees?). The haul today was pretty impressive – I spotted Foccacia, Brioche, some amazing Ciabatta (more on that later), Monkey Bread (brioche with caramelized sugar and nuts), interesting rustic Millet bread, Sourdough and more! The owner informed us that they were currently baking a Prune and Walnut Bread and maybe it would be ready by the end of our meal! Oh goody!

We scanned the blackboard menu (in this case the Glass board menu) and decided we were famished (that’s what the smell of bread and driving to Whitefield can do to you!). They change their menu every week or so and this week listed some quiches, german sausages, salads and sandwiches. We both wanted to try the Schnecken Sausage with Bavarian Potato Salad and also the German Meatloaf – so we ordered both and decided to split it. Again, the smell of fresh bread is what induces such magnanimity! I sipped on a Cold Chocolate (if you ignore the calorie bomb – it was brilliant) and the saner friend enjoyed a Lemon Soda, whilst we waited for our meal. I couldn’t help but go crazy with my camera – the white provided the perfect foil for the goodies and I snapped away contentedly.
We asked for some fresh Ciabatta on the side and this was when we were transported to heaven. I might have raved about a certain bakery’s ciabatta before, but I retrench that statement and hereby crown Café of Joy my new favourite Ciabatta place! This had a moist crumb and a crackly crisp crust – gorgeous to soak in the olive oil and balsamic. The bread fiend gave it a double thumbs up and packed some home as well. Unfortunately I was barred from buying it. Yes, you heard me right! Apparently Ciabatta is best savored on the day it is made and the owner actually asked me not to buy it, when she heard I was planning to eat it sometime that week! A baker who’s passionate about her breads – now that makes for the best bakery don’t you think? (A little bit of digging revealed that Joy Basu has a diploma in artisanal baking from the Akademie Deutsches Backerhandwerk near Heidelberg in Germany. For the uninitiated – this is the central technical institute for all German Bakers’ Associations and was even credited with the recipe of the original Black Forest Cake!) 
Our mains arrived and the potato salad was as German as a potato salad could be! The bacon added the pizzaz to it and it served as a hearty accompaniment to the sausage and the meatloaf. (The sausages are sourced externally. If you fell in love looking at the sausage spiral, you can get something similar from a company named Bon Apetit in Auchan). Coupled with the cold chocolate, this meal was making me come undone at the seams, but I carried on for the sake of my just desserts.

Choices, choices – Blueberry, Blackberry, Lemon or Chocolate? I decided to try the Citron Cheesecake and their famed Sacher Torte (Viennese chocolate cake with apricot jam and chocolate icing) and packed the Blackberry Muffins to take back home. Most of the desserts here are not party to the saccharine overdoes you get in Bangalore. (Seriously – unless it’s a rosagulla, I don’t need my cakes to taste like sugar bombs!). The Citron cheesecake was pretty as a peach (lemon :P) and had a very interesting texture. They use quark cheese and that explained both the lightness and the feel. The Sacher Torte looked pretty, but somehow fell short for me. But on this, I will reserve judgment, because my only experience with Sacher Torte has been outside of Germany and I don’t want to start a war of the palates.
The Prune and Walnut Bread arrived and Joy (yes, the café is named after her…duh!) got us a tasting. I dug into it with gusto but I noticed the bread loving friend waiting patiently for 10 minutes before she took a bite. Apparently it’s good to let bread rest as well – when the steam escapes the bread is less doughy and more divine! And she was right – the bread tasted much better warm than hot. I packed some of these to take home as well! The friend also decided to take the Kit-Kat Cake (it has gems as well) home for the young-uns. It’s another story that the six year old son of the bread connoisseur choose to dig into the Ciabatta first!

 

 

So here’s the thing…I loved the place. And though it’s been less than a month since they opened their doors to the public, they seem to have their act together. And that’s always a blessing in a time where restaurants, use paying customer as their guinea pigs during test runs. At the risk of sounding cheesy, hope Café of Joy continues to hand out joy in the form of a perfectly baked Ciabatta!  
P.S. They do a round of Bread deliveries in Whitefield, at select gated communities from Tuesday to Friday. Check the Café for their schedule or email them info@cafeofjoybangalore.com. Gluten free and eggless products available on order with 24 hour notice.
Breads range from Rs.75- 150/- per loaf, Cakes range from Rs.100-150/- per slice, Café meals/sandwiches range from Rs.150-300/- per portion, Lemonades, Iced teas, Coffees – Rs. 50-100/-
Café of Joy
No.8, Siddhapura,
(Next to Bhagini Iris restaurant)
Whitefield Main Road,
Bangalore.
Ph: +91 9886329015
Parking: In the empty plot next door/ On the street

Coq Au Vin for easy entertaining

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I have not been lazy. The fact that my last blog post was a month and a half ago should not lead you to the obvious conclusion. The reason for not posting is because most of my cooking these days is done in the evening. That leads to the sad fact that there is no natural light to shoot my pictures. (This is the only time I wish I lived in a temperate region where the sun sets late!). This leads to me not posting the recipes because I always feel a recipe is enhanced by pictures. (Which is why I struggle to buy cookbook without pictures, unless it was something monumental like the Larousse Gastronomique!)
I make Coq Au Vin pretty often. That’s because it’s easy, can be made in large quantities, it freezes well and the leftovers always taste more brilliant than the day you actually make it. Another more practical reason is to use up leftover wine. (Not that there is too much, but the rare occasions of opening two bottles for two people can result in this miraculous event!). It’s a one pot rustic dish which is generally served with buttered flat noodles. The French use Burgundy for the ‘Vin’ part and a rooster for the ‘Coq’ part, but you may just use chicken and any good quality red wine. Julia Child may have made this dish popular in the Americas, but my recipe is from my Family Circle book that I have come to trust and love immensely. (P.S. they also have gorgeous pictures for each recipe!). So if you want something for easy entertaining – look no further.


Coq Au Vin (Chicken in Wine)
Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 1 hr
Serves 4
What you need:
1 kg skinned Chicken pieces (I like to use chicken thigh)
¾ cup all purpose Flour
Paprika, Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp Oil
1 Tbsp Oil, extra
4 Bacon rashers, chopped
20 small pickling onions (shallots)
6 cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 ½ cup good quality Red wine (burgundy, Merlot, Shiraz)
1 ½ cups Chicken Stock
¼ cup Tomato Puree
200 gms Button mushrooms
What to do:
Coat chicken in seasoned flour, shake off excess. Heat oil in a heavy based pan. Cook chicken quickly in small batches until well browned; drain on paper towels. (It generally takes me 10 mins for this step).
Heat extra oil in the same pan. Add bacon, onions and garlic. Cook, stirring until onions are browned. Add the wine to deglaze the pan, pour in the stock and the tomato paste. Stir to combine. Now drop in the chicken pieces. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 mins.
Add the mushrooms, stir to combine and simmer, uncovered, for a further 10 mins or until the chicken is very tender and the sauce has thickened slightly. Turn off the heat, transfer to a large serving plate and garnish with freshly chopped herbs like parsley. Serve a glass of the same wine used in the dish and you have yourselves a lovely dinner!
P.S. The co-resident loves mashed potatoes, so that’s what we had on the side. You can also serve some lovely French bread to mop up the sauce.  

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 lamps. Overlooking MG road and Ulsoor it makes for a pretty picture. My only grouse is that they serve only drinks and a limited selection of starters and dim sums at the lounge – for the full menu you need to head back to the restaurant. (They also have something called the meal in bowl option – but I’ll save that for a quick lunch day). 

We ordered ourselves some drinks to start the evening – a Singapore Sling and a Manhattan. The cocktails were nice tasting and pretty much the regular fare, but I could not fault the flavor balance. We ordered the Lemongrass Grilled Chicken and the Crystal Prawn Dumplings to help line our stomachs and get our appetites roaring. I really loved the Lemongrass grilled chicken. When I first looked at it, I was not heavily impressed because it looked more like a main course than a starter. And then I took one bite and the Thai flavors exploded in my mouth – lemongrass, basil, chili, and galangal! The waiter cautioned us about a super green fiery dip that he placed next to the chicken. I ignored the dip for the first few bites but then my curiosity got the better of me. And though it didn’t burn the house down, it was super spicy and somehow elevated the lemongrass chicken to a new level of tongue tickling goodness! The dumplings were beautifully made and it’s always fun to see the pink of the prawn and the green of the spring onions peek through the paper thin dumpling wrapper. Yes, this night was getting off to a good start!

The service is a tad slow, but this was a lounge bar, so I guess they excepted people to adopt the same lazy lounge outlook 😛 We were sitting at the bar today, so it’s but natural that you chat up the bartender. I was keen to try an Asian themed cocktail (as befits the place) and picked the Hanoi and the Flying Kiwi. (Yes, one drink down and the adventurous side of everyone pops up!) The Flying Kiwi was a vodka and cointreau concoction with fresh kiwi puree and apple juice. The Hanoi was something I tried for the first time – Banana Liqueur, fresh sweet lemon, honey, basil and lime. Now this one – I loved. A little on the sweeter side but it made a great accompaniment to the spicy starter. I asked the bartender to ship the second round of drinks to the restaurant and we gingerly made our way out the large wooden doorway and down the wooden steps to find ourselves in some Thai paradise.

You have three seating options in the restaurant. By the lovely channel of water, next to the giant stupa like structures, the more formal seating area next to the Buddha wall inside, or if you choose to have Korean food – they even have an area with Korean grills! We settled down quickly and started to scan the menu. The menu is pretty exhaustive, but what makes it easy is the pricing. They have a standard price for chicken, meat, prawn and seafood and I must say that it looked very reasonable. Actually, I was thrilled that the prices didn’t match the exorbitant décor J. If they only checked the box on taste – I could see myself becoming a regular here!

My eyes were instantly drawn to the Sushi and Sashimi Platter. The prices looked super competitive, so I asked them how many pieces in each platter? When they said 12, I said bring it on! Be informed that this takes about 20 mins to arrive at the table, because it is cut and rolled fresh. We were served an elegant platter with an assortment of sashimi and sushi (Salmon, Tuna, Crab and Squid). So what’s my take on it? The Maki rolls were good and the Sushi was great, but I felt that the Sashimi could have been firmer and sliced more evenly. But given that in most pure play Japanese restaurants they have a specialized chef just to prepare the sashimi – I think this Pan-Asian restaurant still did a very decent job! They also have an option of a single type of sushi, sashimi or maki platter and maybe I’ll come back another day to try it.
My partner in crime wanted Bulgogi. Considering this Korean delicacy is available at a select few restaurants in Bangalore (So-Ra-Sang and Hae-Kum-Gang to name two) and considering Wiki lists it in the Top 50 delicious foods in the world – he HAD to order it! Bulgogi is nothing but grilled beef – but the Korean marinade of soy, sesame, scallions, sugar, pepper and some more secret ingredients makes it a smashing success. The restaurant served the bulgogi with some lettuce and garlic and a side of Korean dipping sauce (as is the norm) and my dinner companion just polished it off!
I couldn’t resist ordering the Honey Chilli Pork Ribs. The reaction to this was unanimous. Though the ribs were finger-licking-good, the ones at LikeThatOnly and Monkey Bar have ruined the competition! Poor Tao ribs… you were good, but we’ve had better!  
I had heard that they make fantastic Khao Suey. And since I did not eat beef and therefore the Bulgogi, (no matter how divine smelling) was off my list, I could still pack in some more food! While I was looking at the menu, the chef suggested that we try his specialty – the Nonya Prawn Curry. Now this I KNOW, no one in Bangalore makes! Nonya cuisine is a combination of Chinese, Malay and Indonesian cuisines and is very popular in Singapore. You would probably be familiar with the Assam Laksa and the Otek-Otek (spiced fish steamed in a banana leaf) – both of them are actually Nonya delicacies. So I ordered the Prawn curry and waited with bated breath – I was not disappointed! The silky coconut curry was made resplendent with the raw turmeric and shrimp paste and the lemon grass balanced out the sweetness of the prawn. The addition of coriander powder and curry leaves should not alarm you – it is a key component of Nonya cuisine! I give this one a thumbs-up. (P.S. It had enough decent sized prawns to keep me very happy!)
Did we want dessert? Hmm…nothing too heavy was the first thought. So though the Kafir Lime Avocado Tiramisu sounded intriguing, we settled for some ice cream. If you know me well enough, of course I choose the most fun flavors! The Wasabi Ice Cream was no mild lily – it knew it was wasabi and hit my nose with the full force of its being! *Gasp Gasp* Tasty, but I pawned it off to the companion to finish – he loved battling it! The Tamarind Ice Cream was the good cop. Smooth, sweet with the earthy taste of tamarind – it rolled easily over my tongue and soothed the wasabi bad cop routine. I will end with this one, thank you very much!
The Tao Terraces left me pleasantly surprised with respect to their Japanese cuisine and very impressed with respect to the rest of their Asian repertoire. The ambience can seem like the biggest draw but after sampling the food, I have to say that it’s not far off! And with a price point that’s as comfortable as the cushions you are seated on – I would give them a lot more credit than they’ve received so far.
P.S. A little birdie told me that they have a special lunch buffet throughout the week (including Sundays) priced at Rs.550/- + taxes. I hope they serve Khao Suey 😉

Tao Terraces
5th Floor, 1 MG Mall,
Opp. Taj Vivanta,
MG Road,
Bangalore.
Ph: +91 998691144
Parking: In the Mall/ Valet
Cost: Rs.1800/- + taxes for a meal for two with alcohol