All posts tagged: Casual Dining

I’m seeing double @ Monkey Bar (Indiranagar, Bangalore)

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I’m always wary of part two’s, especially if I am dearly in love with part one. Will it live up to its predecessor? Will it continue to hold my attention? Will it be same-same but also different? Sigh…the suspense can wreak havoc with my system. Who’s not worried about Ben Affleck reprising Cristian Bale’s role as the Dark Knight?? (Oh wait, we’re not having that conversation). Let’s rewind to ‘the suspense can wreak havoc with my system’ and apply the feeling to the opening of the new Monkey Bar in Indiranagar. Overreacting? Hell no! Let’s get down to business shall we… monkey business! I went for their launch party where they gave us hard hats with the Monkey Bar logo on it *clap clap*. Then I went again and again and again, till finally, after a month of its opening, I can find my bearings and be objective about it. I’ve heard people gushing that ‘two’s better than one’ and ‘more the merrier’ but unless you’re in a fantasy playing in your own head with …

Mango Mania @ Grand Mercure (Koramangala, Bangalore)

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It’s very hard to keep me away from Mangoes. Considering they make their hallowed appearance once a year and all the good ones are always exported – I always give them A-one priority on my list. So when Grand Mercure announced a Mango Festival (on till the 17th of May), where everything from drinks, appetizers, main course and dessert will be mango based, I was hard pressed to say yes. Considering the hotel is practically in my backyard, I even accepted a weekday invite. Anything for good mangoes I tell you! A table under the stars was arranged for us (complete with organic mosquito repellent) and the blogger group got to work immediately. (By that I mean running around to find seats with the best lighting!). Drinks were ordered and we waited in anticipation of our first experience of the mango menu. I ordered a Mango and Apricot Mojito and was pretty sure I made the best possible choice. The other options included a mango, rum and vanilla ice cream combo and the ever popular …

Live Blogging for Social Media Week Bangalore 2014 @ Fava (UB City, Bangalore)

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Bangalore played host to Social Media Week (#SMW Bangalore) this year and it was definitely an honor to be a part of it! The FB page states that “SMW Bangalore is where we make progress in regards to how humanity and technology come together”. Taking place in eight cities simultaneously from February 17-21, 2014 it is truly an amalgamation of the best social media mavens in the world. #SMWBangalore is powered by Nokia India & Hosted by R Square Consulting, and I was invited to take part in the Live Food Blogging Session at Fava. I also spoke in a panel discussion about Social Media and its impact on the restaurant industry, but I will focus my efforts on taking you through the live blogging session.  Let’s be honest first off. It is super difficult to eat, listen, interact and finally blog at the same time. Especially when people like me are attached to their DSLR’s like conjoined twins. My Samsumg S3 takes fairly good pictures compared to other mobile phones but it really cannot …

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 …

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 …

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 …