All posts tagged: Central Bangalore

Terrariums and other Surprises @ Ottimo (ITC Gardenia, Bangalore)

Published by

It looks like every five star hotel worth its salt, needs to have an Italian restaurant to cater to our new found love of Italian cuisine. You can’t blame them after all, the Indians have taken with gusto to pasta as if it were dal chawal! Ottimo (which means excellent in Italian) has steered away from the carb-heavy renditions of Italian cuisine and bravely presented a lighter fare with emphasis on nutrition and fresh ingredients. Chef Vittorio Grecco has also indulged his love for molecular gastronomy here and his experience in Michelin starred restaurants across Italy has helped him nudge us towards trying something which looks unfamiliar, but in the end is an excellent tribute to the flavors of Italy. Ottimostands in place of the erstwhile West View Grill and has an air of relaxed luxury. The restaurant itself wraps around the main kitchen which displays a row of terrariums (Micro gardens within their own eco-system, sitting pretty within glass containers). While I am not personally a fan of velvet sofas (this one has a …

Some Irish grub and Amritsari Fish @ Blimey! (1 MG Road Mall, Bangalore)

Published by

If you’ve lived in Bangalore for the past year, chances are you have already heard of Blimey. Not the expression ‘Blimey!’ (I’m pretty sure no Irishman/women uses it these days) but Blimey the gastropub located at 1MG mall. They are pretty notorious for their packed to the kilt hilt Sunday brunches and the teeny boppers that frequent the place for sundowners. With the amazing view of Ulsoor lake from their terrace, coupled with some cool cocktails, Irish brews and grub – they have survived the one year mark. And that my friends, is an achievement in Bangalore, which has become ruthless in weeding out restaurants and pubs which don’t make the mark. So to celebrate their coming of age (yes, one is a good number), the gastropub has decided to update their menu with some cool new dishes. We went on a Monday to sample the old and the new and let you know what hits the spot.    I tried to keep the focus on the food, but when offered a Dirty Martini (the …

Dining in Style – Riwaz @ The Ritz-Carlton (Bangalore)

Published by

A New York style maven once said, ‘Style is a way of saying who you are, without having to speak’. In the matter of The Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore, luxury seeps through every pore of its being! From the awe inspiring driveway, to the elegant and intricate jaali work, to the splashes of gold and the fire and stone décor – you just can’t escape it. Riwaz their North-West Frontier cuisine restaurant envelopes itself in this richness while somehow managing to still keep the décor modern. Chef Ramandeep Kukreja heads the culinary team at the restaurant and is clearly passionate about the cuisine. While I felt this type of cuisine was done to death in all the ‘North Indian’ restaurants in Bangalore, I still could not turn down an invite to sample the new menu at Riwaz. (They make a conscious effort to come out with something new every six months.) Why, some of the recipes are sourced from the chef’s own family and that gave me the necessary incentive to accept a dinner invitation on a …

FoodLovers Gourmet City – Le Jardin @ The Oberoi (Bangalore)

Published by

Bangalore has been a glutton for restaurant showcases in the past couple of years and every gourmand worth his salt, bookmarks this time to explore and indulge. Le Jardin at The Oberoi played host to us this Thursday to kick start the FoodLovers Gourmet City event. With 20 of the finest restaurants in Bangalore participating this year, it promises to be a celebration of all things food. While value for money has always been the driving theme for restaurant showcases, FoodLovers Gourmet city combines that with a specially curated menu featuring the chef’s signature dishes. Add to that the variety of cuisines on offer, options to dine out at lunch or dinner, choices between a 2 course and a 3 course menu – and you have yourself an event that’s bound to stand out from the crowd. FoodLovers takes it a couple of notches higher and ends the showcase with FoodLovers Chefs for Charity. The 20 participating restaurants offer a gourmet grazing experience over lunch on 29th March, at The Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore.  All proceeds from …

Syrian Christian Delicacies @ Karavalli (The Gateway Hotel, Bangalore)

Published by

Karavalli has a long standing tradition of training its chefs in the kitchens of traditional homes and still continues to procure ingredients from the original source. As a tribute to household recipes that can be lost in the pages of time, Karavalli makes a conscious effort to bring this back into our memories and taste buds by hosting traditional food festivals. This February it plays host to Mathai Achayan and his Syrian Christian delicacies.  God’s own country has a host of different communities that call it home and each one of them has a special way of treating local spices like red chillies, coconut, pepper, fresh fish and meats to bring out something completely unique. In Kerala, the Syrian Christian food is a little different from the regular Kerala Hindu Sadya, becaue of the addition of non-vegetarian elements to the meal. The most noted contribution of the community to the cuisine of Kerala has been the hoppers, duck roast, meen vevichattu and the istew (stew). Mr. Mathai hails from the Vattukulam, in Kottayam district, which …

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

Published by

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 …

Grill Fest @ Polo Club (The Oberoi, Bangalore)

Published by

Let’s say you had a chance to dine under the stars in a beautiful garden with the sound of a gurgling fountain in the background. Let’s say you had the finest and freshest produce laid out in front of you. Let’s say you had a very accomplished chef manning the grill to keep you company. And let’s round off this hypothetical situation with one talented mixologist who wouldn’t stop impressing you with exciting cocktails. Wouldn’t you rush to be a part of this? Well, lucky for you this scenario is not something I cooked up in my overactive imagination. Polo Club at The Oberoi ensures you will have a lovely evening at their Live Grills Festival. I was invited for an evening of grills, cocktails and fun conversations (the last part we rustled up ourselves) and left the evening a little more light headed then when I arrived. Polo Club is a place that fits perfectly with Bangalore’s Garden City tag. And it really is a joy to dine alfresco in a city that is …

The Monkey Bar Burger Festival (Residency Road, Bangalore)

Published by

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 …