Village - the soul of India

There are so many long holiday weekends this year and I already have things planned out for most of them. But when it came to this particular one (the Jan 26th one), we had to shelve most of our plans for several reasons. Not one to give up that easily, I had this one holiday well planned out - Get as early as possible to the Lalbagh Flower show and then head out to the Butterfly Park at Bannerghatta road with a nice lunch in between. The Lalbagh Flower show, at least what I got to see of it considering the crowd was like someone had told the Bangalorean population gold was being handed for free, was really nice. But we saw half and got out before we got squashed. Next we headed to Bannerghatta road, but half hour of not making any head way in senseless traffic and we just hightailed it back. I needed to pick up some stuff for junior and we headed to Central Mall in JP Nagar. As luck would have it I did not get what I was looking for. As we were leaving, happened to notice this ad painted on the lift - "The Village, Yeh Ek Restaurant Nahin, Ek Anubhav hai" - Its not a Restaurant its a experience". Since we were there and its was lunch time, we decided to head there. And so all the way to the 6th floor we went.

At the door we were greeted by this guy playing the dhol. You pay at the entrance for the buffet, which was vegetarian and then enter. I was totally floored then - below is one of the first sights you see... an absolute village setting. You have a fake neem ka ped (tree) with a jyothish (astrologer) sitting there waiting to read your palm, you can get mehendi done or even some tattoos. The whole place is divided into sections that are typical to the village. You have the Billu Barber section, complete with the mirror and grooming paraphernalia, Imperial Talkies where a real ancient B&W film was playing. Bal Vidya Mandir with the blackboard et al, the Police Taani, Babloo ki Goshaala (Babloo's cow shed) and more. It was so much to take in at one time and junior was in excitement overdrive. 

The neem ka ped and astrologer

An overall look

The Billo Barber section

Imperial Talkies and Bal Vidya Mandir

Now for the food experience. As you enter, you have these guys dressed as chaiwallahs carrying little steel glasses of jal jeera and shikanji in those metal tea carriers. You can take as many glasses as you like. Next a chap dressed as an inmate of Central Jail (which later features as an important part of your meal) comes around with an old time kettle filled with hot tomato soup. The Shikanji and Jal Jeera were ice cold and great and the soup was so-so. We took in a bit of the movie at Imperial Talkies while we sipped on these.

Being served by the inmate. I just caught him at the wrong time,
he was actually smiling all the while

Next you can head to the Chaniya Maniya counter and gorge on all sorts of chaats. There was a shouting match going on between the Theka (where ice golas were being made) and this counter. Each was yelling out typical hawker style to get more people to their corner. It took me a few minutes to figure out that it was the same guy with the gun throat heading from one counter to another and creating the ruckus. But good fun it was! We missed it at the beginning, but opposite the GoShaala is the paani puri guy and you should have some from there if you like tangy, spicy, aloo filled puris on your little plates.

The food is a mix of Rajasthani, Gujrati, Marwari, Punjabi and some South Indian thrown in for good measure. And so, there is a push cart serving a variety of farsaan. Lot of crispy savories and junior came back quite often. All the mains were served at "Hungry Eyes Chowmein Center". From what I can remember - dum aloo, paneer in a thick cream based gravy, Sarson da Saag, two kinds of dals, a moong dal pulao, rasam vada, white rice, sambar, mango kadhi, dal kichdi, pav bhaji and jalebis made hot of the fire. Tried most of it and liked what I ate. What particularly stood out was the mango kadhi, the moong dal pulao and the sarson da saag.

The Farsaan Counter

Hungry Eyes Chowmein center (Oh Yes! there was chowmein as well)

And so where were the rotis you ask - in Central Jail of course. You head there and get your dosas or rotis made on the spot. The choice was between naan, makki di roti and parathas. I had one of each and all were great. Skipped the dosas though. 

Central Jail, where most people actually stood and had their meal so that they could get hot rotis literally off the tandoor and into their plate

A look at one of my initial servings - dal khichdi, dum aloo,
makki di roti, sarson ka saag and a dal

We sat close to the theka in the Billu Barber section. Do not miss the truck wheels put up with those tacky oneliners you see on trucks. Now while seated here, one of the chaps was roaming around with this bucket filled with fake (or not) Carlsberg beer bottles filled with chaas (buttermilk). I called him over and had 3 three glasses of that cold yumciousness. Got a scratchy throat today though!

Now can you miss having an ice gola after all this - I could but Sudhakar was not about to. He decided on a strawberry kiwi one and had a ball finishing it off. I headed to the Mishtan Bhandar (sweet stall) and had one of each - kala jamun, tiranga burfee and something called Kela Burda. This looked very much like a gulab jamun, only thing the stuffing was predominantly banana... warm and yum. 

In the making and on the plate

Strawberry Kiwi ice gola

Tiranga Halwa, Kala Jamun and Kela Burda

By now we were pretty stuffed and simply walking around - I got my palm read for Rs 51 and thoroughly enjoyed an impromptu Bhangda show by this big group of guys who came in and made the punctured autorickshaw cum seating table their adda. And through it all came this guy on cycle selling "garama garam chai".

Garam chai from the cycle wallah

This huge truck where a large family can be seated

The impromptu bhangda session

What the Village has to offer

I agree that this was an experience more than a restaurant. At the end of it I had spent more time taking it all in and taking photos than I actually ate. The food is nice, the novelty factor is certainly there. The "Laadies" and "Jhaantz" loos are equally clean, though the Laadies could do with some mopping. For the Rs 750 this cost us, chomping on a paan and ringing a bell on the way out to show our appreciation, I would say it was completely worth the fun!

Address: Bangalore Central Mall,  45th cross, JP Nagar

Phone:9663294243
Cuisine: North Indian, buffet, bit of South Indian too 
Wallet factor: Rs 750 for two

Parking: Mall parking

Maiya's - Home Delivery

We have lived in Jayanagar long before Maiyas made an entry. In the 10 years that we have lived in this area, we have been to MTR twice - once for the meals and once for the breakfast. And Maiyas - well we went there once and were told it was a 45 minute wait for a Rs 110 breakfast buffet. We didn't really think it was worth it and came home. I guess it mostly the crowds the put us off considering we eat out largely on weekends and would rather spend timing eating than standing in line. 

If there is one thing I have mourned about in terms of food in Bangalore is the lack of people who deliver breakfast. Back home in Mangalore, we have outlets falling over themselves to deliver even just a bowl of chutney if you ask for it. So when I suddenly stumbled upon the fact that Maiyas was delivering breakfast beginning as early as 7 AM, I did a little whoop of joy. The menu is limited but covers all the essentials and my favorite - bisi bele bath. Here is a look 

This is how the boxes come

The masala dosa with chutney

Pineapple kesari bath

Bisi Bele Bath

Idli Sambar

Chandrahara (available only on Sundays)

Now all the breakfast items come relatively hot. The chutneys and sambars are fresh. Typical of Maiyas, everything is loaded with ghee. The bisi bele bath in fact has a thin layer over it and also has cashews and those little sambar onions which add a whole new dimension to the taste. The sweets are typical breakfast ones and the Chandrahara has a good measure of clove in it as well. They also have meals of different kinds that get delivered. I ordered a quick working day lunch combo of the holy trinity - sambar rice, rasam rice and curd rice. Below is how the package came.

And this is how the meal looked when I opened the box. Nice, when you are in a hurry but if its a little leisurely I wouldn't want my rice and gravies mixed. They have chapathi meals, north Indian, joladda roti among other options.

Other likes for Maiyas delivery is that they also deliver their bakery products - have tried their wholewheat bread and butter cookies. Also tried a couple of pastries and they are all nice. Once you register with them, they give you a number and you don't have to repeat your address each time you call. Mondays are the only day delivery is not available. An average breakfast for two - 2 dishes and sweet dish is around Rs 200.

Address: 459/30, 30th Cross, 4th Block, Jayanagar Bangalore 

Phone:43311111
Cuisine: South Indian breakfast, north indian meals, Gujrati too. 
Wallet factor: Rs 200 for two breakfast

Dine with Panache...

It was one of the evenings when we had gone to visit some friends in Koramangala and we decided to eat out. Dine with Panache is a hop, skip and two jumps away from their home and so we bundled the kids, squeezed into one car and got ourselves there. Got a good spot right outside the restaurant and had to walk up a flight of stairs to get to the resto. The lighting, from the staircase onwards was this dim ambient sort... nice. 

The resto was empty when we got in and so we had a choice of seating. They have a split floor on one side of the resto with seating down there. Seating was around this little depressed well too. There is also a glass wall partitioned semi-outdoors set-up which seemed really pleasant, but with the kids and the climate we decided to stick indoors. They do have a decent liquor list but we decided against it as it was a working day in the morning. Here is a look at what we ate.

The Lagan ki Boti was described as mutton cubes marinated in garam masala spices, onion, yogurt and placed in the tandoor. These came out like kebabs when served and were quite soft. Despite the onions and garlic, it did not leave you searching for a mouth freshener. 

We also wanted to have a vegetarian starter and went in for Karare Aloo ki Tukde. Their description of spicy potato cubes marinated with spices and curd and put in the tandoor was spot on... at least on the spicy aspect. Our initial thoughts of giving this to the kids was instantly chucked out. It was spicy and by the time we were finished, we had a glasses of water replenished twice over.

Safest bet for the kids was aloo parathas and this they had quite willingly. The parathas were soft, loaded with butter and stuffed to the hilt with mildly spiced potato. It was really a nice choice for the little mouths. 

And for us grown ups, we teamed together Kesari Chooze ki Salan - which was chicken cubes with spinach and fenugreek in a onion-garlic base. This too was grainy in texture and went well with the makki ki rotis that we had ordered (below).

We needed one more side dish and that was Bhuna Dum ka Ghosht. Again, a similar tomato-onion-garlic-possibly almond/cashew paste gravy. Nice, because of the ingredients in it, but nothing to remember when hunger strikes at 3 in the morning.

And can we leave without desserts in a north Indian meal - the kids had gulab jamuns that were served warm = great. We had two shahi tukde go around. The slices of bread were quite thin and there were two to a plate, but still the taste was quite nice.

Gulab Jamun (above)

Shahi Tukde (Below) 

Overall it was a pleasant meal to end the weekend. I wouldn't term it spectacular and my all time north Indian khana favorite continues to remain Sahib, Sindh, Sultan. The loo is not really in a discreet part of the restaurant and considering that my daughter loves to announce where she is going, it can get a bit embarrassing. The loo is clean though. This meal came to around Rs 2000 for 5 adults and 3 kids. This is without alcohol, which I still feel is reasonable. If you are in the area and want a pleasant meal, this is a good choice.

Address: No: 84, ST Bed, 4th Block Koramangala, Bangalore 
Phone:42124141
Cuisine: North Indian
Wallet factor: Rs 700 for two with alcohol
Cards Accepted: Yes
Parking: Yes, small space outside restaurant

The Year(s) Gone By - In Meals!!

Its a New Year and we are just back from having a whale of a time - wedding anniversary, Christmas, Anoushka's Birthday, New Year - these last 10 days have been a constant party session. Its been close to 3 years since I started blogging about the restos we have visited and I thought since this is the season of recapping on all the good and not so good, why not relive some of the great meals/dishes that this blog has seen. Am taking you through a very personal love list of yummy in my tummy. 

The Piquant Tomato and Chicken Risotto at Bangalore Bistro. This was one of the first restaurants that found its way onto the blog. And even today we love the place to bits. We have eaten everything on the menu and are now at the stage of having the food customized for us. Love the way they look after kids here and how they adjust meals, portion and taste to suit them. It is located plonk in the middle of a busy street but is sooo cut off from the noise. It remains the number one of my list, though the remaining entries are in no particular order. 

The Paan Ice-cream at The Higher Taste (Iskcon Temple), where a complete paan is ground into the ice cream mix. Now if you want to convert someone to vegetarianism, treat them at this place. It is one place that truly treats its vegetables with respect. Dishes from all over South India at prepared in the Satvic style and I am amazed at how wonderful they can be made to taste. Their Nellikai Charu - Gooseberry soup and their Elaneer Karaisal - a gravy made of the soft white insides of a coconut are brilliant. And no matter how much you eat here - you will not walk about feeling heavy on the tummy.

From the Satvic table to the haven for meat lovers - The Mandi at Ta'am was a recent discovery. A complete meal - this has veggies and rice, cooked with a hunk of mutton in a large vessel to the point of the meat dropping off the bone. Served with Mandi soup and a coriander chutney with slivers of onions in the tempering, this is one meal where you will have to put on your eating pants and something that will have you dreaming off through the night. Their Khichdi and Kheema is another combo that we love here. 

The Pigs in a Blanket at Plan B. This was one of the first pubs we visited after Anoushka was born. Of course, we went in the afternoon on a weekday making it easier to handle her. But I loved their take on sandwiches and my favorite then was the Pigs in a Blanket. Its been quite a while since we visited but I follow their innovations and their food based competitions. And they even served emu recently if I am not wrong. 

The Kyoto Meal at Edo. Though this was a meal on invite, I have heard from others that the quality and consistency is no different on any other night. This was one meal that opened our eyes to more of Japanese cuisine than we really knew, despite being lovers of the fare. I am reading "Sushi & Beyond" by Micheal Booth right now and there are places which make me question the complete authenticity of the Kyoto meal served to us. But then we have to keep in mind that for some things to be commercially viable as well, they have to be tweaked a bit and I think Edo has done that brilliantly. 

The Baby Fish in Putanesca Sauce at the Rogue Elephant. This is one restaurant that we have followed since its tiny outlet near Ulsoor lake. From there they came to Basavangudi near our home and then on to the more lavish Rogue Elephant Bistro at Koramangala. But what has remained constant is the quality of food and the love that Sheila Appa and Anand put into the outlets is great. Must tries are their Bangers and Mash, the Carrot cake and their Mughlai Chicken curry with Herb rice.

The Kebab-e-Koobideh at Sufi - This was one restaurant that I was very iffy about. Placed on top of Empire in Koramangala I just wasn't too sure about how it would go. But when we finally did go there, I just couldn't get enough of the decor and the seating and the food. The meats are treated well and do excellent time in marination. The softness alone stands testimony to it. Their dessert Ranginek is also something to be tried. 

The Texas Cheese Fries at Chili's - Loved this place for being an alcohol based family style outlet. While we sipped on cocktails, junior was given coloring paraphernalia to keep herself entertained. The starters, which you see up here were the size of main courses and work great for when you are in a group. Since we were just three when we visited, we just couldn't get all the way to main courses. But still loved everything about the place. 

Moo's your daddy at Cafe Thulp - one of the first places to show us how much more there can be to a burger. It of course does have competition now with the likes of the Whammy at Peppa Zzing. But all hail goes to one of the front runners in the creation of delicious burger abnormalities. 

The Naga Chili Chutney at the Naga Kitchen - our first introduction to northeastern cuisine was the food festivals held by the Ants Cafe. The Naga Kitchen in Kamanahalli was one of the first N.Eastern restaurants we visited and the Naga Chili Chutney was an instant hit. Of course, you feel like the sun has risen in your mouth, but if you can get over the smell of Akhuni, appreciate smoked meats and cross into uncharted territory of hell-like heat on your tongue, you will love North eastern food. And.. there is a lot more to it than spice if you take the trouble to explore. 

The Korean Spread at Soo Ra Sang - Its sad that the owner had to shift base to Wind Tunnel Road from Koramangala. Despite overlooking the Old Airport runway, the only thing you get to see take off now are military planes. But the food is great - The Kimbob and the Je Yuk Bokkum (a spicy pork gravy and sticky rice) are standards. There was this one time when we were lucky to be served a pork in kimchi that was actually cooked for the owner's family. 

I know zip about Vietnamese food and still am at pretty much at the starting line. But what I loved about the Che served at the Phobidden Fruit was the combination of beans, peas, jelly and cold coconut milk to make a dessert. Definitely will take getting used to but was interesting. The Pho and the avocado shake were well appreciated too. 

The Chicken Ghee Roast at Suggi had me licking my fingers. It came after a long drive and a long wait to be served, but was well worth it. The ghee used is enough to give you a coronary just by looking at it, but coming from the area of this dish's birth, such indulgences are allowed. 

And finally on this list is the Kashmiri naan at Cafe Canada - Its place here is not because it blew us away by its brilliance but because even today - almost two years after tasting it, I cannot forget its audacity at just being served - This naan came with a generous slathering of mixed fruit jam, slices of marsh melon, orange and stray piece of chickoo and was meant to be eaten with a gravy!!!

Worthy mentions on my list also go to the Egg Factory for its ability to come up with all things egg, Flamenco, for being a lifesaver when it comes to decently priced Continental stuff in Jayanagar and Wild Spice for some unpretentious and great Coorgi Food. 

With this new year and the number of restos starting up, am really looking forward to another year of exploration!!!

Basant Residency - for a Jolada Rotti meal I have been pining for

When I was working in ETV Kannada, I ended up being the only woman on the programming team. It took me a good year to break the ice with this male-dominated office, but once I managed to do that I was considered one of the guys. Lunch, every afternoon was a quest - and thanks to those guys I discovered the best that Gandhinagar and Majestic had to offer, from the seediest of places that offered spectacular food to the better known places frequented by Kannada filmdom. And so I discovered the joys of standing on the roadside at a hole-in-wall place where you got mutton/chicken biryani only if you got there at 12.45. You stand on the road and eat and then wash it down with a goli soda from next door. There was also these fabulous Andhra meals and biryanis at Annapurna, there was also this place called the Mess, which served home made meals on banana leaves in a place that looked like it would fall down at any minute. One of the pleasures I was introduced too, being all new to Bangalore then and its cuisine was the jolada roti oota or jowar roti meals. Had it at Kamath and Pai Refreshments and used to be a fanatic. Once I quit ETV, I just never got around going to those places and indulging myself again.

And then off late, when I was taken over the "dying for some comfort food feeling", I found myself dreaming of this meal. Just happened to surf online about the meal and found on the Team BHP site that a place called Basant Residency in Gandhinagar were supposedly much better than the Pais' and Kamaths. This immediately took both of those places off my mind and we set out to discover it. 

The geography of Gandhinagar hasn't changed much in these past years. A couple of one ways later we managed to roll up in front of Basant Residency. This was not one of the places I had tried earlier and I was really skeptical about it being a family place. But when I got there I sighed a breath of relief. It looked just like a Pai or a Kamath would. We just about managed to squeeze into a miniscule parking spot and then walked in. Settled down and immediately the plantain leaves were placed before us. One glance around it was evident that jolada roti was about the only thing ordered.  

Here is the meal as it was presented. It started with a mix of fresh sticks of cucumber, carrot, radish and some spring onions. A handful of fresh methi leaves too were placed on the leaf. Loved the fact that nothing here looked faded or a little off. Every leaf on the sprigs of methi were fresh and full and the mini salad was freshly cut.

Then came the curd, the spiced buttermilk and a rice payasam that was sweetened with jaggery. I love anything curd-based and dipped into my little katori as soon as it came. Though thick, this curd was a bit too fermented for my liking. The buttermilk was great and so was the payasam. From the one spoon I had, it was of a good consistency and really sweet. Sudhakar doesn't like anything that begins with curd and has passed those genes onto junior and so we mutually agreed to exchange a katori of curd for one of payasam.

Then came the stars - a red bean palya, another semi gravy one of a type of gourd and finally the Enegayi. The Eengayi or stuffed brinjal gravy is the main accompaniment to the jowar rotis that keep coming to your table steaming hot. This style of making brinjals comes from north karnataka and has a mixed of tamarind, peanuts and coconut. It must  be had steaming hot or else the flavor is completely lost and this one had a lot of it. 

Waiters were running around with baskets of piping hot rotis. Each time you asked for one (and you can ask for as many as you like), they are placed on your leaf. You then open them out and take a spoon of the butter that is placed on the table and spread it over the roti. Only after that do you eat it with the brinjal gravy. Of course in between you can munch of the methi leaves, radish and spring onions for good measure. Each item brings a different flavor out. 

There was also the traditional chilli bajji of North Karnataka too that found its way to our leaf. Spicy but not the hell hounds having an BBQ on your tongue types.

The natural course of the meal meant that we progress to rice and sambar. Not too sure of what the sambar was since I wasn't served any of the vegetable in it. But whatever it was, it was nice. I have tasted better sambars loaded with more veggies and perhaps that is the only grouse I have here.

From my hostel days, if there is one thing I can survive on 365 days of the year, its rice, rasam and pickle. As with any vegetarian meal, this was served as well. Loved the rasam, it was more the garlicky-pepper types and with the freshly mixed lime pickle on the table, it was a superb combination. 

We did order a lime juice, but this is something you can avoid. It tasted like a mix between lime concentrate and lemon flavored Rasna. Bleckkkk!!

I did not miss the Kamaths and the Pais one bit with this meal. Basant made it a great way to come back for something I loved and still do - a good wholesome south Indian meal on a leaf. 10 minutes after we walked into the restaurant the place was packed and there was a line waiting outside. Two meals and two lime juices came to Rs 299. The loos are clean and this is definitely a family kind of place. 

Address: No: 3, 4th Main Road, Opp Jain Temple, Behind Syndicate Bank, Gandhinagar, Bangalore 
Phone:22443434
Cuisine: North Karnataka, South Indian
Wallet factor: Rs 300 for two
Cards Accepted: Not too sure. We paid cash
Parking: Maybe if you have one of those futuristic cars that you can fold and put into a briefcase! else you just got to be very lucky