Bangalore restaurant reviews

Veekes and Thomas

Tuesday, January 26, 2010Me! In words

Most of the popular international cuisines seemed to have found their way into Bangalore restaurants. While some serve them exclusively, others have a variety on offer so as to satiate every taste bud. European and Continental restaurants are plenty in Bangalore, but the bottom line with all of them has remained - they are expensive. That is where Veekes and Thomas decided to make a difference. An introduction on their website will tell you that three enterprising gentlemen behind Veekes and Thomas decided to bring good European and Continental food to the people, at prices that will shock you. A full fledged meal with starters and main course and a dessert when included will come to less than Rs 500 for two people.

What's more, is that Veekes and Thomas has rolled out a stylized version of cart food. You have one at Jayanagar 4th Block, near the Ganesha Temple smack outside Fruitastic. The food is packed in recyclable boxes and they use husk plates and banana leaves in the packaging. The food, the trio at Veekes tells you is authentic enough, with an Indianized touch to it. This was more than enough to pique my interest and so we headed to the cart this past weekend.

Sudhakar surveying the fare at the Jayanagar 4th Block cart

The demi-chef at work

The recyclable boxes

The cart sells a limited number of only vegetarian items. All the ingredients come from the central kitchen. You pick your choice and then walk into Fruitastic to get your coupons. You can watch your food being tossed together in front of you. To start with we ordered the Brinjal and Cheese on crostini bread. Roasted brinjal and melted cheese tops this crisply toasted bread. A great way to start things

Brinjal and Cheese on crostini bread

Next was a half portion (Yes!! Half Portions!! Can you believe it?!!) Pasta with Chilli Herb Tadka. Hot shell pasta tossed in herbs and chilli flakes. Here was the Indian twist and it was yumm. We also asked for the white pepper cream pasta which again was shell pasta with tossed in cheesy cream topped off with white pepper. Both half portions came with a slice of garlic bread.

Pasta with chilli herb tadka

White pepper cream pasta (half portion)

There were risottos.... I could have been doing cartwheels when I saw that they used real arborio rice. Little Italy and Eurasia opted the Indian equivalent, but not these guys. So burnt garlic risotto it was and man was that absolutely heavenly. All of this came to within Rs 350!!!!

Burnt garlic risotto

Now we liked the vegetarian version so much, we went online, checked out the menu and decided to go all out in the evening, since their main kitchen in JP Nagar delivers everything. The menu is vast and everything sounds tempting. To start this meal off we ordered the American chicken nuggets which were crisply-coated heart-shaped-generously-sized nuggets with a sauce I just could not put my finger on - garlic, onion, red chilli and....???? Yummcious.

American Chicken Nuggets

I also wanted one of their recent additions, Rosti, a Swiss potato dish that I first had when I went to Singapore, on a friend's insistence. This was with an onion and mushroom sauce. I wouldn't say that it was as spectacular but it was really very tasty.

Rosti with onion and mushroom sauce

Main courses we ordered more than we could handle beginning with Black Olive Chicken risotto which I found rather bland except for bites that included the black olives and red and yellow peppers.

We also had a full portion of the spaghetti Arrabiata in chicken. Generous portion for one and the sauce was really nice. I personally love to drown my pasta in sauce so maybe next time I will ask for some to be parceled on the side. But otherwise, the pasta and the sauce hit the spot really well.

A full portion of Spaghetti Chicken Arrabiatta

Sudhakar was coaxed into ordering a Chicken Piccata which was two fillets of chicken, with a brown sauce, herbed rice and veggies on the side. I wanted to pick the dish and run away with it but then he is twice my size and three times my weight, so I settled for the occasional mouthfuls I managed to sneak. He was also tempted into ordering the Chicken Frankfurter which I promptly put in Cling Wrap and sent for lunch the next day. He said it was delicious and the fried onion topping just added to the overall flavor.

The Chicken Frankfurter

Chicken Piccata

The desserts available on the day we ordered were Tiramisu and Brownies, both of which we did not want to have. And so settled for just this much, which believe it or not came to just Rs 467 inclusive of all the necessary taxes and packaging (which costs extra at Veekes). Good continental food that is within the means of the average man... this is what Veekes set out to do and I think they are on the right path. They score on all parameters - uniqueness, authenticity, prices, novelty (their packaging is priceless), quantity.

Here is a link to Veekes and Thomas's full menu should you be within the six km radius of JP Nagar. You should try home delivery. Or else the main portion of the site will tell you the locations of the carts.

Address: For the main kitchen: No: 22, 5th Cross, 24th Main, JP Nagar, 2nd Phase, Bangalore - 78
Phone: 9686178000, 65329999
Cuisine: European, Continental
Cards Accepted: No
Wallet factor: Rs 500 for two
Parking: Street for in front of the carts

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