Jayanagar seems to be sprouting a new restaurant each weekend. Renee is a stone's throw from where we live and we discovered the place by chance. Its quite a huge set up, done up in yellow, a lot of glass and exposed ceiling than anything real. There are a couple of cement pillars in front of the place, possibly for the Grecian effect, but it doesn't work anyway other than to block the view of the road from the inside. We were the first guests of the day and the staff asked if we would like to sit in the air-conditioned section. We did, and we were taken there... there was then a flurry of activity to get the AC going.
A look around the air-conditioned section
The furnishing is simple wooden chairs, wooden tables and simple tableware. We got the menu and found that it had a simple range of Indian fare. Thankfully, no Indo-chinese thrown in as well. For starters we decided to have the Achari Aloo Tikka (memories of the Zamindari Achari Aloo at Sahib Sindh Sultan linger strong) and a Renee Chicken Tikka.
Sudhakar asked for a Thums Up which we were told was there. Two minutes later, we could hear two of the staff arguing that there was only Slice available and that's what should be served to us. The Slice was brought to us and Sudhakar told them to take it away. As we were waiting we couldn't help looking around and noticing that though the place was around a month old, it looked much older. The tiles were water-stained, the wooden stairs leading to the above seating area was bleeding onto the white paint below. There is an odd space, between the seating area below and the AC section which was open to the elements. During the downpour that happened, anyone walking there got wet. Its small things like these that matter.
Anyways, the Achari Aloo Tikka was brought and something really funny happened here. I took my photo and served myself two pieces. Suddenly the guy who served us the dish, came up, claimed the dish was the wrong one and whipped away my plate and the Achari Aloo Tikka and there I sat, fork mid-air. Two minutes later, he brought on the Renee Chicken Tikka and vanished. At this point, the guy who took our order came back to tell us that the Achari Aloo was on the way. So we told him what happened and he stormed away to the kitchen, to return with the same plate of Achari Aloo, thankfully rearranged. Strange!!
Achari Aloo Tikka (above)
Renee Chicken Tikka (below)
The presentation on both starters was pedestrian at best, but the taste was extremely good. The Achari Aloo had been marinated in curd, chilli, coriander and had that great tasting tanginess to it. It had been placed in the tandoor long enough to be singed on the outside and smooth on the inside. The Renee chicken tikka had been marinated a really long time and the chicken was moist and soft and each bite was great. Along with this came the customary mint and yogurt chutney and diced onions which I believe substituted for the pickled onions normally served.
For the main course, we decided to have one stuffed kulcha, a butter naan, a mutton rogan josh, and a portion of neer dosa for Anoushka. To begin with, the neer dosa was pleasantly soft. No where as great as Suggi, and no where as blah as Sea Spice.
Anoushka's Neer Dosa which came with a coconut chutney
The stuffed naan was stuffed to the seams with mashed potato and minced coriander leaves. The outside was smothered in butter and sesame seeds. The butter naan too had a breakfast load of butter on it. The rogan josh looked pretty heavy considering that the place is really generous with their oils. But it tasted good, just as any oil drenched dish would. It had the pureed mix of onions, tomatoes and huge bay leafs, though am not sure if the thickness was due to the onion puree or what technically should be cashew paste and yogurt. Any which way, for a restaurant of this stature, its not authenticity you can look for but rather value for money and this place delivered on that.
Mutton Rogan Josh (above)
Stuffed kulcha (L) Butter Naan (R)
We decided to skip desserts which again were the usual Indian culprits of gajar halwa, gulab jamun etc. There was a tiramisu thrown in as well. The place is nice and bright thanks to the huge glass facade, but I guess summers will be difficult unless you sit in the air conditioned section. The food is decent considering this meal came to Rs 580. Service needs a lot of work. I guess restaurants in these areas generally promote Shanti Sagar trained staff and often do so without any training on guest etiquette. The loos are clean.
Address: #19, 2nd Main, 31st Cross, 7th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore - 11
Phone: NA
Cuisine: Indian
Wallet factor: Rs 600 for two
Cards Accepted: Was to begin a day after we did this review
Parking: Nothing exclusive and weekends can be trouble
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