There is only one thing that catches my fancy in an airport - a ringside view of planes taking off and landing. The excitement of impending travel often makes it difficult for me to think of eating anything. But if there is one thing I do when I transit through Kempegowda International Airport, it is to stop at Malgudi Days for their Button Idlies and Sambar. A while ago, a food trail through the Bangalore Airport opened my eyes to some interesting options. The International Security Holding area now has a new addition to its list of restaurants - La Tapenade, a Mediterranean Cafe. I did spot it when I recently flew to Frankfurt but like I said, the excitement of impending travel and the joy of watching planes land and take off did not see me trying it out. I was recently invited to a bloggers experience of the restaurant. Here is a look at what you may expect.

La Tapenade has a nice, centrally placed location. You won't notice it at first glance, but when you stand at the front facade of the restaurant, you will see that it is shaped like a ship - a tribute to impending travel. The restaurant is quite spacious with a choice of regular table and chair/sofa seating and heavy set bar stools at a higher table. The walls are lined with shelves holding glass jars of pastas - makes for a good pastime, learning of the various kinds of pastas available.


The Babaganoush has always been my favourite rendition of the humble eggplant. The balance in this version was nice, with each of the ingredients - roasted eggplant, tahini, lemon juice and the final garnishes of olive oil and sumac coming together well.

One of the La Tapenade's signatures are its thin crust pizzas. The idea is to create the feel of thin crust wood-fired pizzas. Now for obvious security reasons La Tapenade cannot have a wood fire going, but their recreation in an oven comes brilliantly close. We had two pizzas - a vegetarian version and a Chicken Pizza - both were very generous with their tomato sauce base and cheese. The crust is thin, crisp and each triangle folds deliciously well into your hand.