Restaurant Review - Bow Barracks, Indiranagar

Neatly tucked on 2nd Main in Indiranagar is this restaurant which derives its name from an Anglo-Indian locality of Kolkata. Needless to say, the cuisine on offer is Anglo-Indian and Park Street (the age old restaurant street of Kolkata)-style Continental. Anglo-Indian fare is all about fusion and with the interesting names, will appeal to the taste buds of the experimental and the fun-loving. The red brick building also does justice to the name since that is the typical kind of houses you find in Bow Barracks. The interiors are also done up with red brick and painted plates as wall hangings which give the place a warm and homely feel.

Once we entered, we were greeted warmly and given a table of our choice. There are different floors for smoking and non-smoking area, and we had chosen the former. For starters, we ordered Pork Lasooni Kebab and Fish Cutlet accompanied with three Gingerade and one Virgin Mojito. We did not have to wait too long before the food was served. Pork Lasooni Kebab tastes like heaven with the right taste and texture and Pudina Chutney to go with it. It is a must-have here and we order it everytime. Fish Cutlet had three crispy cutlets with a filling of fish and cut into halves, accompanied with a sweet chilly sauce. Both the drinks were good but I preferred Virgin Mojito because of its strong refreshing mint flavor.

  

For main course, we ordered a Rack of Lamb, Rib Eye Steak and two Fish with Peas Bon Femme. Rack of Lamb is a dish of tender lamb chops with the right amount of spiciness balanced out with mashed potato and boiled vegetables. However this might be a little inconvenient to have in public because of the large number and size of bones in it. Rib Eye Steak is made of beef meat taken from the rib, flavored with garlic and served with mashed potato and boiled vegetables. Fish with Peas Bon Femme is a grilled Bhekti dish spiced up with a lime and herb garlic butter sauce on top served with boiled green peas. All the dishes were finger-licking good and the quantity was perfect to leave just enough space in our tummies for some sweet endings. 

We ordered a Lime and Honey Pannacotta and a Captain Morgan's Rich Fruit Cake for desserts and the steward suggested a White Chocolate and Orange Creme Brulee, which was the day's specialty. All the dishes were beautifully served and delicious. The Pannacotta with a hint of lemon had a fresh taste and the fruit cake just blew us away! 

With the wholesome meal, our total bill came to around Rs. 3,700 (for four), after a 15% discount on Amex card. I have been to Bow Barracks several times and have always come out content and wanting to go back again. So to sum it up, this is a must visit place if you want to feel HAPPY after a good meal.

Ambience - 8/10

Staff - 9/10

Food Quality - 9/10

VFM - 7/10

Overall - 8.25/10

P.S. - Even though they have a bar, there is only wine on offer.

Whiskey Sour - Cocktail Recipe

Last Saturday night in a drunken frenzy, we decided to make Whiskey Sour at home and it turned out pretty good. The frothy, golden colored cocktail gave us an instant visual high and I thought of sharing the recipe.

What you need:

Whiskey, preferably Bourbon
Lemon juice
Sugar syrup
Egg white
Cocktail mixer
Honey, optional

How to prepare:

We had taken 180 ml whiskey for 3 people (60 ml each), preferably Bourbon, though we had just used VAT 69 which was there at home with us. Added lemon juice from two lemons. 

Then we added sugar syrup, made by heating water and adding four tea spoons of sugar to it and then cooling it under the fan. Finally we added two egg whites and mixed all the ingredients well in the cocktail mixer. 

The whiskey glasses were filled with ice cubes and the frothy, golden-colored liquid was added from top, cooling itself as it trickled down the ice cubes. At the end, we topped the cocktail with a hint of honey to compensate for using VAT 69 instead of Bourbon Whiskey. However this is optional. It dilutes the taste and smell of whiskey completely and may not be liked by whiskey-lovers.

Iftar Street Food Fiesta - Mosque Road

The quest for innovative and tasty food is never complete without some street food and what better place in Bangalore to try that than the Iftar food on Mosque Road in Fraser Town during Ramzan. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is known for its fasting as well as feasting! Mosque Road becomes the food street of Bangalore with tens of stalls offering non-veg delicacies and desserts and thousands of people thronging the place. It has on offer a plethora of dishes ranging from not just chicken and lamb but also beef, seafood and even camel. It also serves various cuisines spanning pan India including Hyderabad, Bhatkal, Bombay and Malabar to name some.

I went to Mosque Road with a group of friends last Saturday, exactly a week before Ramadan Eid. Just as we were approaching the place, torrential rains started washing all our hopes of enjoying some road side delicacies. But when we reached, I was pleasantly surprised to see that, unlike last year, most of the famous stalls were setup in a covered area. A huge crowd swarmed the place making it difficult for us to even enter leave alone trying some of the delectable dishes.

We were finally victorious at making our way to the stalls in the enclosed area and started off savouring some of the colorful fare. We started with some Mughlai Paratha which is a paratha stuffed with minced meat.

 Then we went on to try the oh-so-popular Patthar ka Gosht, which is a Hyderabadi delicacy and it literally means meat cooked on stone. It is a perfect barbeque dish made of lamb and is a must try at Mosque Road. Next we had some Mutton Sheekh Kebab and Chicken with Mayonnaise both of which tasted yum. At this time, we decided to try some camel meat sheekh kebab but the seller at the Bismillah Kabab Corner informed us that we would have to wait a little longer. So we went on to wash down all that we had consumed with some cool Pink Sherbet and some sweet curd. We also tried some Khubani Chutney on the way. It was quite sweet but a welcome change with all the meat and kebab that we had gobbled down. Finally we tried our hands at the Camel Meat Sheekh Kebab and contrary to our expectation, the meat was very soft and sumptuous. We finished our food frenzy with a particular Bombay Sherbet which was a refreshing drink with diced pieces of watermelon in it.

I realized that Mosque Road is not just a foodie’s paradise but a photographer’s too. This place is like a fair with people of all age groups, communities and interests frequenting the venue. By this time the crowd had started to increase further and kept multiplying by the minute. A stall boy greeted them with his loud cries, “Allah ka karam hai, Biriyani garam hai”. With our tummies full, we decided to head homeward. Enjoying Iftar food on Mosque Road has become an annual event now and the year-long wait starts once again..

P.S. - It is a very bad idea to drive down to this place so try availing some public transport. Trust me, the experience will be worth the ordeal!

Some random clicks:

Restaurant Review - Indijoe, Old Madras Road

I have frequented this place several times owing to it's proximity to my house as well as my first office in Bagmane Tech Park. I had promised my young relatives a yummy beef steak dinner and decided to visit Indijoe in RMZ Infinity. Our past experiences taught us that it is almost impossible to finish one full steak if we have starters and soup before that. So with a lot of effort I checked myself from ordering any of the highly-enticing starters. We just ordered some beers, whiskey and mojito and plunged straight into the main course. 

We were four of us and ordered three steaks (all beef), Pepper Steak (with cheese), Jack Daniel's Double Barrel (which also has chicken) and Steak Shaslik and one Chicken Satellite. All the steaks were served as sizzlers with a good quantity of boiled vegetables. Double Barrel had mashed potato while the others had french fries. Pepper Steak and Chicken Satellite were topped with a generous helping of cheese. The waiter had mentioned Chicken Satellite to be a little bland but that is how I like my sizzlers and I found it perfect. All the dishes were lip-smacking and fork-licking good! We struggled to finish our respective dishes but succeeded nevertheless.

Sorry for going straight to the food, it's so good I just had to! The ambiance is very retro with movie posters and pictures on the walls and the table mat, a collage of Hollywood movies from 1940s to 1980s and there was accompanying music to go with the theme. Service was good and the waiters were courteous and shared the required information and suggestion. The total bill came up to around Rs. 3600, which is close to Rs. 900 per person. It is a great place to come with friends, family or colleagues, for lunch, dinner or just a couple of drinks.

Ambiance - 8/10

Staff - 8/10
Food quality - 8/10
VFM - 6/10
Overall - 7.5/10

P.S. - They have a nice VFM weekday lunch buffet which is perfect for a team lunch.

Restaurant Review - Cheers Coorg, 80 Feet Road, Indiranagar

I can go on speaking, oops writing, about this lazy Sunday afternoon, made lazier by our brunch (more lunch than breakfast) at Cheers Coorg. We were a group of six purely non-vegetarian starved folks and Coorgi cuisine seemed to be a good option. This place is a house turned into a restaurant on 80 Ft Road, Indiranagar and has a very warm and homely feel about it. A cozy ambiance is created by a lot of plants and pebbles on the outside and warm lighting and walls adorned by local pictures of various sizes inside. The eye-catching table mats are also to look out for which talks about Coorgi cuisine and culture.

Coming to the food, the hungry lot that we were, we dug into the menu card and ordered any and every starter that sounded interesting. And fortunately or unfortunately, it was difficult to stop! We ordered Kallu Pandi (Pandi means pork), Chilkana Pandi, Mutton Cutlets, Khaima Unde and Prawns Rave Fry.

Service was fast, staff was good and food was just out of the world! We were not able to decide whether to try out more dishes or to have a repeat of some that we already tried and again which ones to repeat. We were spoilt for choices! We particularly liked mutton cutlets, Khaima Unde and the pork belly dish. We ordered all the dishes multiple times except Prawns Rave Fry (it wasn't bad, but in comparison to the other tastier option, it did not stand a chance!). All the dishes were spicy to the right extent. Quantity might turn out to be a little less but there is a lot of meat in all of them.

We had decided to stick to starters only, but finally ordered just one main course, Pandi Curry with Akki Otti (rice bread). We had expected that the main course might not be as sumptuous as the starters but we were proved wrong. And again we could not stop ourselves at one helping! We were planning to make a sweet ending to our long lunch (we started before 2 p.m. and were done only by 4 p.m.!) with their dessert of the day, Caramel Custard, but it was already over by then.

The total bill came up to Rs. 8200 (out of which the food bill was around Rs. 5500) but we had ordered beer, whiskey and some cocktails as well. We also got a whooping 15% discount (on Citibank Credit Card) on the food bill. We left the place with a happy heart, a completely satisfied tummy and with the desire to be back soon.

Ambiance - 9/10

Service - 9/10

Food - 9/10

Overall rating - 9/10

Restaurant Review - News Cafe, 100 ft Road

Yesterday evening I was strolling on 100 Feet Road Indiranagar with my husband trying to find a good (and preferably new) place to satisfy our gastronomic cravings. We suddenly saw this place called News Cafe which we had come across several times before but had never thought of entering. On closer investigation we saw that it was a cocktail dining lounge and we decided to go for it.

News Cafe was on the third floor of a building next to Smoke House Deli. The lift door opened into an uber cool place and we were welcomed by a lady at the reception who took us to the table of our choice. There is an option for indoor seating, which is done up with cozy red leather couches and blue lights, as well as outdoor seating, with white cushioned cane sofas. Most of the tables in the open air part overlook 100 ft road below which gives a picture perfect view with all the lights at night.

The food menu was designed like a newspaper and the drinks menu had pictures of the different cocktails and drinks on each page. We started off with a stuffed mushroom starter and an Aam Pannatini, which was a raw mango flavoured Vodka-based cocktail. The Stuffed Mushroom was batter fried served with mayo sauce. 

For main course there were dishes from different parts of the world. We ordered a Chicken and Prawn Laksa and a Durban Bunny Chow. As informed by the steward earlier, the Chicken and Prawn Laksa was somewhat bland but had a slight pungent flavor. I liked it just because it was made of coconut milk. The dish had a lot of gravy in which the noodles, prawn and pieces of chicken seemed to be floating. The Durban Bunny Chow was presented in a very innovative manner with the breads forming four walls of a fort and the lamb curry imprisoned in it! But both the dishes tasted pretty average.

All the dishes were priced highly and our total bill came to Rs. 1700 for two without desserts and with just one cocktail! The quantity was not a lot and quality of food was quite average. The ambiance of this place is very classy but I think they should try to concentrate on improving the food taste and make it more value for money.

Ambience - 9/10

Staff - 8/10

Food quality - 6/10

VFM - 5/10

Overall - 7/10

Restaurant Review - Monkey Bar, Richmond Road

Monkey Bar, with it's highly interesting name and even higher hype created by Zomato and word-of-mouth of friends, had been on my to-be-visited list for some time. Finally we went there on a Sunday few weeks back and was kind of disappointed except for the food.

Monkey Bar is a tough-to-locate place, tucked in at a dark corner of Richmond Road with minimal lighting. The inside is warmly lit up though with an American pub feel and some nice music. But that's about it with the ambience! The place is small, over-crowded with long benches and tables to house the maximum number of people, and as a result gets cramped and claustrophobic. Needless to say,  when we reached there, the place was full and the steward informed us that we would have to wait for at least 30 minutes to get a table for four. However we soon got a table in the basement and we were shown the way through an almost unnoticeable, narrow, winding staircase.

Pic Courtesy www.thecityguide.in

Here there was a foosball and a billiards table and a lot of enthusiastic young people (what looked like college goers to us) playing. But this floor was even more crowded than the floor above and a table for two was conveniently used for seating four of us.


Coming to the food and drinks, there was good variety and options, but the prices were on the higher side. We ordered a couple of beers and cocktails for drinks. The Tiger Beef was a very tasty starter and we ordered it a second time. Tikki of Joy didn't disappoint us either. 

But the burgers just stole the show. It was a delight having them but four of us were not able to finish the two hamburgers and one chicken burger (Rooster Booster), that we ordered, because of the gigantic size!


Ambience - 5/10
Service - 5/10
Food - 7/10
VFM - 5/10
Overall rating - 5.5/10


P.S. - This place will be more enjoyable if you go with a big group of friends (provided they can make place for all !! :P).