Its a new year

I was passing by my own blog and realized that my blog stats suck. Forget the reader base, the postings by me are a sheer disappointment. In 2009, i made a sum total of one post...

This year, this new year, maybe ill outdo 2009... with this post ive at least equalled it. I dont think it is too much of a challenge to add one more - after all i have 11 whole months ahead!

My blog resolution for this year = take the number of postings to 100!

Happy new year...

Decent roadside food or snacks???

If you are looking for a quick eat,and are not choosy about the venue, try eating off the street. It isnt as unhygenic as you would imagine, so you dont need a cast iron stomach to try this

• Shankar Bhel on Wheeler road: Good Bhel puri as the name suggests. INR 15 per plate, they serve in your car, or you can eat at the counter. Open from 6ish in the evening till 11PM.


• The American corn vendor in Jayanagar: Take a right Near Devi International (3rd Block) and go down. Opposite an HDFC Bank branch. You will find this vendor below a tree, after 7PM. He serves American corn with variety: Mango corn, Pineapple corn, Baby corn chat etc... A corn lovers paradise.


• The Gol gappa guy outside MK Retail, CMH Road: Excellent pani puri or gol gappa as they are called here. His Churmur is equally good. Weekend evenings are crowded, albeit he is there all evenings through the week. INR 15 for a plate doesnt make this a hard buy


• The Idli/ Dosa pushcarts in Ibrahim Sahib Street (Parallel to comm Street): After an evening shopping, go to the street parallel to Comm Street and round off your day with steaming Idlis and dosas from the two roadside vendors who setup shop outside Saravana Bhavan (Not the original of course). This place is crowded - weekday or weekend, which is expectable given the quality of eats and the budget price.


• Finally, a place we visited today: VV Puram's Eat Street. Approach it from Lalbagh west gate. Ask any auto fellow for Sajjan Rao Circle or VB Bakery. I had read and heard about this place for years. Today, finally visited it, and yes it is worth every bit of energy spent in getting there. Street filled with food vendors- all vegetarian!!! We loved the food. Recommend the Capsicum Bajji , i havent heard of this, nor did i expect to like it so much! Also try the Pheni and Gulkhand (available in 2 different stores). This quirky street has a joint called "Subramanyaa Chaineese" right at the beginning. And also has at least four American corn push cart vendors vending their wares towards the end.

So the summary:
Dent to the pocket - 20 bucks for a plate of anything anywhere...
Service- Can never complain about it in these places - self service mostly...
Tipping - Duh - not required...

Mexican Food in Bangalore???

Once upon a time there used to be a joint called Latinos on Lady Curzon Road. Served good mexican food. They ceased to exist quite some time ago. Then i discovered that Little italy has a decent Mexican menu. But that was discovered years ago, so obviously this post isnt prompted by that restaurant, though we will cover it as well. What prompted this post was our visit to a newly opened "Chili's" restaurant in Bangalore.


The husband was kicked to hear that Chili's had opened shop in Bangalore. Apparently they are a US chain. The outlet in Bangalore is on HAL Airport Road, right next to the ex-Kemp Fort (Now a Total Mall), and above a Papa John Pizza outlet (yet another import from the USA) . There is no seperate website for the Indian outlet yet.

The ambience is good. Decent service thus far. Valet parking is a boon, given the location! Seating is comfortable, and they also have "Chili's to go" which is their takeaway counter.

The bar specializes in Margheritas. It manages to retain a family restaurant look and feel, in spite of a very prominent bar occupying quite a bit of the floor space. We landed there at 730 on a sunday evening and we saw only one other occupied table. We were told Happy hours were still on, so took advantage!
The food... Well their starters are great. Their burger collection is good. I have my personal dislike towards the Indianizing of the food - They have an entire section of Paneer based dishes, which puts me off. And they do not serve enchiladas. Their Burritos and Fajitas look decent though.

So the summary:

Dent to the pocket - Veg Meal for 2 - range of 1200/- to 1500/- Quite steep i reckon
Service- So far so good. I think on busy evenings, you would be better off with reservations
Tipping - Avoid. They levy a 12% service charge on the bill. Steeper than most places.

The other place in Bengaluru which serves decent Mexican food is Little Italy. Ive only been to the one on 100ft road, Indiranagar, so cannot comment for the other newly opened one in Koramangala. The selection of food here is not large (For Mexican) as it is (obviously) an Italian restaurant. Their Nachos are pretty good, as are their enchiladas. Especially the corn ones! The ambience is superb. And service is surprisingly quick. They also deliver within a certain limit, so if you crave mexican and you live in the vicinity, feel free to call.

Dent to the pocket - Veg Meal for 2 - range of 800 -1300/-
Service- Excellent. Reserve tables during the weekend.
Tipping - Havent noticed a service charge, so tip as usual.

A quick weekend getaway

Try the Bannerghatta Zoo. If you have time to kill and dont have the mindset to be cynical i.e. Why the zoo? Well.

• For one, its presumably within a 25 km radius of the furthest part of Bangalore city (not counting the new airport
• It has a lion/ tiger safari... complete with buses
• There is a butterfly park
• Jungle lodges has a property there
• They have elephant rides

Now, the true considerations...

• 25km or not, Bannerghatta road at 130PM on a saturday afternoon is not a great drive budget at least 1.5 hours
• There are buses. There are lions, tigers - even the white ones. But the catch is that it aint no safari, not actually. The poor creatures (looking underfed) have been let into a seperate area, and the bus driver knows exactly where they are roaming about. Not a single other animal is in sight
• I like the butterfly park, or did so a year ago
• Have no clue about Jungle lodges there
• Elephant rides are there. But we got distracted by the visible wounds on the baby elephants feet which made it shift weight from one foot to the other consistently.

There are snakes a plenty, a lone leopard, one healthy zebra, A whole host of tortoises, A good smattering of peacocks, and best of all cute hippos. The conditions arent ideal, and one may feel that the animals are being neglected. But despite that you may catch a shot or two like we did, which will make the trip worthwhile...

So here goes our shots

The malnourished lions
If you dont feed me, ill start acting like a dog. See, i can scratch my ear with my hind leg already...





Philosophy in a zoo cage...


The king of the jungle i may not be, but im the master of all that i survey







Who said Hippos cant pose, saala?
I can stand on my own two feet and get your attention.




Noone cares about my boo-boo
I can shift my feet as many times as i want, but does anyone really care about my hurt right foot at the back?

What a tangled mess

We give the phrase "not knowing where to begin" a whole new meaning. By the way, how many of Us are there, you reckon?

Fighting tiger, hidden cameras
The beginning of another epic tale. May even win an oscar or two

The white tiger with a twist

Im bored of you trespassers and my friend here has decided to go veggie...

Arabic food in Bangalore???

EDIT: These guys shut down some time in 2010:(

Well, not too many people like Arabic food. Esp. if you are vegetarians. But if you are adventurous (and vegetarian), and like to try out cuisine, here are two suggestions for you...


1. Ta'am Falafel:
Located in Koramangala, in a road parallel to the Sony world Junction (Take the turn at ooty chocolates), this a restaurant tucked in the middle of nowhere. Literally. There is no commercial complex, shopping area or clearly identifiable residential layout nearby.

The place serves a motley bunch of arabic sounding cuisine, but frankly, we have never gone beyond the falafel meals. Pickled veggies served with Pita bread and falafels. A do-it-yourself meal. Alternatively, you could try the taam falafel, which is pita bread packed with the fillings and served with hummus and white sauce. Quick service. check out http://www.taamrestaurants.com/ for a menu
Dent to the pocket - Veg Meal for 2 - range of 250/- to 300/- (Falafel sandwich each or a falafel meal)Service- Decent: I havent seen this place being even moderately crowded, so cannot comment
Tipping - Normal stuff

2. Ali Baba Cafe
These guys were discovered one day when we desperately wanted to eat hummus and falafels but couldnt bring ourselves to go to Taam. Then we googled and discovered Ali Baba. Located in MM Road of Frazer town, these guys deliver in the vicinity.
Again, cannot comment on overall menu. Our standard order is four falafel sandwiches (please make sure you ask for veggies, else they skimp on it) and one portion of Hummus. Add some Khubus if you like. Fairly prompt service. Apparently close to the real deal (or so the husband claims)... Im kinda not too sure - not having tasted truly authentic arabic food, or if i have, i havent remembered the taste. Call them at +91-80-4091 7163
Dent to the pocket - Veg Meal for 2 - range of 250/- to 300/-Service- Cant comment on dining service, but they dont overly delay deliveryTipping - Havent tipped till date. Maybe we should start!!!

Thai food in Bangalore?

How about Benjarong? Easy to reach on Ulsoor road, it is housed in a building along with Zara, the Tapas bar and The French Loaf. Not surprising, as all three joints are run by the same management.

The first thing you will notice on entering this place are the various statuettes dotting the place. A live vegetable carver goes about her work, and don't be surprised if her handiwork pops up as part of your meal!

The restaurant is on two levels, with neat seating inside, and some seats on the balcony. The view has nothing much to recommend it, but on a chilly Bangalore evening or afternoon, it may be a good idea to take in the fresh air (or as fresh as it can get given the location)

Both lunch and dinner are served here. For Lunch during weekdays, there is a set menu option available. Cannot comment on this, as we are yet to try it out. The a-la-carte menu for dinner/ lunch has a clearly demarcated section (From appetizers to rice) for vegetarians. So no hunting for the little green dot next to the name of the dish!!!

As for the drinks, there is the usual sortie of wines and whiskeys, cocktails and mocktails. The summer cooler (coconut water+mint+honey) is a different drink, given that it is served directly from the coconut. Nothing to complain about the rest of the drinks menu, but then, i am not much of a drinker!

As part of the thai food experience, there is a complementary "Mien Khum" (i just googled for it!)... which starts the whole meal. It is the Thai version of our Paan. There is one or the other leaf (lettuce/ spinach), along with coconut flakes, chilli pieces, lime shoots, chopped onions, ginger and sweet sauce. Wrap it all together and pop it into your mouth. It gets addictive actually, and doesnt kill your appetite.

For the starters, we have our standard favorite - baby corn in rice tartlets. We tried the corn patties and the spring rolls too, but liked the tartlets the best!!! For the main course, we have tried the various semi-currys and gravies, and none disappoint per se. My personal favorite is the Thai yellow curry. Served with complimentary rice noodles , it is best eaten with white rice. Side dishes like brocoli in peanut sauce or veggies in lemon-coriander sauce can complement the meal very well. Listen to the steward, he can suggest the best combination!

The desserts are good as well, be it the "payasam" type dish made with water chestnut or the date pancake with ice cream.

Overall, Benjarong food is great. Definitely worth a visit if you like food, and maybe a regular visit if you like Thai food.

Dent to the pocket - Veg Meal for 2 (without drinks) - range of 1000/- to 1200/- (One starter+rice+2 dishes+ Dessert)
Service- Good: we have never had to ask them the status of our order till date!
Tipping - Service charges at 5% are added to the bill, so tip at your discretion
Reservations - As of now, not required, as i dont think that the place is pulling crowds in yet