Author: manuscrypts

  • Terrazzo

    There’ve been so many name and location changes in the last year that I can’t be sure which Italy has been replaced by Terrazzo – Italia or Little Italy. I think it’s the former. In any case, this is on 100 feet Road just before the 12th Main junction when you’re coming from the Koramangala direction. (on your right – so take a right before 12th main, loop around to 12th Main and then turn left on 100 feet Road) There’s valet parking for the bigger machines and just enough space for the smaller ones. The map can be found at Zomato, and the menu as well. There’s another restaurant Esplanade housed in the same building, and is related to the one in Koramangala.

    One thing they should probably change is piling the garbage right in front of the restaurant! Why would anyone want to see this when they walk into the restaurant? And the stink stays with you for quite a while. :\

    There are three seating options – 2 downstairs (one closed, one semi open with a glass ceiling) and 1 upstairs. We sat upstairs and had a nice view of the road. The menu is a mix of (wait for it) Italian and Indian, so we decided to do the same with our order too! From the bar menu, we asked for a Tequila Steeler and a Classic Sangria, and for starters, a Lal Surkh Tangdi Kabab. We could have done with lesser chopped fruits in the Sangria but the Steeler was not a bad drink. The Kabab didn’t have much of the mince it was supposed to have, and the chilli paste was not really present in all the 3 pieces we got, but it was not a bad dish really.

    For the main course, we decided to try the Sicilian al Pollo with a thin crust (that you have to ask for) and a Carbonara with Fusilli. The pizza turned out to be quite good with lots of cheese, mushrooms and chicken and a slight tang and spiciness thanks to the sauce. We’d have liked the pasta sauce to be a little less dry but there was no questioning the fresh cream, cheese and bacon presence.

        

    We were quite stuffed but the person who took the order insisted on a complimentary dessert when he learned that we had booked through Poshvine. (and that the booking for some reason had not gone through!) That happened to be a caramel custard with some amazing custard and a caramel sauce that could have been a bit less bitter.

    All of the above came to just under Rs.1850 (that’s after a Citi discount and taxes and service charge) The service was really really good and that’s not just because he bribed me with the dessert. 🙂 The food is reasonably good too and the ambiance is quite nice. All things considered, you could probably drop in if you’re around those parts.

    Terrazzo, No:1135, 100 feet Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar Ph: 25289126/97482

  • I, the responsible

    …and the poor poor girl died earlier in the day I wrote this. Given the delay between my writing posts, and them getting published here, we should have collectively moved on from the issue by now, at least in terms of mind space and media space- mainstream as well as trending topics.

    Much, much has been written about the issue – the male/female/Indian/ NRI/feminist/opportunist/armchair activist/ weekend activist/ ‘I was there to protest’ perspective, and these were only some examples – slice and dice any way you like and you’d find a voice that spoke on behalf of the piece you carved. Like this.

    Much as I abhor what happened, I see it (rape) only as one symptom of the disease we all have – our own malformed sense of justice. Probably one of the worst symptoms, but not the only one. Injustice is injustice, and it varies by degrees only on the basis of our own perspectives of right and wrong. It happens everyday – talking on the mobile phone while driving/riding, fudging tax forms, making the maid plead for a salary raise, bribing a cop, drinking and driving because you have assured yourself that you are still in control… ask your conscience, you’ll come up with many more. No, I’m not really confusing it with breaking the law – here’s an example. Five hundred times you speak on the phone while driving and nothing happens, but nothing stops the five hundred and first time being the instance that maims someone for life, and leaving him/her bereft of limbs, and perhaps dignity. Ask that person which is a larger crime – what happened to him or a gang rape – the answer should not be surprising. Every action/inaction that affects the dignity of another person, that shows another person that one can get away with breaking the law, that walks the grey area between absolute right and wrong in however minute a way, is injustice in some form.  And in this daily, casual, personal #theekhai attitude to justice lie the seeds of every horrible act of injustice. Any kid watching this today and seeing the perpetrator walk away scot free will imagine he can get away with a bigger crime. And so it grows, and morphs into multi-thousand crore scams and gang rapes further down the chain. A bit like the broken windows theory.

    Granted that an elected government has among its duties the responsibility of ensuring the protection of its citizens. Should we protest if they do not? Of course, but that does not absolve me of my obligation, nor does it free me of the nagging thought that as a race, our notion of justice is based on convenience. Sometimes I wonder if the birth of laws in society was a response to the slow death of justice within human beings.

    So yes, I am the privileged who can update my Facebook status, and move on with my life. I am responsible and there’s nothing I can do about it. Before I casually judge others, I have to wonder if I have the moral authority to do so. After all, I only vary by degrees.

    (image via gaping void)

    until next time, </justice>

  • Vengeance Of Ravana

    Ashok K Banker

    The seventh book of the Ramayana series that was never expected. Ashok Banker has his own reasons for writing it, as he mentions in the Foreword. He also uses the section to outline his plans to document the past, present and extrapolated future of India as well as alternate history. I was quite happy when i read this because it seemed a noble endeavor. And then the book started.

    I have been a fan of the other books (except for Book 3, which i thought was an unnecessary stretch) in the series and have, in reviews, admired how the author brings characters and the age to life and uses prose in a way that makes you (even) identify with them.

    But this book completely failed for me. The plot, if any, doesn’t go anywhere. I could’ve flipped 10 pages and still not missed a thing – except for prose. It’s as though the mandate was to describe every occurrence / character/ vista in as many words as possible. Fitting in contemporary phrases like collateral damage and terms like vortal seem terribly forced. It’s a vengeance story, but sometimes you wonder who it is directed at!!

    If you’ve been reading the Ramayana series, I guess you’ll have to sit through this one too, just to see where it goes, but go in fully prepared for a prose avalanche. The author does seem to be on his own trip – good for him, not so good for readers. Sad.

  • A picture to go with me

    Something in Mishi Saran’s ‘The Other Side of Light’ made me think of a visual that would accompany me on the final journey. I’m not really a painting kind of person, so it’d probably be a photograph.

    A photograph that captured my life in one still moment, or my soul itself. Something that was much more than a thousand words. Something that only I understood and could connect with, so its existence beyond my own would be meaningless.

    For now, I don’t think I have a photograph like that. Or perhaps each photo, when I look back at it, is as much the deserving one as another. Each one, a different me, real and alive at that point in time, reduced to memory soon as it is captured.

    until next time, transience

  • Cheers Coorg

    The review was first published in Bangalore Mirror.

    I knew that Shillong is called the Scotland of the East, but Coorg is apparently called the Scotland of India. However, what amazed me more is that in terms of my culinary mapping, I associate both of these places with pork, and that is something that Scottish Highlanders have an aversion to! Thankfully Cheers Coorg’s menu doesn’t have Scots in mind as the target audience. But long before the menu, the ambiance does a good job of conveying the restaurant’s character. From the funky tablemat that gives you an introduction to Coorg, its heritage, culture and cuisine to the various décor elements that line the wall – including photographs, sketches and even a couple of guns, Coorg is all over the place. Meanwhile, to get to the place, you can follow the map here.

    The menu, presented in the form of a compact clipboard, also tries to give a sense of character. For instance, there is a “Real men ask for their drinks” line in place of a bar menu, but unfortunately the spirit is limited to words as the license is still a couple of weeks away. This proved to be a recurring theme.

    We began well with both versions of the Nalla Malu Kanni soups – chicken and mutton, and a Mutton Bones soup. The Mushroom Coconut soup we wanted to try was not available. The Mutton Bones soup was spicy, with the pepper making its presence clearly felt, but though it was a fine soup, the Nalla Malu Kanni soup, with its mix of a mild sweetness and a peppery kick delivered slightly later stole the show.

    The menu is skewed majorly towards appetisers, so it was a difficult task to choose the representatives from each kind of meat. The Chilkana Pandi triumphed over its peers and turned out to be an excellent choice. The pork was well cooked and the onion and green chillies based masala also had a touch of sourness courtesy the vinegar. The Chicken Fry in Green Masala had tender chicken in a spicy masala made of green chillies, coriander and a hint of mint. Mutton was represented by Khaima Unde, minced mutton balls. The meat was bordering on tough, but not a complete disaster. Aquatic life made it to the table in the form of the Kachampuli Fish fry, though the tamarind was a name only presence, and the only discernible flavour was that of the pepper.

     

     

    The alfresco area on the first floor was nearly full by the time we were ready for the rest of the meal, and that meant the main course took a while to get to the table. The Pandi Curry was a mandatory choice but failed to deliver, with a poorly diluted gravy that was rather insipid. The only consolation was that the pork was well cooked. The Chicken Curry also did not impress with its coconut based gravy. Most of the vegetarian gravies were unavailable, and from the options we asked for a Kumbala (pumpkin) Curry. Mildly sweet, it was just about average. We tried out most of the ‘accompaniments’ – Kadambuttu, Noolputtu, Paaputtu, Akki Otti, Sannas and Neyi Koolu (Ghee Rice). The Kadambuttu and the ghee rice were the pick of the lot. The former had an excellent consistency and the ghee rice was different from the standard fare with a mild sweetness to it. The Paaputtu was a tad crumbly, and the Akki Otti was an XS version!

     

     

    When we asked for the Dessert of the Day, the only option other than the Ice Cream, we were told that it was Caramel Custard, not really the Coorgi dish we had expected. So we decided to end the meal with juices and coffee. The Passion fruit juice and the Filter Coffee were not bad but the Kaipuli (bitter orange) juice was the clear winner.

    For about Rs.1200, you could share a soup, a non veg starter, a non veg main course dish and a couple of staples, and a dessert. (Inclusive of taxes and service charge)

    Cheers Coorg has nailed the ambiance, and features a unique cuisine, but they do have some way to go in terms of the quality of food, before we can truly say cheers!

    Cheers Coorg, #29, 80 feet Road, Indiranagar , Ph: 080 41219555