Author: manuscrypts

  • Adaa

    Koramangala’s autumn cleaning has meant that we have a new set of restaurants. Adaa is one of them, and has the advantage of already being famous in Marathahalli, one of those recent upstart villages that is trying to give Koramangala’s sheer number of restaurants a run for its money. 😉

    A social visit earlier meant that the tummy was half-full, so we decided to walk to Adaa. This is on one of Koramangala’s food streets, same as Kobe, Empire, Sufi etc. You’ll see it on the left turn (corner) just after the Jyoti Nivas College left, opposite what used to be Paramount. (and now seems to be on its way to becoming Naushad’s The Big Chef) I think Adaa has taken Desmond’s spot. Thanks to the parking lot near Empire, you should be able to easily find a place.

    Adaa is a compact restaurant with a warm yet classy interior, and comfortable seating options. The menu informs you that it is part of the same group that owns Treat in Indiranagar. That used to be one of our favourite haunts during our brief stay in Bangalore East. The usage of green in the menu and logo is also a good hint to the connection, on hindsight.

    We started off proceedings with a Bukni Kabab. ‘Bukni’ seems to be a powdered masala with a dominant red chillies flavour. This indeed turned out to be a hot, fiery seekh kabab with an excellent texture, complemented well by the lemony, tangy onions. We washed it down with a thick, sweet lassi, that proved to be a good investment too. For the main course, we ordered a Murg Raada and a Magaz, and to go with that, a Kheema Kulcha, a Lal Mirch Paratha and later a, Hari Mirch Roti.

    The chicken dish seems to have a back story too. Apparently, it was created in a dhaba near the Road Transport Authority in Old Delhi. The mince and meat combo was good but though that made it a thick dish, the gravy itself proved a bit watery and bland. The Magaz, which is goat’s brain in a spiced masala was a much better dish, in spite of being slightly inconsistent with its flavours. There were spikes of salt and tanginess, but that didn’t take away much. The roti, paratha and kulcha did their jobs well, though we expected more spicy versions.

    There were dessert options, but we were too stuffed. There was this cool packaged ‘paan’ that came with the bill. First time I have seen this, and it’s quite good. So good that we ate two each and took the remaining with us. 😀 The bill came to just over Rs.900, including a 10% service charge. The service is courteous and attentive. In short, quite worth a visit, if you’re in Koramangala and would like some North Indian fare.

    Adaa, 48, 4B Cross, 5th Block, Koramangala Ph: 41103144/55

    A review published in Bangalore Mirror later

  • The window seat….

    …at night. The sight of a person looking into infinity from within the confines of a moving vehicle. What sparked this memory was a single scene from a song in a movie (Malayalam) that I saw recently – Salt N’ Pepper. Not in this song, which is absolute foodpr0n, but in the other melodious song (2:50 – 3:05) You’ll probably not recognise Shwetha Menon. 🙂

    In trains, it works differently for me. The lights are much further away, and flicker, as though desperately trying to get me to imagine their story. In buses, the lights seem much closer, and so are the people outside. Returning from work, knowing they have a night ahead to recoup before they face the daily grind the next day. On their way to meet friends, hoping they’ll have a good time. Rushing home, eager to see a loved one, whom they have missed all day. Stories of hope, stories with a face.

    I don’t get to see this these days, but I remember when I was in engineering college and used to return home on weekends. My usual bus dropped me at home by 6, too early for this, but in case I got delayed, I’d be in a plodding bus, half empty, on a route and through a landscape that looked completely different when seen at night. Before I got the Kiney to Goa, the trip from Panjim to Ribandar at night felt just the same. The Mandovi just made it extra special. In my first job, there was a period during which I used to travel daily from Cochin to Paravur, about 20 km away. That was probably the last time I got the window seat in a bus, at night. Ironically, that was also the time I used to go back to an empty home. One of those times, when the spectator had his own story to tell. 🙂

    There is something about the window-seat-at-night experience – romantic/ nostalgic/ wistful that makes it special. A feeling that I was not alone in the crowd. It used to give me a sense of peace, a feeling that everything would be alright.

    until next time, the bus stops here.

  • The Immortals of Meluha

    Amish

    The first of the Shiva trilogy. The book takes a historical view of Hindu mythology and looks at the Hindu God Shiva as a human who through this actions got elevated to the pedestal of Mahadev – the God of Gods. Set from 1900 BC onwards, it tracks Shiva’s journey from Mount Kailash in Tibet to the land of the Sapt Sindhu inhabited by the Meluhans, who see him as ‘Neelkanth’, the incarnation that will help them triumph over evil. ‘Evil’ to them are their neighbours, the people of ‘Swadeep’.

    The book is very fast paced and tells a good story. It also has a sprinkling of philosophy, especially towards the end that lends it some (relative) gravitas. Though the book shows no dearth of imagination in bringing a reality perspective to a lot of things we consider myth, what I felt it lacked was a certain finesse of prose, a factor that made it seem corny at regular intervals. But that won’t stop me from picking up the other two books, and that sense of intrigue is what makes the book a good read.

  • Conscious choices

    I found this video shared by K (part of a series by Professor Russell Stannard) offering me a very interesting perspective on the free will vs determinism debate. (earlier post)

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8EI4obG5zM

    He starts with talking about the brain as a physical object which is governed by the physical/chemical/biological rules of nature – like a computer works within a  set of mechanical/electronic laws – and therefore predictable. So it should be possible to predict our choices. But it doesn’t work that way. Consciousness is different.

    He then talks about how some are trying to apply quantum theory to the free will – determinism debate. Apparently, at sub atomic level, the ‘future’ is not predictable with absolute certainty. It has a built-in uncertainty in it. What we can do, however, is predict the odds of various possible outcomes – the average behaviour of various items. So if this is applied to individual cells whose behaviour is unpredictable, it would be free will, say the proponents of this theory. But the prof refutes this, and says that this is one of the debates that can’t be solved to everyone’s satisfaction.

    [This prediction of group behaviour reminded me of Asimov’s Foundation series and specifically Hari Seldon‘s psychohistory, through which he predicts the future in probabilistic terms.]

    But more importantly, it made me think that if indeed, there is a creator, maybe he built the automaton inside our head to make us predictable. The automaton grows with us, making most of our decisions unconscious ones, based on baggage accumulated over time – conditioning. That could explain why those few who break out of it are able to attain a higher level of thinking in which they can bend the rules, predict the future and so on and the only advice they can give others is to be aware of every second.

    And when I think of predicting the odds of outcomes, I wonder if the results of all our free will choices are written, like a tree with infinite branches. And as we continue our journey of choices that is life, one by one the branches disappear, until on hindsight, they look like one straight line that was always meant to be that way.

     until next time, a predictable end

  • Applewood

    It’s been a while since we left the safe confines of Koramangala city and explored dining options in the suburbs. And thus it was that we decided to try out Applewood, the newly opened restaurant in Indiranagar. It’s on 100 feet Road, above the Van Heusen showroom, just after the 12th Main junction when going from Koramangala. Here’s a map to get you there. There’s basement parking, so you don’t need to worry on that score.

    Applewood is on the 3rd floor, and is more partly open than really alfresco, with a few seating options facing the 100 ft Road – 2 and 4 seaters. The ambiance is quite pleasant, and wood indeed dominates. Music is 90s pop including MLTR. 🙂 The menu is mostly continental, with plenty of pasta options, but also has sizzlers, and a smattering of Mexican and Spanish. You can see the complete food and liquor menu at Zomato.  Meanwhile, the placemat spelling did manage to confuse me. Though there are no soup options on the menu, except as part of the pasta combination, they do serve it if you ask for it. But we went for a Pema Chicken, which is billed as ‘must try’. It turned out that it indeed was. A kind of spicy kebab-like dish complemented extremely well with a Skinner’s chutney and a smooth mint chutney.

    For the main course, we decided to check out the sizzlers. The Roast Clay Pot Chicken was only moderately spicy and the skewers reminded us more of kababs than anything else. The Cheesy Chicken Fungi got the chicken breast right but skimped on the cheese and cream. The onion rings were also soggy. For dessert, we asked for the Very Good Chocolate Cake. It turned out to be Very Long in making, but was thankfully worth it. Bit costly at Rs.195, but boy, it’s XL!! Make sure you leave enough room for it.

    The service is quite enthusiastic, and only the serving time for dessert was a downer. All of the above including the service charge and tax cost us just over Rs.1300. Do give it a shot if you’re in the area and are in the mood for some fine dining.

    Applewood, No: 760, 3rd Floor, Above Van Heusen Showroom, 100 Ft Road, Indiranagar Ph: 40942311