Yes, I know, I’ve already written about Whitefield Social, so what really is new? Well, it’s Koramangala, and we welcome any chance to go back to our ‘native place in Bangalore’. When we heard a Social had opened, we just had to drop in. Koramangala continues to change rapidly, and we notice it even more in our quarterly/biannual visits. Meanwhile, when I heard my friends describe it, I thought they must have taken some independent bungalow on 80 feet Road, but this was near Starbucks in an otherwise (except for Social’s own signage) unspectacular building. (map) But once inside, it is evident that in terms of ambiance, this is easily the best Social in Bangalore yet. It is quite bag, spans two floors and offers much better seating options than the other two. There’s also a lot of greenery around, and that includes the bar area as well. We visited during Halloween, and the staff was dressed for the occasion. The service itself, was thankfully not horrible, and we actually liked it more than the other Social outlets – Church Street folks are clear that they are doing humanity a service by taking orders, and Whitefield people tend to be a little too laidback every once in a while.
Category: Koramangala
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Nasi And Mee
I think Nasi and Mee opened just as we were moving to Whitefield. But we had heard so many good things about it that a plan had been in the works for a long while. The plan just kept getting postponed, and would have continued to, but for a couple of friends who thankfully manage to be very unsympathetic to the rigorous planning with which I plan my restaurant outings! And thus we landed in Koramangala, on a rainy Friday night, after having spent the previous hour and a half trapped in an Uber in slow motion. Even as we were pointing out to each other the changes on 80 feet Road, Koramangala, we spotted Nasi and Mee adjacent to what can arguably be now called a heritage hangout – Rendezvous!
Somehow, the space manages to give itself a hipster feel, helped by a largely young crowd. Great buzz, and just the right amount of light for us older folk to see around, and look at the menu.
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1522
First published in Bangalore Mirror
We hadn’t visited Koramangala since we shifted to Whitefield, so I took the restaurant review as an excuse to plan a 2D/1N weekend getaway at B and N’s place. 😀 After a beef and pork extravaganza the previous night, we visited 1522 on a Saturday afternoon.
The usual story is a restaurant doing well in Koramangala or Indiranagar and then branching out to relatively uncharted areas. But this time, we have a plot twist. Imagine two storylines moving in parallel from the beginning of this decade. Amidst the deluge of fancy cuisines and posh experiences in Koramangala, an old warhorse holds its ground. It’s an icon after all, with a signal named after it, and the number of times a cab/rickshaw driver has been told “From Maharaja signal..” must be approaching infinity. Meanwhile, in the relatively conservative environs that make up Malleswaram, a new generation, riding on the legacy of a White Horse, slowly begins to make a name for itself. It’s called 1522. Cut to 2015, and quite against the conventional tide, a little bit of Malleswaram appears in Koramangala! (map) (more…)
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Onesta
First published in Bangalore Mirror
Under normal circumstances, 7.30PM is a safe time to walk into a restaurant without a reservation – experience suggests that it’s too early for the twenty-somethings to have started their Saturday nocturnal agenda. But then one comes across places like Onesta that completely defy this logic. Onesta is on the Ooty Chocolates road off 100 feet Road Koramangala. (map) Best of luck on the parking. We barely managed to get a table, and in the two hours we spent there, there was hardly a moment when a whippersnapper wasn’t waltzing in and asking for a table, seemingly oblivious of folks who were already waiting. Having landed a table right at the entrance, we were at the receiving end of a ton of evil eyes, all of which were questioning the legitimate amount of time one should be allowed to spend with pizzas. This is amazing for an outlet which has been around for only a month, and it immediately raised hopes of some fantastic food. But, according to the menu, you need to wait for 25 minutes before the food reaches you. So let me attempt to distract you with the ambiance. Imagine walking off a Koramangala road straight into a cobbled street in Europe, complete with a tiny fountain, white walls and shutter doors. In the first ten minutes, we even had a two-girl band crooning to lyrics sourced real time on a mobile phone! Music reminds me, there’s a heavy metal fan right next to the fountain, and while the idea (coolness in summer) is indeed sound, it does result in water sprays every five minutes if you’re seated anywhere near it. That notwithstanding, the yellow flower pots, red and black chairs, the quaint lampshades and glass bottles, and paneled wood tables all contribute to a bright yet chic elegance that’s warm and charming.
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My Bar
No, not mine, it’s just a name. Located above Kobe in Koramangala, (map) it occupies a couple of floors, both offering my favourite kind of road-view seating. That’s probably what prompted a second visit. The place has a lot of knickknacks – lanterns hanging from the roof, and everything from compasses to framed Someecards adorning the walls. While the first visit was on a night when D and I were not really hungry, the second was a Sunday afternoon when the bellies were mostly empty! Their bar menu has quite a few interesting cocktails. On our first visit, we tried a Kala Khatta – a mix of vodka, black salt, chaat masala and raw mango mix, with mint, and a green chilli. Quite good, with multiple flavour pops, the only spoiler being the extended presence of crushed ice. We also tried a couple of starters – Beef Pepper Fry and Coorgi Pork. The first was (mostly) well cooked beef with the pepper corn adding a spicy touch. The braised pork was served with Kadamputtu, the pork itself was mildly spicy and juicy, but the accompaniment could have done better for itself.
