I have to admit, the original choice was Burma Burma, who wouldn’t take a reservation on Saturday. We weren’t lucky enough to get a table without a 1 hour waiting time, so we walked to Lucky Chan, which we had anyway considered. Since it was still early in the evening, we managed to find a table easily.
Lucky Chan manages to mix a certain zest with the comfort and cosiness of a local diner. Overall it was a perfect ambience for us. We didn’t catch a glimpse of the conveyer belt sushi, but that is anyway quite a ‘dangerous’ thing as we discovered in Kyoto.
We fell in love with home-delivered food to the extent that we had to visit the Whitefield version of Bologna. The good news is that for a change, meeting one’s heroes was not a disappointment. And therefore no more home deliveries, dine-in is the way to go when it comes to Bologna. The first time we visited, we chose the balcony seating with a view of the road. Perfect lunch spot for the December weather. The second visit was more recent, introducing the place to friends, and the cosy indoor seating was perfect.
We began with a White wine sangria pitcher which made its way into glasses before I could take out the phone for a pic! I missed the Zuppa di Bologna as well because I was famished. 🤦 But for want of a better word, the Italian herb-infused chicken broth with Mascarpone & Parmesan cheese was soothing. A great start.
Speaking of start, we tried a couple of starters – Pollo Ripieno di Formaggio in fillo and the Crostini di Bologna. The first is a filo roll stuffed with herb and pesto-infused chicken, and had a mix of great textures. The Crostini tastes just as it looks – a burst of flavours from the chicken, bacon, mushrooms and Mozzarella complemented by that excellent bread.
We loved both the pizzas we tried. The Pepperoni with a delicious tomato sauce, and the Ai Funghi e Salsicce which had a bunch of ingredients – chicken sausage, bacon, olives, mushroom and mozzarella, all of which worked together beautifully.
The Spaghetti Aglio Olio would never be my first choice anywhere, but this one was flavourful enough for me to not complain. The Cappellacci (means ‘little hats’, and named after the hats from where it originated) Di Bologna, I’d gladly recommend any time. Great sauce.
There were four and a half people sharing all this, which meant that we had space for desserts! The Bomba di Cioccolato is just a fancy name for the humble lava cake, which is great for kids. But you should go for probably the best Tiramisu in Bangalore.
A meal for two with a couple of glasses of wine, a starter and a couple of main course dishes would land you in the Rs.3000 range, but it is easily worth the money and the ambience. The staff is pleasant, prompt and helpful. We’ll be regular visitors for sure.
We came across Kampot when we visited Mannheim. The name itself was alluring, since Cambodia is one of our earliest and most cherished travels, and home to one of D’s all-time favourite dishes – Fish Amok. Given the constraints on the things you can do inside Ecoworld, they have done a fair job with the ambience. The menu turned out to be a lot more Asian, which I am guessing is a smarter choice if the idea is to get a crowd.
We started with a Tom Kha Head Soup. The flavours and texture were totally off with this one, which we might have guessed anyway given the colour. Closer to the other Tom – yum that is, than what we expected. Next up was the Holy Basil Sambal Chicken, and again, the memories of sambal in Indonesia are strong enough for me to recognise non-sambal. That fiery bite was completely missing in the dish. The soup actually was spicier!
For mains, D went with the Miso Ramen with Soba Noodles and Chicken, and I thought going Vietnamese might be a good idea after Thailand and Indonesia had failed. Of the two, D’s Miso was easily better in terms of flavour but definitely not the best we have had. The Pho was a disaster, and I didn’t even bother to finish it.
On hindsight, this was stupid given everything that had transpired, but we decided to try a Kampot Coffee. Since this is their own concoction, I don’t really have a benchmark to compare against. So all I’ll say is that I regretted it soon as I took the first sip.
We paid close to Rs.2700 for this mistake. The service was pleasant but tardy. After having sampled multiple eateries in The Bay, Ecoworld, I think the building has found a way to decrease the quality of dining experience. For instance, Irish House and Punjab Grill. I’ll soon be able to update with Mannheim too. For now, I’d avoid.
Let’s just say that at some point, the presence of Bar Spirit Forward on my feed became intense enough for it to outweigh the laziness of transporting ourselves from Whitefield to Lavelle Road. The place is housed next to a nostalgic favourite from almost a couple of decades ago – The Rice Bowl. The entrance is subtle enough to make you wonder if you’re in the right place. It’s all part of the play.
Make sure you reserve in advance so you get a warm welcome. 🙂
The decor is all world charm and sophistication, with the wicker and plush leather giving it the well-heeled elegance it’s probably aiming for.
That being said, it helps to also have tongue firmly in cheek lest we take it all too seriously.
An Umami Old Fashioned is what I began with. The ingredients were a mouthful – Jim Beam ,Vermouth, Amaro, Cherry Brine, Brown Koji Boy Cacao Miso, Bitters – but thankfully, those many cooks didn’t spoil the broth. I’d rate it high amongst the OFs I’ve had.
D had a 3 Gin Vesper which had gin heavyweights – Monkey 47, Tanqueray 10, Greater Than with Short Story vodka, Lillet Blanc, Dry Vermouth – which came frozen and poured straight from an icy bottle, served with blue cheese stuffed olive.
We didn’t begin well in terms of food. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with the Dak Bulgogi, but the smokey grilled chicken with scallions and sesame wasn’t something that gave you a foodgasm either.
The surprise package was the Lemony Roasted Cashews. Spicy and insanely addictive. Not to mention phenomenally good value for money. No, I’m not nuts, give it a try!
The Chicken Della Vittoria was a creamy, slurpy, wholesome affair and we throughly enjoyed the flavours and texture of the hot chicken stew.
Show me a person who can resist that Bailey’s Hot Chocolate Cake, and I’ll happily take their share. A great loaded dessert to end the meal.
The service is pleasant enough, one must expect a certain level of snootiness. The place was surprisingly a bit noisy thanks particularly to a loud middle-aged party of three, who were unfortunately at a table near ours. Thankfully they left in a bit. We loved the ambience and the food and didn’t grudge the Rs.4000+ bill we got. I’d recommend at least one visit.
Bar Spirit Forward, Lavelle Road, Shantala Nagar Ph: 077956 54575
This is far from our village, but thanks to the metro, if we get out early, it is quite a breeze getting to Indiranagar. And that is how, one Saturday evening, we broke our rustic idyll to visit Idyll, about whose fusion fare we had heard good things.
Idyll has two floors. The top floor is the one with the pounding music and cool bar. Relatively, the ground floor is the more ‘boring’ one, almost like the family room, and that’s where we chose to sit. That ‘maze’ symbol on the lamp (that we loved) is everywhere and kept reminding me of the Westworld maze. See that ceiling again?
The Kashmiri Old Fashioned was what I came for. Roasted raisin infused bourbon, spiced Demerara almond syrup, and in-house Kashmiri bitters was how it differentiated itself from the standard version. I enjoyed it because it didn’t go overboard on the sweetness and they didn’t scrimp on the alcohol.
D tried the Kerala Mango Pachadi – tequila based, with strained mango pachadi and a few other ingredients, which turned out to quite good. As always, looked prettier than my drink too!
We started with a Pandi Pork Bao – slow cooked pork belly in Kachampuli vinegar with fermented Thai chilli. We loved the spice level, the well cooked meat, and the superb flavouring.
Meen Moilee Dimsum made us very curious. River sole, coconut milk and fermented chili oil. I think, once you get used to the idea of the weird combo, it is tasty enough. 🙂
The last dish we tried was the Chorizo Kachori Chaat, which is your typical chaat with Goan chorizo. It wasn’t bad, but this, I thought, was the one that did the fusion the least justice.
The bill came to a little over Rs.3700. Indiranagar pricing, but hey. Excellent food and drinks, prompt and helpful service, and a peaceful ambiance if you get there early.
If you like a little bit of experimentation, try Idyll when you’re around next.
Idyll, 608, 12th Main Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar, Ph 6364315734
