Category: Restaurant Reviews

  • Kobe Sizzlers

    Talk about focus… You only come here if you are in the mood for sizzlers… We couldn’t even try our regular strategy of one starter + one sizzler + dessert approach, since the starter options are almost nil… Even with this focus, we felt that we could’ve got more choice of sizzlers in say, Yoko, Indijoe or Tangerine.

    First things first, the joint is located on the 5th floor of Garuda Mall. We tried reserving in advance, but as usual were met with ‘We don’t take reservations on weekends’. What surprised us were a few tables there with a ‘reserved’ sign, and I only got a smile in response to my query. We reached there by around 7.45, and could easily get a table, but the place got crowded in another 15 minues.

    Since I was still reeling from a heavy lunch, we ordered a Chicken Salad and a Nasi Goreng. The salad came in no time, was very tasty (just the way I like it, with lots of mayonnaise) and was quite large, in terms of quantity. The sizzler took some time, but that might have been because they were waiting for us to finish the salad.

    The sizzler was made of boneless chicken on a bed of fried rice. And what a bed it was – king size!! I’m quite sure that even with a free stomach, I wouldn’t have been able to finish it. The lack of options, I think, is made up for by the extremely good quality and quantity of the food that one gets here.

    The dessert options are the regular suspects – custard, brownie. They also have a few beverage options like iced tea, cold coffee and something called the Kobe special coffee, have to try that out sometime.

    The ambience is quite pleasant, with very comfortable seating and cosy seating for 2 people. The food is absolutely value for money, the entire meal cost us just about Rs.400.

    Kobe Bangalore. 5th Floor, Garuda Mall, McGrath Road, M.G.Road, Banglore-560025 Tel: 080-65600872

    Menu and Photos at Zomato

  • China Pearl

    When in Koramangala, and in the mood for Chinese food that doesnt land you in a financial crisis, think China Pearl. For the third week in a row, a restaurant refused to take reservations. The times, they really are a changin’ 😐

    To get there, when coming from the MG road side, take a left at Forum, keep going straight, and take a right turn after you see a park on the right side. No, not a software park, just a normal old fashioned park. Geez!! Its a one way, the same road that has GK Vale among other things, that also include a truckload of restaurants – Chung Wah, Filling Station and so on….. Here’s a map.

    We reached there around 9, and had to wait for about ten minutes. Since Bangalore ain’t so cool anymore, we skipped the soup and had fried chicken momos for starters. That, along with the spicy sauce meant we started well. 🙂

    We ordered a Teriyaki Chicken. thought it sounds a bit like what Harbhajan said a while back, its actually only fillets of chicken in teriyaki sauce. It also has mushrooms. Its a dry dish, and is quite well made. The only snag was that we got it at least 10 minutes before the rest of the main course. Thankfully, it didn’t get too cold. The rest of the main course was made up of a Drunken Chicken and Chicken Malaysian Noodles. Although the former led to a discussion between us on how exactly they got the chicken into such a condition, it’s chicken in rice wine, and is extremely tasty. Its a unique flavour, and definitely worth a try. If you are fine with thin noodles, the place has a lot of options. I’d have taken a Chow Mein, but we already had a gravy dish. The Malaysian Noodles is something we’ve had before and didn’t disappoint.

    The quantity is more than ample for two people, and reasonably priced. All the above cost us less than Rs.600. The service is usually good, but somehow the waiter this time didn’t quite fancy us, I guess. But China Pearl is a regular haunt and we’ll be back.

    China Pearl, 5th Cross, 6th Block, Koramangala. Ph-25501735, 41105060

    Menu and photos at Zomato

    Update September 2011: From the time we’ve been in Bangalore, this is one place where there is always a crowd waiting outside on weekend nights. We’ve visited several time since this review, and it has always delivered. Koramangala is famous for restaurants that disappear by the time you take a U-turn and come back. China Pearl continues to thrive, and that’s why being here is a very happy feeling. The exalted company adds to the pleasure. 🙂

  • Indijoe

    No, not the one on Airport Road- the one made famous by what I consider is the one of the best value-for-money lunch buffet in the city. They have recently opened an outlet on Old Madras Road. To reach there, go down OM road towards KR Puram. After crossing Big Bazaar (on your right), you’ll see RMZ Infinity on the right, would be difficult to miss it with the Mc Donalds M neon. That’s where you’ll find the new Joe. 🙂 Among other things in the same complex/mall(?), there’s a food court, a Subway, a CCD, Beijing Bites, Pathankot, Hakka (Mainland China).

    Though we called for reservations, we were told that they don’t take reservations on weekends, which seems to be becoming a trend these days. Anyway, with all those options above (and I’m sure I’ve missed a couple) that drive would be worthwhile, i guess.

    We got there by around 7.45 and the place was about 75% full. The IPL could explain the crowd at this relatively early hour. You could either sit inside or on the lawn /road facing vernadah. We chose the outside since it was surprisingly more quiet (again thanks to a raucous IPL cheering crowd inside). The ambience inside is a replica of the other Indijoe, and the menu seems to be a truncated version of the same.

    We ordered a non veg combo and a chicken satellite sizzler. The non veg combo consisted of chicken pyramids (er, mini samosa like 😉 ), chicken tenders, mozzarella in carrozza (the taste was worth the spelling), dynabites (these guys know their branding – bread pakoras 😀 ) and spicy chicken wings. The non veg combo is a good way of having a little bit of a lot of things. It actually gives you a feel that you have eaten a lot, and tasty things at that. Dont mistake the red sauce they serve alongside for the normal tomato variety, this one is special, if you are the spicy type. They also give a mustard based sauce, that made me change my impression of mustard in general. The different stuff on the platter also gives you an excuse to try the different sauces one finds at Indijoe – tabasco, worcestershire, and something called HP sauce (wonder if its a tribute to a similar sounding organisation’s office nearby 😉 )

    The chicken satellite sizzler has grilled boneless chicken with mushroom sauce, with sauteed mushroom garnished with cheese and fresh cream. Yes, and fries. The stuff was good, except that the mushroom was almost charred. We would give the benefit of the doubt to the cook, since the match was evenly poised around that time. I’m sure he didn’t mean it. The good part is that even with all the above, it didn’t give us a bloated feeling, so we decided to plod ahead with a ‘Chocolate Decadence’, that, according to the menu was a four storey high chocolate avalanche. In looks, it lived upto its name, but the secret is that its a lot of fluff 🙂 Though it was quite good, it’s no match for those monstrosities one gets at Frescoes. Now, thats chocolate.

    The service is quite good. We got the food very fast. But i think he didnt expect us to have the dessert, so he’d already got the bill made. Indijoe, I’ve always felt, is the least snobbish of the BJN array of eateries, and this one lives up to that image. All of the above cost us about Rs.600. If you don’t mind the longish ride (for anyone not around Indiranagar and its surroundings) a visit would be worth it.

    Indijoe, RMZ Infinity, Old Madras Road. Ph-41113377/3553

  • Serengeti

    A little googling tells me that its the name of a wildlife national park and ecosystem in Tanzania. Since I’m not particularly adventurous by nature, I restricted myself to visiting the dining ecosystem in Madivala. After all, it was supposed to have an African rainforests theme.

    A call for reservation was answered, the second time, and we were politely told that since it was Saturday night, reservations could be made only in specific timeframes – 7.30 to 8.15 pm and 9.45 – 10.30 pm. We chose the latter.

    Its on the 3rd floor in Total Mall alongwith Zanzibar, Silver Metro and a food court. The mall is quite easy to reach. When coming from the MG Road side, turn left onto the road that goes to St.Johns (you don’t have an option anyway after you cross Forum 🙂 ), then take a U turn onto the road that leads to the Madivala market. You can see Total on the left but the entrance is on Hosur Road.

    There was a crowd waiting to get in, when we reached, and even with reservations, and landing up exactly on time, we were made to wait about 10 minutes. Once we were inside, the undergrowth was not quite thick, so we got to see people dining among alligators, vines, elephants, waterfalls and so on :). For those who don’t mind the gurgling water sound, the outside seating would be fine. I dont, and thankfully, we were taken inside the ‘Guffa’. Its a closed structure within the restaurant and is slightly better lit than the outside. We can also see animal-skull trophies on the walls, that add to the effect – what they have called ‘the wild side of dining’. In fact, they have tried to do that in everything, including the waiters who are attired like shikaris. No, don’t expect the hostesses in grass skirts!!!

    Meanwhile, the cuisine is Lucknowi and Peshawari, which made me wonder about the connection with the setting. We went straight for the main course, though there were a couple of ‘not quite common’ options in the shorba and starters categories. We ordered a Murgh patiala kadai se and a Machi Mazedar, along with a bran roti, an onion kulcha and a plain naan. The quantity was quite sufficient, though i would recommend the fish dish to be eaten with rice. The food was good enough to warrant another visit. We also had a Sariska Panna, which is made of pineapple pulp. It was chilled and had quite a unique flavour. Though this was supposed to be an apertiff, we got it in the middle of the meal 😐

    That notwithstanding, the service was quite good. We were also given a potato chips based snack before the meal started, turned out to be quite good, with chat flavors. We opted out of desserts because there were only the usual suspects, inclusing a chocolate brownie. But then, dessert doesn’t need context, does it? 😉

    The above meal cost us about Rs.650, and we’ll definitely make one more visit, if only for the unusual setting. Reservations can be made at 9731558301/7.

    Photos at Serengeti

  • Imperial + Cream & Fudge Factory

    It’d been a while since i paid a visit to the friendly neighbour joint thats imperial, and someone had to pay for the dessert fetish, that turned out to be keeping dinner to a vfm joint :D. I doubt if Imperial would be the place to test out soups, though starters are a different matter altogether.

    We skipped both (remember dessert?) and chose to have a brain onion fry (half plate) and a tandoori chicken masala, along with Kerala Paratha. For once, I was disappointed with the brain onion fry, it was too salty, and the roles of onions and chillies were interchanged. The quantity has also been reduced drastically.The tandoori chicken masala was also only passable, though the quantity was sufficient. But since the place has been an old favourite, it merits one more chance, especially since Empire’s brain fry doesnt hold a candle to Imperial’s.

    The Cream and Fudge Factory is quite a place for the sweet toothed Bangalorean. I refuse to allow flavors other than chocolate to enter my dessert horizon, and despite this being the second visit, I’ve to make at least 4 more visits to complete the chocolate based stuff there, so you can imagine. This time we had the Cookie dream which had chocolate chips, chocolate cookies, and chocolate fudge with a vanilla base. While there are so many flavours to choose from, thats not all. You can make your own ice cream with your chosen flavor, and an army of toppings ranging from Ferrero Rocher, Snickers, M&M etc to hazelnuts, almonds and sooo many things in between. Yes, it just might be the closest you’d get to the mythical chocolate paradise, and as for price, while it’s not peanuts, it doesnt make you ask for a personal loan either 😀

    The Cream & Fudge Factory, Opposite HDFC Bank, 7th Block, 80 Feet Road, Koramangala. Tel: 41726222.