Category: Bangalore Mirror reviews

  • The Riverside Bar & Kitchen

    First published in Bangalore Mirror (That headline! It wasn’t me)

    The name Riverside, in Whitefield, might bring to mind visions of a frothy water body that’s infamous in the area, but thankfully the restaurant’s ambiance does a great job of helping us tide over it. The canoe near the entrance, the superb lighting, and a very enticing bar are some of the highlights of a décor job well done. Unfortunately the section upstairs wasn’t open for service, but our outdoor seating – with the bar on one side, and more standard liquid (water) flowing on the other – was quite pleasant. The other element worth a mention is the music. It was quite the ‘mixtape’ of 80s and 90s. From Lionel Richie to MLTR and “Nothing’s gonna change my love for you” to “How Bizarre”, it was quite a trip.

    In keeping with the name, the menu does have a lot of focus on aquatic food. Add to this multiple cuisines – Coastal, North Indian, Chinese and Continental – and you have a menu that travels really far, and across a lot of pages. The predictable problem with that though, is the unavailability of dishes. The good news is that, thanks to the elaborate menu, there’s still quite a lot of choice.

    collage1 (more…)

  • Hangover

    First published in Bangalore Mirror

    It’s not often that you see a Volkswagen van on the first floor of a building in Indiranagar. That, requires a Hangover. Inspired by Thai cocktail trucks, this is one of the bright spots in the latest addition to Indiranagar’s pub scene. (map) The ground floor seems a little drab compared to the first floor, which thanks to the van, chalkboard and some fancy lighting creates a peppy ambiance.

    collage1 (more…)

  • 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…)

  • One Night in Bangkok

    First published in Bangalore Mirror

    If you’re looking for a travel post, stop! ONIB is the name of a Bar & Grill in Indiranagar, run by the folks behind Plan B and Mother Cluckers. Reaching Indiranagar 12th Main is only marginally easier than getting to Bangkok, so we wanted to make sure that our trip wouldn’t be wasted, and tried to reserve a table. But that, we were told, wasn’t possible. Visa on arrival, just like Thailand! Street parking it is, all the very best!

    A sliding door and a thick black curtain lead you into a relatively small seating area, though they have used the space really well. At 7.30, we had the place pretty much all to ourselves. That meant we could really look around, after adjusting to the darkness, at what’s being positioned as India’s first Thai dive bar. The Buddha statuettes, the Muay Thai wall painting and the menu itself easily take care of the Thai part, but I think the place is a dive bar more in spirit than in actuality, judging by the prices and the décor. The bar stands out like a beacon of hope in the otherwise dim lit ambiance. Despite mostly high seating – wooden chairs – the place somehow manages to give out a plush feel. The stylish dinginess, together with the DJ’s groovy playlist based on 80s music ensures that the place has the potential to become a favoured neighbourhood joint, probably for a crowd older than the standard pub/lounge set.

    collage1 (more…)

  • Barebones

    First published in Bangalore Mirror

    If you’re stuck between a 26 year old pub chain that’s iconic enough to go for an IPO (why is it so difficult to believe that Pecos filed for an IPO?!) and a microbrewery that’s arguably the town’s favourite you’d probably stick to the basics, make no fuss and figure out a unique proposition for yourself. (map, it’s above 3oh3 and yes, there’s valet parking) You’d also call yourself Barebones. (though I suspect the idea behind the name is more about a ‘come as you are’ attitude) A flight of stairs takes you to what’s primarily a balcony bar, with some amount of indoor seating. The first thing that hits you, or more precisely, your eardrums, is the music. We have much to talk about on that , so first, take a seat. You can choose between the outdoor space – dim lighting, a few high stools, and a reasonably good view of the road, and a cozy looking indoor area – well lit, some very interesting wall art, chalkboards that add a layer of meaning to the quirky sounding cocktails, and a bar that reassures you that you’re in the right place! So far, so good, but wait, there’s something clamouring for attention. Ah yes, the music. Under normal circumstances, this is the point where I’d whine about not being able to have a conversation thanks to the volume levels, but when the playlist starts churning out Sting, Counting Crows, Crash Test Dummies, Snow (Informer!) and so on, mixes it up randomly with the Bee Gees and Lou Bega, and in general takes me time travelling, it’s hard not to grin happily. But hey, let’s not get sidetracked by nostalgia when there’s food and drinks to talk about.

    collage1 (more…)