Category: Central Bangalore

Copper Chimney

Judging by our liking for the place, Copper Chimney should’ve been written about quite a while back. Copper Chimney is a restaurant on the 5th floor of Bangalore Central, serves Frontier/North Indian fare. Keeping in mind the lunar surface that is MG Road, and the abundance of one ways in the area, we usually park at Garuda Mall and walk up.

We usually reserve in advance, especially since we like to sit outside. That’s only possible if you’re 2-3, but the seating inside is quite comfy. The fifth floor setting ensures that its nippy outside especially in the winter months. Once it was so windy that they closed the section outside. That’s the only time we sat inside.

So, we started with a Chicken Kali Mirch – “boneless chicken marinated in yoghurt, spiked with freshly pound black pepper, and gently grilled. Awesome stuff, especially if you are the kind who likes the pepper flavour. The mint chutney they gave was superb, went great with the chicken, and we ended up finishing the entire bowl. Lots of pieces so you wouldn’t complain about the quantity either.

For the main course, we asked for a Murg Patiala – “chicken breast simmered in a rich cream sauce topped with sieved eggs”, and deviating from tradition (fish), a Kadhai Paneer – “batons of cottage cheese stir fried with onions and peppers and spiced with freshly pounded coriander seeds and red chillies”, and to go with it a naan, and a tandoori roti. The chicken dish was a tad blander than it usually is, or the starter’s flavours were messing with my taste buds. But the paneer dish was spicy enough.Its only once that we’ve had dessert at Copper Chimney, the rest of the time we were stuffed, and this time was no exception. And so the meal ended there. The service was a bit tardy this time, but nothing to raise a furore over. Yes, I realise I’m quite biased. 🙂

They’ve quite a few choices in mutton and serve alcohol as well. There are a few ‘hatke’ options of breads too – like Taftan and Kabuli Naan. In essence, a place you must try. Meanwhile, all of the above cost us just below Rs.900. No mineral water this time 😉

The thing that brings us back to Copper Chimney (other than the great food) is the wonderful view (when you take the two seaters outside) of Bangalore’s skyline. It makes you reflect. Food for thought. 🙂

Copper Chimney, 5th Floor, Bangalore Central, Residency Road. Ph: 080 66111800

Menu and photos at Zomato

February 1, 2009
Kabul

Continuing the Asian theme for this weekend (we saw CC2C on friday, a movie i strongly recommend you not 2 c, until it arrives free on TV), we decided to move on to Kabul yesterday. Kabul’s Bangalore version is on Residency Cross Road, the one way that goes up from Residency road and lands you next to Symphony on MG Road. You could park on Brigade road/ Bangalore Central and walk. Just adjacent to it is Malgudi (belongs to the same group), and that mortal enemy of anyone who even contemplates a diet – Corner House 🙂

So, we reserved in advance, but actually, on hindsight, not at all necessary. We were alone when we started, and by the time we were through, there were about 3 other groups. The ambience is quite nice with comfortable seating, though from the music played, Afghans are huge fans of Pankaj Udhas and Jagjit Singh.

As the name suggests, the place serves Frontier cuisine. Though we’d planned on starters, we ended up trying a shorba – Murg Kabuli Shorba, which was fine, except for a strange oily flavour it seemed to have. You could try out the Murg Jehangiri starter, sounded nice – chicken legs with minced mutton stuffing.

For the main course, we ordered a Doodiya Murg, which is “boneless chicken cooked along with milk, cream, khova and topped with malai”, a Mirch machli Masala, “boneless seer fish dum cooked with tomato and topped with herbs”, and to go with that an aloo paratha and a makhini kulcha. The rotis werent sufficient, so we ended up ordering a Masala Kulcha too. There was so much potential in that damn description of the chicken dish, but… don’t fall for it!! It actually tasted like a dal curry (parippu curry, for those who know Kerala cusine). The fish curry wasn’t so great either, and for once I was complaining at the extravagant size of the portions. With Corner House nearby, the dessert menu is wasted, especially since it doesnt offer anything spectacular.

The service, for what its worth, was quite good, attentive and there were no delays at all. All of the above (including a bottle of mineral water for Rs.45) cost us just under Rs.750.

You’re advised to try out Sikandar (Garuda Mall) or Copper Chimney (Bangalore Central), both of which are in the vicinity and offer similar cuisine. The food is guaranteed to be better. (I realised I havent written about either place, shall do soon!!!)

On our way back, we noticed Chung Wah (on the same road) Once upon a time (when we came to bangalore), we had to wait to get a seat there, and now, on a Saturday night, there were all of 3 tables occupied. The times, they are a changin. 😐

Kabul, # 45/3, Residency Cross Road, Ph: 08025580440

January 18, 2009
Moti Mahal Delux

After being told by a lovely voice to contact Airtel customer care, since the numbers i dialled could not be found, we still reserved after having got through to the mobile number. Moti Mahal is in Lido Mall, on Old Madras Road, and serves Indian and Mughlai cusine. We realised after we got there, that a reservation really wasn’t necessary, since there were exactly 3 groups during the time we spent there. It perhaps has to do with the fact that they weren’t accepting any credit cards, except for Amex (only for the day). Before I really get stuck in a Sholay kind of scene (Jai and Mausi for Viru’s rishta with Basanti), let me proceed.

So, after checking our wallets’ cash component, and ensuring that we wouldn’t be washing vessels later, we started with a Moti Mahal Almond and Mushroom soup. It was quite spicy, thanls to the contribution from the open green chilly. Its served in glasses, not exactly the style I prefer. There were tiny slivers of almond, and we hoped that the mushroom was somehow built in. I think you should try some kababs, since there are lots of options, though all the non veg options are priced over Rs.295

For the main course, we ordered a ‘Murg Korma from Old Delhi’, a ‘Brain Masala’ and to go with it, an onion kulcha and a lal mirchi ka paratha. The chicken curry was just about okay, though the quantity was more than sufficient. D says the tomato flavour that it had was a bit overboard (I wonder why i never have these gustatory perceptions 😐 ) The brain masala was quite good, and perhaps the redeeming factor, though at Rs.295, it happens to be the costliest brain I’ve had. (comic references to MY brain will not be tolerated..hmmph) They also give a small paratha as part of the brain dish. The Kulcha was big enough not to warrant a second one, and was quite good. The lal mirch paratha didn’t go overboard in spiciness.The dessert options are the regular North indian cuisine suspects, except for Mawa Chocolate, but we were too stuffed to try.

The ambience is not great, quite bare. I also thought that the two seater tables could be a bit bigger, especially since their roti containers are quite large. The service was quite pleasant, except for the part where we were asked whether we were ready for the main course, when we’d just started with the soup. All of the above and a mineral water cost us a rupee and fifty paise short of Rs.1000, that’s inclusive of a service charge of 10%.

Moti Mahal Delux, Lido Mall, 1/4 Swami Vivekanand Road, Near Trinity Circle, Ulsoor, Bangalore Ph: 080 42127112/3, 9741886985

Menu at Zomato

November 30, 2008
Heera Panna

And after quite a few weeks of Continental stuff, we decided to break the rhythm, and reserved ourselves a table at Heera Panna, on Church Street. This is on the same building as the Nokia Experience store, UCB etc, soon as you enter Church Street from Brigade Road. No, I cannot advise you on parking on Church Street/Brigade Road. Each time is an adventure, which you have to experience for yourselves. But I think Heera Panna has some parking facilities. Maybe you could ask them when you call for the reservations.

Heera Panna serves a Mughal , Awadhi experience. Yes, its not just the food. Right from the staff at the door, who are all decked up in Mughal style, complete with turbans, to the very well done interiors, and the lighting, its not just about the food, its about the experience. The hostess said we could choose from the seating on either of the floors, but suggested the top floor. The cushions did turn out to be comfortable, and the seating spaces have glass bead curtains. The music that they were playing was Hindustani and ghazals. That, along with the way they dim/brighten the lights with red, white and green tinges really have a way of transporting you to a different realm. And if you really want to go one step more, they give you Mughal turbans and a sort of waistcoat. Some very interesting photos these make. 😀

The staff is extremely helpful and courteous. As soon as you’re seated, they ask you whether you’re comfortable. I haven’t heard that in recent times. The menu card says that the restaurant theme is a tribute to Salim and his love for Anarkali. The guy who served our table practically insisted that we tell him what we liked (chicken/mutton/seafood) and how many dishes we’d like to have, and he’d take care of the rest. So, as per his suggestions, we ordered a Tawa Bhuna Ghosht as a starter, that’s ‘pan fried lamb cooked with potli masala sauteed till brown’. We’d told him that we didn’t prefer mutton much, but he said that we’d still like this. And he was right, though very strangely, it reminded me of our Kerala version of beef roast. 🙂

For the main course, we ordered the day’s special, Murgh Awadhi, and to go with it a Lachha Paratha, and a hari mirch ka paratha – ‘crispy bread made from wheat flour and mixed with green chillies and ajwan.’ The Murgh Awadhi is a thich brown gravy, and we’d asked for it to be made spicy. (you can tell them to adjust the spiciness based on your preference) We ended up ordering one more Hari Mirch ka Paratha, which meant I consumed one and a half Hari Mirch ka Parathas, and both the spicy dishes (starter and main course) My stomach, of course, didn’t take kindly to it, and I can still feel the burn, but I enjoyed the food so much it really doesn’t matter 🙂

The quantities were just sufficient, but we ended up not having sufficient space for dessert. Meanwhile, they also serve liquor, and some nice sounding mocktails. A 330 ml KF costs you Rs.100, hope that helps. The desserts are in range of Rs.95-135, gulab jamun, rasgulla, jalebi, ras malai, moong daal ka halwa and so on.

Once again the ambience is simply awesome, the food is excellent, and the service is splendid. I have only a couple of suggestions – the cutlery (fork, knife etc) doesn’t quite fit the ambience, and the space between the table and the sofa is a bit too much. And inspite of the green inkstains from the quill they gave with the feedback form, (yes, a quill, that you dip in ink, and write your feedback with) the experience left us delighted, and we’ll certainly be back. The bill came to just over Rs.850, and we paid it gladly. You should drop in there too, for an absolutely unique experience.

Heera Panna, The Pavillion, Church Street, Bangalore -01. Ph.9886461108, 9845175777, 41152727, 41143737

PS. I don’t know if its a mistake, but I just realised they haven’t billed me for the mineral water 😐

November 16, 2008
The Only Place

This is only our second visit, and that’s all thanks to a rare mistake I made about 4 years back. No, I’m not claiming to be otherwise flawless, its just that on our previous visit, I forgot to mention that I wanted the steak well done, and they gave me a rare one!! The immense strength my jawbone displays now, is thanks to that incident.  And the memory made sure I kept away from the place.

This time too, the original choice was Spiga, but Spiga, I was told, is no longer open??!! So, I thought the time had come for another shot. The Only Place is in the central part of Bangalore, but the location and the ambience would deceive you. Its on Museum Road – from Church Street, take a left at Empire, just before you reach the next junction, you’ll see it on your left. Parking might be made easier, thanks to the (parking space of the) neighbouring office building.

We did reserve a table, but didn’t prove necessary at 8pm. It was a Sunday, I’m sure it would be more crowded on Saturday, and anyway the place was almost full by 8.30. We started with a cream of mushroom soup. While the soup was definitely thick, the cream was not very evident. For the main course, there’s quite a lot of steaks to choose from, with some baked items, spaghetti, burgers etc also thrown in. There’s enough choice for the veggies as well. Though I simply love the Chateaubriand steak (thanks to an official lunch, where the ‘well done’ was amply communicated) I decided to try something different, and ordered a Chicken Cacciatore. The wife ordered an OP’s special fish. The chicken dish is “ tender cubes of chicken, served in a red spicy sauce with celery and mushroom on a bed of noodles (there’s also an option of rice), onions and assorted vegetables” The sauce is simply amazing, its spicy without making you all teary, the noodles is soft and absorbs the flavours fast, and overall, the dish is very tasty. If you’re not into beef and can’t order the Chateaubriand, go for this one. The Op special fish is “fillets of fish topped with herbs and spices charbroiled, served with vegetables and mash potato” Though the fish is somewhat bland, the topping and the sauce ensure that the dish is tasty enough.

There was a chocolate fudge cake that was eyeing me from the display all through my dinner, and I succumbed finally. Thank God! Awesme, and they pour enough chocolate sauce s that its practically dripping. Pure evil!! And there are other options too, including a trifle pudding. Some other time, maybe 😀

The quantities are just right. It leaves you full but not bloated. All of the above cost us just over Rs.600, including a mineral water for Rs.25 😉

The Only Place, No: 13, Museum Road. Ph: 32718989

Photos at Zomato

October 27, 2008