Category: Central Bangalore

  • Oye Shaava

    And when Bangalore decided to play host to a nagging rain, we plonked our way through Church Street to have ‘Punjabi food with a pinch of Bollywood’. When i saw the ad, I was wondering how this positioning would be viable when ‘Oye Amritsar’ was so close by. I realised it would be, if its an add on to the latter. Oye Shaava is a floor below Oye Amritsar, the difference is in the ambience, a bit of the menu, and the fact there’s a DJ belting out Bollywood numbers and remixes.

    From the crowd we saw (in spite of the rains), I’d recommend you book a table if you aren’t the waiting sort. The seating was very comfortable, and we were given a decent table, with a nice view of Church Street.

    The part I loved about the menu was the half plates for starters and main course dishes. Since our appetites are not exactly XL, we’ve always sacrificed starters to do justice to the main course. This time we didn’t have to, because the starters as well as the main course had an option of a half plate. For starters,we ordered a ‘Pahalwani Dhabe de Maahi Tikka’, which is fish in English. Good stuff, a bit spicy, and exactly the right quantity for a ‘half’ starter.

    For the main course, we ordered a ‘Chitta Kukkad Kali Mirch’ and a 1/2 Bheja Fry (which is actually a starter) along with a masala kulcha, and a makki di roti. The chicken was a white gravy dish and was quite different from the regular kali mirch stuff we usually get. Definitely worth a try, if you like the pepper kind of spice. I’ve never had a bad Bheja Fry thus far, and this one was no exception. Meanwhile, the Makki di roti was the size of a small raw pappad, so we had to order another Naan, but whatver was there was tasty 🙂

    For those who can’t do without soups, there are shorbas available. There’s also a small selection of desserts available. The regular north indian stuff, so we skipped. Would definitely not recommend it for the quiet dinner type, but if you’re okay with minimal conversation and some loud music to keep you entertained, this place should be on your list. All of the above left us poorer by just over Rs.500.

    Oye Shaava, 3rd Floor, Asha Enclave, Church street, 080-41122877

    Menu at Zomato

  • Yoko

    The outlet on Church Street is fairly new, but they’re apparently quite a famous chain in Mumbai, and have also started an outlet in Hyderabad.

    Its essentially a sizzler joint, and essays that role quiet well, given the choices and the ‘value for money’ factor. We reserved in advance, but a peek into the diary told us, we were the only ones to have done so :). The place has two floors, and the ground floor was quite full, but we were only one of two groups on the first floor. I would recommend the first floor, cosy, comfortable and a little less congested.

    We started with a cream of chicken soup, which was simply awesome. I would rate it as one of the best i’ve had in Bangalore. Unlike a lot of places we’ve been to, they believe in using both cream and chicken in a ‘cream of chicken’ soup. There are also a lot of starters you could choose from.

    For the main course, we had a ‘Chicken Satellite’ sizzler and a ‘Diced Steak with chips’. The steak had a wonderful flavor, the sizzler was only average, but it could be my intense dislike for most vegetables that biased my view. Speaking of vegs, there’s enough choice her for vegetarians too. The meal was just the right quantity and leaves you enough space for dessert.  There are not many dessert options, and its pretty much the standard Mousse, Ice Cream, Caramel Custard kind. Would have loved to review that too, but had to rush.

    Overall, a good experience, Yoko’s a good place to visit when you’re hovering around MG/Brigade Road,  but I might be more inclined towards Tangerine (Indiranagar) when in the generic mood for sizzlers. Its the dessert, stupid, though a Barista and Java city close to Yoko pretty much evens it up. 😀

    Yoko Sizzlers,

    No. 42, Church Street, Next to KC Das, Opposite Hotel Empire, Bangalore, 41266588, 41266589

  • Shezan

    I was introduced to Shezan a few years back, thanks to it being located close to my ex-place of work. It was quite a wallet friendly place then, thankfully still is. They’ve also added more floor space on the ground floor quite recently.

    Though the place is quite well known for the steaks, we usually have the North Indian fare, because thats quite good too. But having said that, we usually start with the Chicken & Mushroom soup. 🙂 Though we’ve always ordered that, we’ve never had the soup tasting the same across visits, but there never has been a reason to complain either, so far. This time, though, was a big let down, because it seemed to be a hastily prepared concoction with the mushrooms looking like they had been chopped and put in somewhere on the way between the kitchen and the table.

    For the main course, we had onion kulchas, fish biriyani, murg patiala and fish hyderabadi (yes, we are an equal opportunity consumer). The chicken was very good, and so was the biriyani, and the quantity was just right for two people, and just enough space for dessert. We usually skip dessert here, and hop across to Corner House for the must-have dose of ‘Death by Chocolate’

    A meal for two costs about Rs.450 (not including dessert).

    What brings us back to Shezan is the lovely seating on the terrace where we can watch the world go by on Lavelle Road. So, yes, we’ll be back, bad soup notwithstanding.

    Update: Shifted

  • Bangalore Bistro

    When we first came to Bangalore, we’d heard about the Bangalore Bistro somewhere near Cunningham Road, but since that area wasn’t our regular haunt, we never managed to visit. Thankfully, they shifted location  to Brigade Road, and have ever since, made us quite regular visitors.

    Except for the first time, we’ve never reserved, because there’re only a couple of tables occupied when we reach there (around 7.45  -8 pm), but if you’re planning to go later, it would be better to reserve in advance. Although they have some wonderful seating outside, a sort of terrace with stone benches, I’ve never seen people sitting there. Maybe will try it out during summer. There’s a lovely view of a church and the city skyline, which adds to the entire Gothic+Euro theme.

    The owners have a tremendous sense of humour judging by the copy in the menu card. One of the best ones as the verse on how you’d have to pay if you broke the hookah.

    Meanwhile, we asked for a cream of chicken soup (they don’t have soups on the menu card, all they say is ask for a soup and we’ll make it for you), and a Honey Chilly Roast Chicken and Chicken Cannelloni for the main course. The soup was excellent, as is usually the case. Generous helpings with soft, fluffy garlic bread.

    Both the dishes we ordered for the main course were not lacking in quantity. While the Cannelloni I ordered was leaning towards bland, D’s dish was quite spicy, but both were awesome. The place also has some Lebanese, Turkish stuff, and some good choices in sea food. The desserts are a bit costly, but this time it wasn’t that which stopped us. We were stuffed after the main course, so for the second week in a row, no Desserts 🙁

    Bistro remains one of our top 3 restaurants in Bangalore for its quiet, soothing ambience and the sheer quality of the food.

    You can get all the details on their website.

  • Cafe Masala

    Cafe Masala is brought to you by the BJN group, and has ‘Aromas of China’ and ‘Vaayu’ for neighbours on the top floor of Eva Mall, Brigade Road.

    We made reservations in advance, and i think a wait of about 15 minutes would’ve happened if not for that. We were given a reasonably good table, with comfortable seating, though some poor staff were dealt with sternly by my wife when they tried to pull one of our chairs for an adjoining table. She treats the results of our shopping expeditions with a great deal of adoration, you see, and so, those covers on the floor would be sacrilege.

    While the menu does have some continental stuff, a lot of it is meant for the evening snacks category, and not dinner. But we did manage to get some corn soup, which was quite good. And like good mix and matchers, we ordered mutton pepper chops, murgh bhartha, kulcha and butter naan for the main course.  The mutton chops gravy was awesome, though not recommended for people with low spice tolerance. The chicken was also good, but for once, was overshadowed by the above. And yes, special mention for the fact that they gave us a Lachcha Paratha instead of the Butter Naan, and when we pointed it out, we were told that this was how Butter Naan was made here, but it could be replaced. We’re yet to figure that out.

    You’ll notice from later reviews that we are no novices when it comes to desserts, but this time, we were too stuffed, although the menu listed some decent options. 🙁

    The pricing is as per the regular BJN standards, and all the above came upto about Rs.650.

    The ambience is pretty good, somewhere between the rgular noisy neighbourhood cafe, but with an effort to make it look more organised. We noticed a lot of large groups there. And yes, there’s even a one-man-band, who plays requests. Heard him play MLTR and Bollywood numbers, so metal guys can consider that a warning.

    Overall, it was quite a pleasant experience, and definitely makes it to the ‘please visit again’ list.

    Address: No.60, 5th Floor, Eva Mall, Brigade Road, Bangalore
    Phone 41113388, 41118477, 41118466, 41118422

    Photos at Zomato