Another microbrewery in the neighbourhood is always welcome, but hold your horses, the brewery will only open in October is still not open. We couldn’t, so we visited back in August, one Sunday afternoon. The place can be accessed from inside the mall as well as through a tiny path between VR and Phoenix City Malls. There’s outdoor and indoor seating. The theme is colonial – the crest, and the dishes in the menu – though the seating is a little more modern. Wood is the primary element in the seating – benches and chairs – though the section inside does have a few plush sofas. The weather was pleasant, with a nice breeze, and the inside seemed like a refrigerator, so we chose to sit outside.
Category: Restaurant Reviews
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The Whitefield Arms
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Flying Spaghetti Monster
First published in Bangalore Mirror
In a world where zealots prescribe diets instead of deities, the Flying Spaghetti Monster appears in the skyline as a beacon of hope. For those unfamiliar with the subject, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the deity of the “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” or “Pastafarianism”, a legally recognised religion in at least three countries, in addition to being an internet phenomenon! 100 feet Road, Indiranagar, (map) has now been blessed by its presence, (rather, a restaurant inspired by it) and if there’s a deity that can reduce the traffic on that road (which happened the day we visited) it must indeed be a powerful one. This was manifested once again during our dinner – we had the place to ourselves when we got in, but by the time we left, the faithful had filled up every seat available. This, on a Friday night, without the influence of alcohol! Glory be to FSM!
The ambiance is in keeping with the soberness that a faith requires – no fancy use of colours, just wood, well placed lighting, and comfortable seating that allows one to reflect on the menu, take a note of the insatiable desires of one’s appetite, and humbly appeal to a higher power to satisfy those cravings. The menu however, revealed the playful nature of the deity – “substitute bacon with bacon. ha!” (Pasta D:33), even as it strengthened one’s faith – “Vegetables are interesting, but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat”. By now, all we wanted to do was partake!
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The Open Box
It’s not often that we venture so far away from our native country – Whitefield – but the visuals of The Open Box, and its fusion menu, were enticing enough to drag us all the way to St.Marks Road. On reaching there, we realised that it was the same place that Spiga used to occupy. We were big fans of Spiga when it used to be in a house on Vittal Mallya Road, but the second version really didn’t live up.
We walked in close to 1 on a Sunday afternoon, and easily found a place. But if we had been late by half an hour, I think we’d have had some trouble getting a table. The space is separated into about 3-4 sections. The lower floor has some seating near the entrance itself, and the bar separates the remaining area into two.There’s also some seating upstairs, but it didn’t seem open. The furniture is functional-cool – I particularly liked the swivel chair I was seated on. There are some fun decor elements, and that extends to the plating devices too. Not to mention the goofy ‘Nintendo joystick’ posters in the loo! A pool table and a gigantic world map (made with artificial turf) add to the character. We found quite a mixed crowd there – at least two sets of older people having a get together of some sort, and many groups of much younger folk as well!
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The Irish House
The Irish House had opened to much fanfare, going by my Insta feed, but we dropped in a few weeks later. That, and the fact that we were there relatively early in the evening – 7.30 PM – led us to believe that we’d get a table easily. That wasn’t meant to be, and I suspect that it has something to do with the Happy Hours till 8. First impressions weren’t great – the person they’d left at the door had no idea how to handle things when the place was full. We had to coax him to take down our number, and let us know when there was a table available. He kept letting people in (they never came back as they waited at the bar and took a table when it got free!) and was probably there just to open/close doors, and the lady who occasionally made a visit to the front door was probably in charge of this. But we could see that the poor thing was hassled enough, multitasking! Lesson learnt, we should reserve a table anyway! We thankfully got a table in 20 minutes.
A lot of wood, Irish green frills, and standard pub posters make up the decor, though the place is quite lively, especially the bar area, which has quite a lot of international beer brands on display. The balcony area did look promising, though we didn’t venture out. I took a picture of the hanging bike, just to ensure that I wasn’t imagining things on account of pub vapours! We had to wait quite a bit for someone to take the order, and when that happened five minutes after 8, we demanded justice – happy hour extension since we were seated and ready with our order before 8! It took a bit of debate, but they were nice about it. Yay!
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Nasi And Mee
I think Nasi and Mee opened just as we were moving to Whitefield. But we had heard so many good things about it that a plan had been in the works for a long while. The plan just kept getting postponed, and would have continued to, but for a couple of friends who thankfully manage to be very unsympathetic to the rigorous planning with which I plan my restaurant outings! And thus we landed in Koramangala, on a rainy Friday night, after having spent the previous hour and a half trapped in an Uber in slow motion. Even as we were pointing out to each other the changes on 80 feet Road, Koramangala, we spotted Nasi and Mee adjacent to what can arguably be now called a heritage hangout – Rendezvous!
Somehow, the space manages to give itself a hipster feel, helped by a largely young crowd. Great buzz, and just the right amount of light for us older folk to see around, and look at the menu.
