New places in Whitefield are always an excitement to us, but this one turned out to be a reunion of sorts. The only difference was that the last time we were here, it was called The Riverside Bar & Kitchen! The place used to have a decent crowd, so we wondered why they had to come up with a new avatar – that too without alcohol, as the board announced. The lady at the reception announced that too, more than once. A side glance told me that D didn’t look tipsy, and it definitely wasn’t me! The decor hasn’t changed much, except for the desserts display which had disappeared. The bar was obviously history. Also meant that the crowd was more subdued.
Category: Whitefield
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The Pallet
We had been hearing about the place since the beginning of the year, and were pretty excited about the sixth microbrewery in the vicinity. (yay!) Through Jan and Feb, when we saw ads, we would eagerly check if the menu on Zomato was updated. All we could see was Geist! Not to be discouraged, I would call up the place to check anyway. After a couple of “next month we’ll be opening the microbrewery” I gave up. But towards the end of March, I got a message one Saturday morning that the microbrewery was open and there was a 1 + 1 offer. I immediately began working on my sinuses which had been acting up from the day before, and convinced D to make the trip.
Located opposite The Zuri, it’s a bit like the TARDIS. You get an idea of the hugeness of the place only once you’re inside! I wondered how they’d manage to fill the place until D pointed out that there’s probably a huge reverse migrant crowd from Prestige Shantiniketan that might like a microbrewery around. Plus, there’s ITPL next door.
The Pallet has been built from the sacrifice of quite a few trees, to the extent that it’s almost like a carpentry workshop! Not to say that it isn’t aesthetic, but yes, “too much wood” can exist! (No, that’s not what he said!) The service levels were great int he beginning, though we were told that the German wheat would only be available later in the evening. Since we were a bit early, we could get our choice of seats, and we found a cosy corner to drink and watch the world.
The beer starts at 500 ml (it’s a little difficult to understand the economics behind not having 330 ml) and we asked for a Hemlock and a Teak. The first is Belgian Wit – a bit pale, but packs a punch with some spicy notes. The second is Pilsner, and on a relative note, slightly sweeter than the other, but again, great zing.
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BFlat Bar
The name should have been a hint, I should have checked the ratings of the Indiranagar version, and I should have guessed that the closer one moves towards Marathahalli, the lower the bar goes! But all of this is hindsight, and we were swept away by the grit of someone choosing to open shop at what has to be the lowest rated mall in all of Bangalore – Brookefield Mall. That, and the outside possibility of discovering a good addition to our favourites in Whitefield. Ah well.
BFlat is on the top floor of the mall, and divides its overall space into indoor and alfresco sections. We didn’t experience the sound quality since there was no live performance when we visited, but the ambiance was not bad at all. We were encouraged just by the sight of the place, but alas, this was the first and last piece of positive news. A breezy Bangalore night persuaded us to sit outside, and choose a Galangal Sour and a white wine Sangria. Only degrees of disaster separated them. My whiskey based drink was first served like a martini. When I pointed that out, they brought it back as a Margarita, at which point I gave up and humbly drank an obnoxious mix of blended whisky, galangal, lime juice, egg white and orange juice, which had sounded so exciting on paper. D said it is difficult to make a bad Sangria, but they had managed to do it.
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Marigold
Not really the best exotic kind, but hey, in the context of the swamp that is Nallurahalli, the argument might just hold! In fact, that’s probably one of the only things working against Marigold – the location. In fact, on the day we visited, there was some celebration happening right outside with loudspeakers on max mode. I wondered whether they should have listed that as an event in Zomato!
Marigold is reasonably near ITPL so it’s not hard to imagine why the lunch buffet would be their main revenue source. A close second would be the Sunday brunch. Makes sense why they don’t even bother removing the adornments on Saturday. Geist was available and since I had not really tried it earlier, I took the opportunity to taste Weiss Guy. Reasonably mild with banana and clove tones, and a nice ‘feel’.
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Sidewalk Kitchen & Bar
Except for when my professional duties (while writing reviews for Bangalore Mirror) forced me, I have avoided Marathahalli’s restaurants. There’s something about the place that puts me off. But in the first weekend of Jan, when we wanted to step out of Whitefield, but didn’t want to go all the way to Indiranagar, we found ourselves at Sidewalk, whose tiny entrance belies the expansive space they have within.
The place was reasonably crowded even at 7 PM. We actually got in a few minutes after 7, and I was disappointed that we missed happy hours. But apparently, that was effective only from Mon-Thu. I realised later that we had dodged a bullet there! Despite the looks of the place, the first put off for me was the smell. After we sat down, D thought I was referring to the room freshener that was being liberally sprayed. I said it wasn’t, and she then assumed it was the hookahs. But it wasn’t that either. It’s a smell one is familiar with if one has stayed in and around 4th Block and ST Bed in Koramangala. I didn’t mention it to D, maybe I’m getting old! (more…)
