Tag: 80ft Road

  • The Island

    No, not a fancy one, just the one on 80ft Road, Indiranagar. It’s been around for a while, but we never managed to get there. (map) It shares the building with Oye Amritsar, and the ‘dangerous’ design of walking paths with Banana Beach, Koramangala. But despite that, we liked the decor – the space is well utilised, and full of non-intrusive spaces for different sized groups, thanks to multiple sections. The music goes around in loops but doesn’t really do any damage. On a Saturday night, it was a mixed crowd of PYTs and grown ups like us. 😉 We had reserved in advance, and that might be a good idea for you as well.

    The menu has much to offer and is what you’d call ‘lounge cuisine’ – Mediterranean, Continental, American, and a smattering of Oriental and Mexican. We asked for a couple of martinis – Chocolate, and Pineapple Coconut, and though the ingredients in both were standard favourites, and they were generous with the alcohol, they just didn’t work. The appetiser – Spicy Cilantro Chili Chicken was much better fare, and in addition to the moderately spicy chicken, it also had this amazing dip – mint was definitely in it, and a fruit – we’re still not sure if it was passion fruit or pear or..

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    We had ordered a Filipino soup (Chicken) which they had to be reminded about! When we finally got it, we pointed out that we had ordered a by-two. It seemed we were apparently the first at The Island to order a soup in that form, because the person who brought the soup asked us what it was! Good start to the trolling! The soup itself was not bad, more like a stew than a soup – thick, thanks to the barley. We had to debate quite a bit for the main course, and finally decided on a pizza over several other contestants. The Chicken Cravers with chicken sausages, spicy chicken salami, roast chicken, and Mozzarella among other things, was quite tasty and filling! That meant that we had to skip the second dish we’d wanted, and go straight to desserts. I signaled to the troll for the menu and he brought me the bill! 😐 Thankfully, the Chocolate Extravaganza was exactly that, and we were pleasantly surprised at the sheer size of it! Lots and lots of spongy, moist chocolate to end the meal on a high!

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    The bill came to slightly over Rs.2200, and most of it was courtesy the alcohol. The service   is not the best I’ve seen, but food is decent and the place has a soothing ambiance, so we’ll probably drop in a second time.

    The Island,  Plot No.3, 80 Feet Road, Off 2nd Main Rd, Beside FCML Shop, Near Columbia Asia Hospital, 1st Stage, Indira Nagar Ph: 41261114

  • Sichuan

    The idea was to go to this new place called ‘Pot Puree‘, but they were just so ‘helpful’ with the directions that we sulked and decided not to visit even though we finally found the place. Since I don’t need to be particularly persuaded for Chinese food, we decided to drop in at Sichuan, after we found it quite appealing from the outside.

    Sichuan falls on your left when going from Sony World Junction, Koramangala towards 1st Block, just after Natural Ice Creams, (map) and after our favourite hole-in-the-wall Mallu joint – Little Home. If you’ve been around that area, you’ll know that parking is a pain and your only hope is one of the side lanes nearby.

    The take away counter is on the ground floor along with a few tables, but the main dining area is on the first floor. Not a large area, but the decor is handled well with the familiar dim red chinese lantern effect. There’s a nice cosy feel to the place, and if you get the right table, you can watch life pass by in Koramangala, as the serene Buddha in the corner seemed to be doing.

    Zomato has the menu, though this is the take away/delivery menu. The dining menu has a few mocktails and desserts too. Some of them are here. Our hunger made us uncharacteristically go for dim-sum and soup. The Hot Mushroom, Coriander and Chicken soup came first and was thick with a spicy undertone. Watch out for that red chilli specifically. Perfect start. The Cheung Fun took a while, but the rice paper rolls with chicken, mushroom and green onions also turned out great, though we missed the ginger flavour.

    For the main course, we ordered a Cantonese Fragrant Rice (chicken) and as per the advice, a Kunming Chilli Chicken, which was supposed to be medium spicy. The latter turns from medium to high as soon as the green chilli turns up in your mouth, but the rice complements it very well. We wanted to sample the Mango – Lemon Grass mousse, but it wasn’t available. Wonder if desserts would sell here, Natural is a strong force. 🙂 All of the above cost us just over Rs.500.

    Delicacy and China Pearl remain favourites in different contexts, but the next time I have a Chinese food craving, I might just land up here again.

    Sichuan, #1016, 80 ft Road, 1st Block, Koramangala. Ph: 41317636

  • El Tablao

    The original Spanish work was first published in Bangalore Mirror, this is a version translated for the blog. 😉 In a fortnight, the more popular namesake does battle with the Spanish in the Champions League final, but this a slightly more peaceful affair.

    So, if ever, depending on your interests and inclinations, a Salvador Dali or Penelope Cruz or Enrique Iglesias or Fernando Alonso has set your heart racing, and you would like to go beyond that and reintroduce Spain to your heart via your stomach, El Tablao, specialising in Spanish cuisine, is a place to be considered.

    El Tablao is on the road from Sony World junction  to 1st Block Koramangala, above Reliance Jewels (on your right) . Here’s a map. There are enough side roads for parking to be a non issue. I was also told that valet parking was coming soon.

    Though food is our focus, the ambiance is worth a note. The only way you’ll realise that you’re still in the concrete clutches of Koramangala is if you’re sitting on the glass-ed side of the restaurant that overlooks the 80-feet road. Tastefully done, the restaurant’s interior is stylish and has a colonial tone that complements the theme. Under the shadows of chandeliers and torches, you can catch glimpses of matadors, bull fighting and the paintings of Spanish masters as you listen to the Gypsy Kings, lounging on benches whose hardness is mercifully minimised by the usage of cushions.

    Despite the starters, with many vegetarian options and a smaller ‘Charcuterie’ section, the menu clearly focuses on tapas. There are more than 30 dishes on that front, spread over seafood, chicken, meat and vegetarian options. There are a few salads to choose from, and then there’s Paella. In addition, there is also a ‘South of Border’ section consisting of Mexican dishes. The clear numbering ensures that you don’t have to wrestle with the Spanish pronunciations. You can take a look at the menu on Zomato. El Tablao also boasts of a wine bar with red and white wines, champagne and, of course, there’s Sangria.

    We began well with the slightly spicy Piri Piri potato wedges, served with garlic mayonnaise and tomato salsa dips. Rafael, my Spanish guest, was completely in love with the Seleccion de Embutidos Curados — slices of Serrano ham, salami and chorizo., though I felt the typical Indian palate might find it a tad too uni-flavoured. The Brocheta de Pollo con Pimientos y Cebolla — marinated chicken breast served on skewers was delicious too.

    In the main course, the fluffy Tortilla Espanola — Spanish omelette with potato and onion was a favourite. But the hit of the day was the Paella de Mariscos, the seafood paella with squid, king prawn, mussels, fish, green beans, asparagus, peas, red peppers, made extra special with the rice that seemed to have been cooked in fish stock. You’re informed beforehand that the Paella takes a minimum of two to tango and requires about 40 minutes of waiting, but it’s worth it. Rafael said the only thing it lacked was a squeeze of lime, but that was quickly remedied. The Paella de Carne, however, could not match up to its illustrious seafood counterpart, and proved to be a bit bland. The dessert section was also quite a disappointment, especially since most of the options were among the commonly available set.

    The service was a tad careless to begin with, but they soon redeemed themselves with their promptness. We dined on a lean weekday evening, and Sachin, the owner, could be found visiting every table and graciously enquiring about the service.Though not exactly wallet friendly, the uniqueness of the cuisine and the ambiance do justify it.

    In summation, a distinct cuisine set in a wonderful ambiance ensures that you’ll have a great dining experience. Buen provecho!

    El Tablao, Lotus, 612/1, 80 Feet road, Koramangala, Bangalore – 560034 Phone: 41410124

  • 13 Spices

    I really would find it difficult to name that many, but hey, its the name of a new restaurant in Koramangala that serves Indian, Chinese and a bit of Continental. Its located right next to erm, Chandni Chowk – yup, that’s in Koramangala too, before Sony World, when coming from the NGV/Forum side. 😀 (map) Parking is not much of a problem, mostly because of Chandni Chowk’s ample resources.

    We reached there by around 7.45, and in about half an hour, the place was full. The ambiance is quite interesting, because its as though they had lounge/fine dining in mind – colours, furniture, decor, and then realised that it’d be a more regular restaurant. So its now brightly lit, with a red/white/black decor and decent use of the available small space, though the wall to wall cushioned seating means that the space between tables is minimal.

    Though the menu has three cuisine options, its not really exhaustive on any front, but having said that, it does offer a lot of options in the Indian and Chinese portions. The former has half a dozen veg starters, more than double that in the non veg section (chicken, mutton, fish and prawns), plenty of gravy options in veg and non-veg and biriyani/roti/naan/kulcha to go with it. The Chinese section has soups, starters and about half a dozen options each in veg and non veg dishes, and rice/noodles. The Continental part consists of a few salad and pasta options. Its closer to ‘also there’ than a specialty, at least in terms of number options. We decided to go with the Indian part, the soup being the only exception – to keep the Chinese happy.

    The Lemon Coriander soup was delicious, but I think they should have one of those ‘red-colour-chilli warnings’ for unsuspecting folk. Actually for the suspecting folk too – I, for example,  have this very silly habit of adding pepper before I have even tasted it. You’ll like this one if you like your soups really spicy. The coriander part was slightly subdued though, and a chilli flavour somehow dominated, I thought. But I’d still recommend it, just don’t take the name seriously.

    Next, we tried the Malai Machili tikka. This one gets very high marks for presentation. The fish is Hamoor (Arabian Fish – Hamour says the web) and it did seem marginally different from my other fishy acquaintances. The cream marinade was really good, and the only suggestion I’d make is to have a stronger mint chutney to go with it, so that it can complement the dish better.

    We started the main course with a Murg Khandari, an onion and chilli kulcha, and a masala kulcha. We chose the chicken dish because its description claimed a unique mix- pomegranate juice, curd, brown onion paste, and tomato puree. It proved to be unique in taste too – tangy with a sweet kick in the end, thanks to the pomegranate seed, I think. The masala kulcha was decent, but the other one barely had any chillies, so wasn’t much fun.

    Though the portion sizes were quite decent, we were still hungry, and decided to try the second chicken dish we had noted earlier – Murg Badam Pasanda, with a cheese kulcha. Calories be damned. The Badam pasand was creamy and finger-licking good in that slightly sweet way that white gravies have (though this one is more yellow). The kulcha was only just about okay though. In between we also had a regular lassi because though there was  a mango lassi listed, we were told that it was (canned) juice based, not fresh. The lassi was topped with badam and had what we thought was a vanilla essence flavour. Slightly thin for our liking, but reasonable enough. We skipped desserts since the options were the usual ice cream based suspects.

    The service is very prompt, and though we thought our second chicken dish would take time (since we placed the order much later), they actually got it soon enough for the meal to be seamless – surprising because the crowd had picked up by then. The place is quite small – enough for you to see what people at most of the other tables are eating, but despite that constraint, they have done a decent job. All of the above cost us less than Rs.700. So its definitely worth a visit, for good food and excellent service.

    13 Spices, #898, 80ft Main Road, 6th Block, Koramangala. Ph: 40953881

    Menu and Photos at Zomato