Tag: Burgers

  • The Local

    Originally appeared in Bangalore Mirror.

    If, in Koramangala, Jimi doesn’t give you enough of a high, perhaps you should try a stairway to heaven, led by messaging on a steep flight of stairs. Subtext apart, there’s a new watering hole in this part of town, or rather, a ‘terrace drinkery’, that goes by the name of ‘The Local’. (map) The logo sets the tone quite clearly – it is inspired by a bottle cap. If that doesn’t bring a smile to your face, perhaps the messaging on the stairs will. It’s too long to recount in entirety, but the message is that this is a place that celebrates the ordinary, and all the kinds that make up a great hangout. The talk is easily backed up by the relaxed ambiance. Quirky is going mainstream, but The Local’s décor is certainly a candidate for tastefulness. An assortment of seating options – indoors and al fresco, featuring a motley group of chairs, stone benches, and surprisingly, greenery in the heart of Koramangala! Add to this, beer served in ceramic mugs, the little blackboard menus, offers like Tap Tuesdays and Tequila Thursdays, it’s easy to imagine an evening spent lazing around. And then there’s the music! We started the evening with classics – As Time Goes by, Uptown Girl and so on, quickly moved on to New York City Speed and such, and ended the night with everything kids listen to these days!

    When the drinks menu occupies as much space as the food on the menu, it does seem like a good start. It gets better when you figure that they actually do have the stuff. There’s no end to the number of pubs which have Hoegaarden and Asahi on the menu, and on the menu only! However, their in-house specials are nothing out of the ordinary. We asked for a Strawberry Margarita and it arrived in the form of a Strawberry Martini! Someone at the bar was definitely having a few *hic* cups. They did offer to replace it though, after we pointed it out. The starters took a long while to arrive. The Veg platter which had Paneer Tikka, mushrooms, cauliflower and Basil Haryali Kababs. The last was an easy winner, since the tikka was only average, the mushrooms rather insipid and the cauliflower suffered from a mustard overdose.

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    The good news had been that the Chilli Beef had arrived first, the bad news was that it forgot to cook itself! That was unfortunate because the flavours were really good. The Portuguese Patra in name and appearance was similar to the Parsi Patra ni Machchi, but this one had a chicken version too. Wrapped in banana leaves, this was easily our favourite starter and was well complemented by the peanut based dip.

    The main course options consisted of burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, pasta and a few steaks. We began with the Meat Lovers Pizza, which was a chicken, pork and cheese extravaganza. They did play their parts well, but the pizza itself was burnt. The BELT was our favourite mains dish, the acronym (and the dish) being made up of bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato. Despite the ingredients, the sandwich was light, with subtle flavours. The Penne Alfredo (we had the veg version) was only average though the cream sauce promised much. The Italian Stuffed Bell Peppers sounded quite interesting – bell peppers stuffed with cheesy rice, served with baked apple and red wine sauce. It looked quite the belle too, red and green bell peppers looking pretty in the company of the apple. But looks proved deceptive, the dish wasn’t great, the barely cooked rice being the chief culprit! We were in the mood for desserts, but they didn’t exist!

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    For about Rs.1800, you could share a couple of drinks, two non veg starters, and a main course dish. (Inclusive of taxes and service charge) The Local makes no pretence to being a fine dining destination, and bills itself as a ‘my kind of place, come as you are’ hangout. The décor, music and the general buzz manages to do that quite well, but it has a long way to go in terms of the quality of food served. If the general idea is only to lounge around in Koramangala with beer and sides, and in a relaxed atmosphere, you won’t be disappointed. But if the expectation is more than casual ‘drinkery’, then the terrace might fall short.

    The Local, 467, 80ft Road, 6th block, Koramangala, Ph: 2550 5119

  • Over The Top

    (first appeared in Bangalore Mirror)

    A list of new restaurants/lounges in Koramangala would be bottomless, and Over The Top Terrace Lounge is the latest addition. (yes, there’s valet parking) Two flights of stairs from Enigma on 100 feet Road (map) will take you to a wonderful open space, with wooden furniture and if you stretch your hand outside, you can even touch a tree. Yes, a real one, a rarity in these parts now. And in case you can’t handle such proximity to nature, there’s a closed section with some superb caricatures of rock legends as part of the topography. If that doesn’t please you either, you can get the best of both worlds in a section upstairs that has a different kind of wood – Holly and Bolly in the form of posters. It was pointed out to us that they were still hunting for Stallone from 25 years back. (in the movie that’s the restaurant’s namesake) There’s a pool table and quite a buzz in this area. The music is fantastic, mostly classic and alternate rock, and I hope they don’t fiddle much with it. They were operating on a sample menu when we visited, but now have an expanded version – quite an eclectic mix with Indian, Italian, Thai….

     I wondered if it was a hat tip to the name of the place that the menu was so ‘top heavy’- appetisers being a section that boasted of a relatively high number of choices. It is a melange of sorts, with various cuisines, and we started with the Five Spice Chilly. (chicken version) This also happened to be our favourite – just the right amount of spiciness and discernible flavours. The Surkh Laal Tikka was next, and though I liked it for its fieriness, my companions seemed to be slightly put off by the spice and the mustard tinge.

    The Baida Roti (mutton) was quite a favourite but the mint sauce could’ve been better. The Steamed Bao, a Chinese bread, that looks a bit like a pinch-zoomed momo, was an interesting dish. The base reminded us of a bun – texture and taste, but the filling seemed a bit over fried.

    The Buffalo Wings were too tangy and completely dominated the other flavours, quite disappointing, as was the bland Beer battered prawns, whose only hint of beer was in the menu literature. On the green side, it was mostly bad. Paneer was the only ‘vegetable’ in ‘Orange’ barring some peppers, and the dish was just sweet! The Pita bread in the Mezze platter was soft and fresh, but the dips – Hummus, Baba Ghanoush and Tatziki were insipid.

    The sample menu has less than ten options for the main course, but that seems to have changed now. They have pasta, Thai curries too. Since we had gone berserk with the starters, we decided to sample one dish each from the Indian and Burgers sections. Representing Burgers was the Burger Over The Top. There was much reason to hope – its description mentioned that it had lamb AND chicken. (yes, written that way) That indicated a ‘meating’ of minds. The presentation was no-frills but plenty of fries. The burger itself was probably the best dish of the night, with an excellent patty and mushrooms and cheese for company. The Indian section, which offered glorified versions of Makhani, Do Pyaza and such, was represented by the Raan Over The Top, which, according to the person who took the order, was worth the 45 minutes you’d have to wait for it. I’d say it was worth about 35 minutes, 5 minutes each cut for the rice that was too dry, and portions of the meat that were too chewy.

    But alas! One section of the menu continues to be in a deserted state. During our visit, the chef sympathised with our collective pain and was sweet enough to offer us ice cream. Serious ‘desserters’ that we were, we declined.

    The amazing Bangalore weather, coupled with an excellent playlist, ensured that we had a perfect ambiance for a meal under the stars. The service was friendly, though we had to specifically ask for the main course menu. The drinks, (currently outsourced to Enigma downstairs) is an area that requires work. For about Rs.1500, you could have a couple of cocktails, a non veg starter,  and a couple of main course dishes. (Inclusive of service charge and tax) At this point, you’d go there for the ambiance and the starters, but the setting is close to perfect and if the current menu manages to do even half a decent job,  (will check it out soon) then the proverbial sky is the limit for Over the Top.

     Over The Top, 2nd Floor, #2, 100 Feet Road, 5th Block, Koramangala Ph: 080- 25633899

  • Truffles Ice & Spice – Koramangala

    D was inclined to have a steak, I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted pasta, chocolate is always interesting for both, I didn’t want to ride far, and we didn’t want to pay more on account of a fine dining tag. Usually, Boca Grande is where all these coincide, but we’d been there only a few weeks back, and that’s when we figured there’s an Ice & Spice in Koramangala!

    Its unfortunately not the easiest place to find. If you know Taste of Rampur, go down that road further, and you’ll find Ice & Spice on the right. This is the road that joins 1st A Cross Road (which has everything from Ping to Golmaal Paratha to Tunday Kababi, Empire, Sufi etc) and the service road diagonally opposite Forum (by the side of Monday to Sunday after Raheja Arcade). If you’re on 1st A Cross, take the left at Desmonds. (the one after Jyoti Nivas) Hope that makes it easier. Parking shouldn’t be too difficult, especially for 2 wheelers. Besides there’s a huge parking lot just nearby.

    Its an absolute hangout ambiance and the sight of chocolate (lots of it) is welcoming! The stone seats are quite okay once you get used to them. Of course, for the kids who regularly frequent this place, it wouldn’t be a discomfort at all! Yesterday they were playing Xmas carols. 🙂

    On to the menu. In addition to the regular menu, (below, click to enlarge) they also have an additional menu now. That one has a couple of soups, salads and starters and more than a dozen main course dishes including more pasta, steaks and even some Oriental dishes.

    Just as I’d feared, all previous half decisions went for a toss and we set about ordering random things. A soup to start with – Asparagus & Cheese soup, from the additional menu. D ordered a Chicken Merango, I asked for an oriental item from the additional menu – Chicken Tom Kha Pha (sic). Greedy that we were, we also ordered coffee so that we wouldn’t convince ourselves to drop it later. D ordered a Hazelnut Coffee and I asked for a Turkish coffee (with English Toffee and whipped cream). That last addition did backfire as they brought the coffee first! Partly our fault, we should have ordered it only after the meal. To get over the ‘gloom’, we asked for a ‘Tons of Fun Burger’.

    The coffee looked on as we started with the soup, which turned out to be delicious. I didn’t even miss the chicken, (I prefer all soups with chicken, unless there’s chocolate in it) since those little cheese dollops  more than made up for it. This one is highly recommended. The ‘tons of fun’ burger came next. We had asked for the chicken patty option, and it also had chicken salami and egg. Yes, there were vegetables taking up precious real estate too. Sigh. This was really good too, though slightly pricey for its size (I’ve been spoiled by the Peppa Zzing guys)

    I’m only familiar with the white Tom Kha soup, so we sized each other up before getting fully acquainted. In addition to the red chillies base, it also had green chillies. The coconut milk flavour was almost lost amidst all this. It tended towards salty and was quite spicy, but the basil rice helped balance it. Loved the shiitake mushrooms. So, worth a shot if you’re in the mood for this kind of food. D always gets lucky with her selections and the Merango was no exception. Velvety smooth, and excellent herb rice too.

    The coffee was reasonably good, but the flipside was that there was absolutely no space for dessert. But we are not to be outdone! The Oreo cheesecake and the Ferrero Rocher cake wait in the fridge for the rendezvous tonight!

    ALL of that cost us Rs.825. This now becomes our go-t0 place in Koramangala when we don’t want to spend time on deciding where to go, but need to be assured of good food and lots of chocolate. Except for the minor coffee fiasco, the service is prompt and helpful.

    Truffles Ice & Spice, #28, 4th B Cross, 5th Block, Koramangala Ph: 41466565, 41536565

    Menu at Zomato

  • Peppa Zzing

    This review was first published in Bangalore Mirror, and though the title I had given was ‘Zzing is King’, someone obviously loves playing with articles, so it was edited to ‘Zzing is the King’ :|. Anyway, this is a revised version.

    So, Peppa Zzing opened shop on October 4th, and is run by popular MC Mark Rego and his wife Rini. It owes its name to their daughter who thought ‘zing’ best denoted the food, happiness and colours of the outlet. The ‘Peppa’ just adds to the spice. And thus food soldiers on Infantry Road now have a new place to focus their attack on. Parking shouldn’t be difficult. There’s all of Infantry Road and even the Safina Plaza area. Walk a bit, trust me, it’ll help.

    Pleazing, that’s how the ambiance can be described. Peppa Zzing has a typical fast food place feel to it, with functional furniture, and a prominently displayed menu. But the bright red hues and the pictures add a zing to what otherwise might have been a predictable setting.

    Guests for the evening were Umesh and Ranjani. Many thanks to Umesh for not chickening out despite a minor accident on the way. The third person I’d invited called me just as I entered the place to give me a flimsy excuse after confirming just half an hour back. I’m just barely resisting the urge to link his twitter account here. Thankfully, good friend (of mine and all things edible) Gautam John was around to beef up the efforts.

    The menu is not really big, but after my encounter with the Whammy, that’s not something I’d accuse the burgers of. They also have plans to add some steaks soon. Gautam, Umesh and I focused on the meatier portions of the menu, even as Ranjani volunteered to test the greener side.

    (click for larger image)

    The menu has burgers for three player levels – the regular Burger for the beginner, the Monster Burger for the advanced and the Whammy is quite obviously a multi-player option, except for those six brave people (including a woman) who have managed to finish it so far. If you can get there by 1 pm today, you can perhaps be part of the Whammy challenge and win a trip to Goa.

    We started with a Bar-be-cued Chicken wings, which suffered thanks to a domineering sauce, and the Cheesed Fries were a bit too hard for our liking. But the Potato Wedges were done well, though tending towards bland. The lamb and beef burgers were fantastic. The patty was crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and the toppings we tried – mushroom, fried egg and cheese complemented it well. The Whammy Burger is a planet in itself and I just managed to explore half of it.  The Pasta with Tomato sauce also did not disappoint. A few more dessert options would help, as the Hot chocolate fudge we tried was only average.

    The service was quick, helpful and there were hardly any delays. Though the place was definitely value-for-money, they don’t mean plastic money, but we were told that they’d start accepting credit cards in a couple of days. If you have any sort of inclination for fast food, this is definitely the place to drop in. You need solid guts to vanquish the Whammy burger, and from experience, it’s a battle you need to win in your mind first!

    Peppa Zzing, G-18, Kedia Arcade, 92 Infantry Road Ph: 41232843

    Menu at Zomato

  • Rendezvous

    A rendezvous that took quite some time, though its just a few minutes away from home. Rendezvous Euro Restaurant is on 80ft Road, right before Barista. Here’s a map. Since there are enough side lanes around, parking is not likely to be a big problem.

    Its more a friendly neighbourhood place than anything you’d come halfway across town for. But that also means that whenever I’ve passed by, I’ve seen it completely packed. We reached there a bit early, a little before 7.45. That, and the rains meant that we were among the first to arrive. But by 8.30 it was getting filled fast.

    Rendezvous has a warm dimly lit ambiance, with some good retro music in the background. Nothing elaborate in terms of decor and furniture, but neat and a great place to sip a beer and watch Koramangala life passing by. The menu is mostly Continental, with some Chinese options too. You can take a look here.

    The rain meant that we had to start with a soup. D and I shared a Mexican soup pot and my sis asked for a Cream of Chicken. Our soup, though described as a broth, was quite thick and creamy , and had salami, chicken and boiled vegetable with some cheese, that added a little zing to it.

    We skipped the starters and the Chinese options and got busy trying to choose from a range of steaks, pastas and burgers. I asked for a Chicken Crepes, D ordered a Peppered Chicken Pasta and my sis ordered a ‘Gold and Red’ burger. The Crepes were conspicuous by their absence, but the tangy mushroom sauce, and the spicy mashed potato ensured that I wasn’t left too disappointed.

    The missing component continued in D’s Peppered pasta, so D did a DIY with the pepper on the table, but apparently it still remained bland.So this turned out to be a disappointing choice.

    My sis’ Gold and Red burger turned out to be a mixed bag. The Gold half, which had cheese and salami was apparently good, but the Red half, with a cold chicken salad was given a cold shoulder. She also felt that the salad may have been her age. I was the only one not complaining much. No comments on the lines of ‘you eat anything’ will be tolerated. Hmmph. I was too stuffed for dessert, though there was even a marble cake, and the others weren’t too sure what would land up on the table.

    All of the above cost us just over Rs.700. The service was quite prompt. I think it serves as a good hangout joint, so this goes into a no gain, no pain category.

    Rendezvous, 15/1, 80 ft Road, Koramangala 4th Block Ph: 25631177

    Menu at Zomato