Tag: Chandu’s Military Hotel

  • The Great Kabab Factory

    The last time I was in the vicinity of Mantri Mall, I had some awesome food thanks to Partha Jha. The place we visited – Chandu’s Military hotel also sends lots of traffic to the other blog, thanks to a totally (food) unrelated post I wrote then. 🙂

    This time, the visit was to an eatery inside the mall, for a Bangalore Mirror review. Parking at the mall is much better than in the initial days! Our destination – The Great Kabab Factory was a franchise that has operations in many parts of India and the Middle East, including the third floor of Mantri Mall.

    The space has been utilised well, though the decor is pretty functional. The cutlery tries to lend a grand touch. The colours are also restrained except for the bright blue shades in the form of lighting, but these don’t help remove a general dimness. Interestingly, though the staff wear overalls to go with the factory idea, the theme ends there.

    On to the menu. The dinner and weekend menu offers a selection of six kababs, followed by a biriyani main course and four desserts. The weekday menu is priced lower because a couple of kababs and desserts are taken out. The combination of kababs change  daily, and you stand a chance of getting the same combination only once a fortnight. But the signature dishes are available daily and after a round of all the kababs, you get to repeat your favourites. Ditto for the desserts. They also have a a well stocked bar, and given the price of the Fresh Lime Soda, you’re definitely better off guzzling beer. The prix fixe (set menu) weekday lunch is priced at Rs 449 plus taxes and weekends and dinners are at Rs 599 plus taxes. The price is the same for veg and non veg versions. Considering the options available, this is rather steep. (check comments for update)

    Among the non vegetarian fare, the Galouti Kabab was the winner with its finely minced meat that puts it in the ‘melt in the mouth’ category. Roll it up in an ulta tawa paratha and you’re sure to ask for a repeat. The Taj Kabab with bell pepper and coriander was excellent too. The Shoolay Murgh Tikka, a mildly spicy kabab,  and the Shammi Kabab were also favourites. However, the signature Barrah Kabab was missing, and the Machhi Amritsari and the Lasooni Chooza were disappointing. The Phaldhari Chaat, roasted apple with chaat masala, was the redeeming dish in the veg menu. But charging the same rate for the veg fare seemed unfair. Especially since they were not great. The Paneer Tikka Kalimirch was bland and the Peshawari Aloo did nothing to impress either.

    The Murgh Dum Biriyani was greasy and the Murgh Qurma accompanying it couldn’t do much to salvage it. Its veg counterpart, Vadi Pulao, wasn’t great either. The Shahi Tukda was the pick among the desserts though the Gulab Jamun had some competition to offer.  The Doodhi ka Halwa, made from bottle gourd, sounded promising, but didn’t actually work out.

    The staff is well-trained and as each dish is brought to the table, give you a rapidfire tutorial on how it is to be consumed. The service is prompt and ensure you don’t feel too bad about the 10 per cent service charge.

    The Great Kabab Factory does live up to its name and manages to produce quite a few delectable kababs but unfortunately, they don’t really come at Factory Outlet prices. So, unless you have just completed a bhook hartal or are gifted with phenomenal maas consumption abilities, the price of the kababs might make you go ‘Sheesh’!

    The Great Kabab Factory, T-40, 3rd Floor, Mantri Square, #1 Sampige Road, Malleswaram, Bangalore 560003, Ph: 22667360

  • On location.. and beyond

    A few weeks back, @gkjohn and I were  invited to Chandu’s Military hotel in Malleswaram by the inimitable @parthajha . After an amazing meal, we walked back to where I’d parked my vehicle – Mantri Square, the new mall that had sprung up in the locality. It was new enough to be regarded as a shrine/tourist spot by many, and was already creating many traffic hassles. Both my companions had seen/lived in Bangalore much longer than I have, and shared interesting stories on Bangalore’s evolution. The new mall, and the changes in Malleswaram (which happens to be one of Bangalore’s oldest  residential localities) made me think aloud that soon, a locality’s culture (as expressed by stories about the place, people, historical locations as well as relatively unknown joints like Chandu’s) would begin to get packaged, as people  – both the city’s inhabitants as well as tourists, might want to look beyond the ‘sterile’ mall-multiplex-pubs-eateries jungle, and have more diverse experiences.

    And then, a few days back, i saw this article in PSFK titled ‘The Birth of the Microhood‘, which talks about an organisation called The Bold Italic initiating “a celebration of pocket microhoods through block parties and featured cross-sections across the city, introducing and promoting the social net worth of the people and businesses that inhabit them”. You can check out the details of the last event here, and the comments on Facebook here. Note the different establishments taking part.

    Those familiar to Bangalore might know of BangaloreWalks, which undertakes themed walks. With new services and technologies popping up and developing at a rapid pace, I wondered about the possibilities. On Foursquare, Chicago was a pioneer, allowing users to earn badges while exploring the city. Now Pennsylvania has followed suit. (via Mashable) There’s more. Check out the Augmented Reality iPhone app from the Museum of London. (via Gizmodo). The way it works – hold the iPhone up to a present day London street scene, the app shows the same location as it looked in the olden days. Tap a button and you get historical facts about the place. Meanwhile, QR codes have been around for quite a while now, also noticed Microsoft’s “tag” a few days back. While on the subject, also check out stickybits, a ‘fun and social way to attach digital content to real world objects’, through barcodes (existing ones, or new ones you print), and an app.

    Imagine a Coke/Pepsi/Kingfisher using this to tell us the origins of various iconic retail establishments they tie up with? Imagine augmented reality apps that allow an establishment to show us consumer reviews of the food it serves, or some content from the chef, say, how he’s made the dish. Relatively unimaginative, yes, but we haven’t even got there yet. 🙂 With the new version of location becoming increasingly important for brands, its perhaps time to check out the potential of using these services. A new way of aggregating content – videos, photos, literature – basis the location a person is in. More than anything else, i feel they offer splendid new means of storytelling, a way of making a brand go beyond the transactional relationship with its consumers, and the constraints of real time/space. It links the brand and its consumers through culture and shared experiences.

    until next time, vocal locals 🙂

    PS: To-do – check out my, ahem, interview at the newly launched www.foursquaretalk.com 😉