From our current environs – Whitefield – getting to Church Street can be classified under ‘travel’, and that’s probably why I took to the theme of The Lost Caravan immediately! (map) The building it’s housed in reminded me of old hotels – the kind you used to see in the 80s and early 90s. A lift sometimes takes you to the second floor. (Bangalore and power cuts, you know the deal) A reassuring large bar and peppy interiors greet you as soon as you get in. The walls are full of curios – clocks, a neat open-suitcase way of showing travel paraphernalia and a/c ducts covered up with maps of all sorts! Also check out the post card sized travel photos. Fantastic stuff. That Mars-Venus touch on the loo doors – nice. š We had reserved a table for 8, but got there early and sat in the smoking section, which has the kind of street-facing view I really like.
Tag: Church Street
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Bierre Republic
First published in Bangalore Mirror
Church Street has been getting quite a high these days – Social, Tapwater, and Bierre Republic. Pavilion Mall, where Bierre Republic is located, seems like a sandwich with nothing in between – the ground and top floors are active but the two floors in between looked unoccupied. Ā There’s no valet parking but they have space in the basement. The huge signage outside serves as a beacon of hope as you trudge past two floors of desolation and alien-looking faux vegetation to finally land up, ironically, near a man in a sailor suit! You could choose to be boring and take the lift too. Another small flight of stairs gets you to the dining area with many parts to it ā alfresco with a few enclosed portions, a smoking section, a smaller lounge area, and even an āupper deckā. The furniture is almost all wood, except for the plush sofas in the smoking section and some other elements, and that includes the dĆ©cor consisting of ābarrelsā! It was edging towards tackiness, but the beer posters manage to pull it back a bit. The alfresco section is the perfect place to be in typical Bangalore weather and offers a superb view of the Public Utility building. A live band was in the house, and except for a massacre of The Cranberriesā āZombieā, which almost provoked us to violence for the sake of silence, they were quite good! Meanwhile, as the evening progressed, the service began reflecting the āshipā theme ā they were totally at sea, and were finding it difficult to manage the orders, despite the valiant efforts of their active crew, whom we felt sorry for. (more…)
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Nandoās
The review was first published in Bangalore Mirror, this one isn’t peri peri different, just a few changes.
30 countries spread over 5 continents, but now, we’re just one Big 10 away from our chance to sample what they call the Nandoās āexperi-perienceā. An international chain of casual dining restaurants that originated in South Africa, Nando’s has a Portuguese ā Mozambique theme, and is famous for the Peri Peri sauces.
Since it’s Church Street, I am not competent enough to offer any suggestions on parking. We reached there early – around 7.30, my strategically selected Nandosts and I, and found ourselves among the first lot of customers for the evening. The snag therefore was a constantly hovering service staff, whom we finally had to politely but firmly fend off.
The decor and furniture are quite a few notches above casual dining. Bright colors and music that goes with the restaurantās theme ensure that thereās a buzz to the place. The unique tablemats and the famous bottles of sauce only add to the setting. My friends noted that this setting was quite different from their Nando’s experience abroad.
The menu screams chicken. Loads of it ā liver, wings, chicken meals, Espetada and so on. But vegetarians need not be completely put off since they have quite a few options including salads, hummus, burgers and several side dishes. Zomato has the menu and a few photos. Like all the other chains that pay homage to the uniqueness thatās India, Nandoās does too, in the form of a Peri Peri Paneer. There are also a few interesting beverages and dessert options. Note the conversational tone of the menu and the occasional witticisms and wordplay.
We decided to start with the Indianised offering ā Peri Peri Paneer, with the Extra hot sauce. It wasnāt as spicy as we expected, but still managed to deliver. The Petisco platter wouldāve worked if not for the chicken wings, which were not only undercooked ā a problem that was repeated later with the Quarter Chicken Meal, but suffered from an uneven distribution of spiciness. Its other flaw was the pita bread, though the hummus was quite good.The Chicken Espetada Rustica, in the main course, was quite a visual treat, in addition to being a reasonably tasty dish, despite the deceptively bland butter. The Chicken Strips & Rice also proved a good choice though the rice could have done with more flavour. The potato wedges were surprisingly good. The Chicken Wrap was a complete disaster, with the wrap taking its role too seriously. The sauces, famed for their spice were more tangy than hot.Except for the Natas, the desserts failed to make any impact. Ditto the beverages, though we expected much from the Crimson Cola and the Poncha Zurra Tinto. So that should give you an idea of Nando’s and dont’s. Meanwhile, the portion sizes are not that great for the Quarter Meal and Chicken Strips, so a full stomach is not guaranteed.The service is a bit patchy, especially when the crowd grows. Though there were no delays in taking orders or serving the dishes, refilling water promptly is a skill that needs to be learned when dealing with spicy stuff.
Go there you must, to know what makes the African Bird’s Eye chilli so famous, but though itās definitely different from the regular chicken stereotype, youāll wonder whether itās really worth the hype. Nandoās does need to polish its act for sustained prosperi-perity.
Nandoās, 1A Church Street, Bangalore – 1. Tel: 65681480
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Lost Shopping Destination
L. I have loved Bollywood for a long long time. Though I’m more a fan of the ‘unBollywood ‘ movies (best represented by our poster child Abhay Deol)Ā these days, the first love retains its charm. I have written about this before, and am especially happy when I find others who share this interest – Mo, Meeta, TCP, and even Cyn, though elitist that she is, sheĀ will never admit to watching the snake video multiple times.
S. The interest, in my case, also extends to the fringe players in that field – remember Ramsay brothers, and that cool show called Toofan TV on Channel V, which was based on all the howlarious stuff that got made – desi Bond movies, snake movies, and yes, most importantly the sleaze genre, carefully camouflaged in horror/jungleĀ themes, and the resources for which were awfully scarce then. An era before computers, personal or otherwise.
So, here I was, at our regular DVD shopping place – Temptation, on Church Street, and what do I see?
Golden oldies! Now the name made sense. Yeah, I know its all over the net now, and access is easy, but real shelf space!Ā And hey, mine is a generation before remote controls happened, you have no clue how difficult things were. S3x was a 3 letter word, and 4 letter words were only beginning to be formed, and we had to look away or were asked to go to another room, when some stuff did appear on screen! So you see, its easy to get emotional about such things!
D. Refused to let me buy them. š As a consolation, I got the Love,S3x,Dhoka DVD (priced at Rs. 69, kid you not) šĀ . 2 months later,Ā armed with a more fierce resolve, I arrived, and noticed that Temptation had given way to a computer games store.
until next time, prnic healing š
PS. Other Temptations flourish on Church Street.
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HongKong Hustle
That’s the retaurant formerly known as Saigon. In fact, when you approach it from Brigade Road the signage with the new name is difficult to miss, but the front signage is still that of Saigon. This is on the 2nd Floor of the building that houses Oye Shaava, Oye Amritsar and Ruby Tuesday. They have valet parking too, and for those wondering, no, I didn’t try it out for my two wheeler. :p
As you go up, do check out the posters of Oye Amritsar, good stuff. On the second floor, we were greeted with a nunchaku doorknob. Wonderfully creative start. In fact the entire place, I realised was a creative trip. I didn’t take photos and hoped someone had, and my faith in the www was reinforced when I came across this site.
We had reserved a table, but if you’re going early (before 8pm ) that may not be required. There are some great 2 seaters that give you a view of Church Street, and options for larger groups too. I love those ‘watch the world go by’ views, as regular readers would know. The welcome mat greeted me warmly and told me that they were not too sticky about formalities, and that I should look around, enjoy myself, but asked me to save space for dessert.
The person in charge of our table asked us if were familiar with the dining style they followed. I’d only read one review so he explained the concept of Mongolian Barbecue. Daniel, as he introduced himself, did a great job of explaining it, and said that we would be served soups and starters before we got on with that part. The staff uniform is the Karate Gi gear. Daniel wore a red belt which means he’s a captain. Stewards wear yellow belts.
We had a choice of Burnt Garlic veg soup and a Sweet Corn Chicken soup. I asked for half a bowl of the latter and was only disappointed that I couldn’t get D to try it out, though I kept telling her it was very good. The solid attackĀ started with 5 veg and 5 non veg starters. We had Chinese green dim sum (mushroom and corn), crisp potato, cauliflower in spicy ginger sauce, grilled vegetables in tangy sauce, and veg dim sum, I evinced only passing interest though the cauliflower starter was exceptional and the others were good too. The non veg starters – Fish in chinese parsley sauce, chicken wings, lamb in BBQ sauce, chicken dim sum and prawn papaya spring rolls, were obviously given more attention. (except for the last one since prawns are allergic to me š ) Ā All of them great,Ā and I loved the chicken wings, awesome stuff. If you like something, feel free to ask for a second or even third helping. But remember there’s the main course and deserts to follow.
The main course is the Mongolian barbecue. You get your bowl and select from over a dozen kinds of sliced vegetables – mushroom, bamboo shoots, capsicum, cabbage, broccoli and so on, arranged in a buffet. You are then asked to choose your sauce from a display board and the meat/s you would like to add, and they stir fry it for you. To go along with it, you can choose steamed rice, fried rice or noodles with veg and non veg (lamb, fish, chicken) options. I ordered my stir fry with lamb and a pepper & onion sauce, and chicken noodles to go along. D ordered her stir fry with chicken and spicy chinese wine sauce and veg fried rice (@#$%, Veg? asked I !! and was rewarded with a Buddha smile) to go along with it. The other sauce choices for the day were Sweet and Sour,Ā Golden Garlic, Hunan, Oyster/Chilli Oyster, Hot Garlic, Chilli Plum and Sapo. The stir fried stuff and your rice/noodles are brought to your table, in less than 10 minutes. Awesome. You could order another round if you’re upto it, maybe with a different sauce. I remembered the desserts and didn’t.
The dessert options were Sago Float, Fried Mango, Cut Fruit, Ice Cream Date Pancake and Chocolate Mousse. We tried all, and you can guess what I asked for a second helping of. I was also tempted by the Sago Float – coconut flavoured with jelly like Sago ( D says sago is sabudana), but chocolate always wins.
All of this – soups, starters, main course, desserts work like a buffet –Ā charged Rs.349 + tax for dinner (works out to Rs.785 for two) and Rs.249 + tax for lunch (fewer items, I suspect). They also serve a la carte based on your preferences, there’s no menu card. They do have a liquor menu though, thats extra. I am not trying to hustle you, but you do need to give this place a try at least once, for the unique dining experience it offers. I’ll be your fortune cookie and say “Go on an empty stomach. Serve you well, it will” š
Hongkong Hustle, 2nd Floor, Asha Enclave, #20, Church street, Ph: 41122855
