Tag: cocktails

  • Idyll

    This is far from our village, but thanks to the metro, if we get out early, it is quite a breeze getting to Indiranagar. And that is how, one Saturday evening, we broke our rustic idyll to visit Idyll, about whose fusion fare we had heard good things.

    Idyll has two floors. The top floor is the one with the pounding music and cool bar. Relatively, the ground floor is the more ‘boring’ one, almost like the family room, and that’s where we chose to sit. That ‘maze’ symbol on the lamp (that we loved) is everywhere and kept reminding me of the Westworld maze. See that ceiling again?

    Idyll Indiranagar Bangalore

    The Kashmiri Old Fashioned was what I came for. Roasted raisin infused bourbon, spiced Demerara almond syrup, and in-house Kashmiri bitters was how it differentiated itself from the standard version. I enjoyed it because it didn’t go overboard on the sweetness and they didn’t scrimp on the alcohol.

    Idyll Indiranagar Bangalore

    D tried the Kerala Mango Pachadi – tequila based, with strained mango pachadi and a few other ingredients, which turned out to quite good. As always, looked prettier than my drink too!

    Idyll Indiranagar Bangalore

    We started with a Pandi Pork Bao – slow cooked pork belly in Kachampuli vinegar with fermented Thai chilli. We loved the spice level, the well cooked meat, and the superb flavouring.

    Idyll Indiranagar Bangalore

    Meen Moilee Dimsum made us very curious. River sole, coconut milk and fermented chili oil. I think, once you get used to the idea of the weird combo, it is tasty enough. 🙂

    Idyll Indiranagar Bangalore

    The last dish we tried was the Chorizo Kachori Chaat, which is your typical chaat with Goan chorizo. It wasn’t bad, but this, I thought, was the one that did the fusion the least justice.

    Idyll Indiranagar Bangalore

    The bill came to a little over Rs.3700. Indiranagar pricing, but hey. Excellent food and drinks, prompt and helpful service, and a peaceful ambiance if you get there early.

    If you like a little bit of experimentation, try Idyll when you’re around next.

    Idyll, 608, 12th Main Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar, Ph 6364315734

  • Pangeo

    We had many gastronomic reasons to go to Forum Rex Walk, but we finally decided on Pangeo because we found the dishes interesting. The journey of a thousand calories begins with a Metro trip. These days, we time our exit from our hamlet of Whitefield to the city in such a way that we get a reasonably peaceful metro ride. The fun part was that thanks to the maze that Forum Rex Walk is, we first sat down at Ouro, which is on the same floor. D and I both looked around and felt it looked different from the images we had seen, and then realised… 🙈

    Pangeo has a bit of everything in terms of seating spaces – the standard big screen, a bit of open sky, and cozy corners. We arrived early but the place was already quite crowded, so it’d be a good idea to reserve a spot.

    Pangeo, Bangalore

    D chose the Strangest Things. No, that’s the name of the drink. A gin-based cocktail, which she liked. And I started seeing a strange thing that I have since then observed in many other places – calling the drink Old Fashion! I tried it despite the name-mangling, but I have had better.

    Pangeo, Bangalore

    Since we have charcoal now in everything from toothbrush to water, we decided to try the Charcoal Chicken Dumpling. I am not sure the charcoal made any difference, but the chilli infusion made it a decent dish.

    Pangeo, Bangalore

    When there is Bheja Fry, attack! This one was served on phyllo pastry, and was quite spicy. We really liked it.

    Pangeo, Bangalore

    The Loaded Polo Wonton had minced chicken and cheese in a wonton cup. Great texture mix, excellent cheese, and helped us cool our tongue after the spice bomb.

    Pangeo, Bangalore

    We were a bit wary of the Naga Chilli Pepperoni but it turned out to be quite tame in term of spice.

    Pangeo, Bangalore

    D is a recent convert to Baileys, so when we found a Baileys Tiramisu, we had to get it. The Tiramisu was excellent in itself but the Baileys at the bottom meant that there is a nice kick to it as well. Well worth a shot.

    Pangeo, Bangalore

    The bill came to a little over Rs.4500, which given the location, is believable. There’s no dearth of variety in the menu, the ambience was good, and the service was decent, if not great. If you’re in the vicinity, maybe drop in.

  • Hortus

    We’re shifting geography a bit – to the Queen of the Arabian Sea – Cochin. Hortus is located on the third floor of The Avenue Center Hotel in Panampilly Nagar. Think of the area as Cochin’s version of a love child of Indiranagar (which has a past, and still tries to fight commercial infiltration), and Koramangala (which is increasingly looking like the future). Houses and fancy eateries continue to coexist in a tense standoff. But let’s digress a bit more before we think of digest.

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