Tag: Continental

Vicky’s la terrazza

Remember Vicky’s Tawa Lounge? Well, this is on the top floor of the same building. For directions, take a look at the Tawa Lounge post. This one’s been on the radar ever since we visited the Tawa Lounge. We’d reserved in advance, but the crowd was only just right by 8, so you could just walk in too.

The ambience is pleasant, with a very cosy, homely feel to it. Its partially open, so you have a nice breeze blowing in, unless, of course, it rains. The seating is very comfortable, and the entire place has a way of relaxing you.

la terrazza serves continental. The menu, though, is a bit limited, but does offer decent choices for both veg and non vegetarians. We started with a Zucchini and asparagus soup – we also asked for some chicken to be added to it. The soup was thick and delicious, and the garlic bread that was given with it, complemented the flavours beautifully. For the main course, we ordered a Fish with sundried tomato, served with basil rice, and a mixed grill, that’s chicken, beef steak, lamb, sausage, bacon, pineapple, and a fried egg. The fish was quite creamy, and seemed to have a hint of coconut. The mixed grill was made well, though it did border on blandness. You can choose to have french fries or mashed potato to go with it, I chose the latter. Turned out to be a good choice, because the peppery flavour of the mashed potato helped the dish.

All of the above cost us just above Rs.700. The mineral water contributed Rs.30 this time 🙂

There are also some pizza options available, which looked good, at least from a distance. ( two tables away, to be precise 😉 ) There are desserts too, with at least two good chocolate options, but perhaps some other time.

Vicky’s la terrazza, #99, 2nd floor, 5th cross, 6th Block, Koramangala Ph: 41751635/36

@Zomato

November 2, 2008
The Only Place

This is only our second visit, and that’s all thanks to a rare mistake I made about 4 years back. No, I’m not claiming to be otherwise flawless, its just that on our previous visit, I forgot to mention that I wanted the steak well done, and they gave me a rare one!! The immense strength my jawbone displays now, is thanks to that incident.  And the memory made sure I kept away from the place.

This time too, the original choice was Spiga, but Spiga, I was told, is no longer open??!! So, I thought the time had come for another shot. The Only Place is in the central part of Bangalore, but the location and the ambience would deceive you. Its on Museum Road – from Church Street, take a left at Empire, just before you reach the next junction, you’ll see it on your left. Parking might be made easier, thanks to the (parking space of the) neighbouring office building.

We did reserve a table, but didn’t prove necessary at 8pm. It was a Sunday, I’m sure it would be more crowded on Saturday, and anyway the place was almost full by 8.30. We started with a cream of mushroom soup. While the soup was definitely thick, the cream was not very evident. For the main course, there’s quite a lot of steaks to choose from, with some baked items, spaghetti, burgers etc also thrown in. There’s enough choice for the veggies as well. Though I simply love the Chateaubriand steak (thanks to an official lunch, where the ‘well done’ was amply communicated) I decided to try something different, and ordered a Chicken Cacciatore. The wife ordered an OP’s special fish. The chicken dish is “ tender cubes of chicken, served in a red spicy sauce with celery and mushroom on a bed of noodles (there’s also an option of rice), onions and assorted vegetables” The sauce is simply amazing, its spicy without making you all teary, the noodles is soft and absorbs the flavours fast, and overall, the dish is very tasty. If you’re not into beef and can’t order the Chateaubriand, go for this one. The Op special fish is “fillets of fish topped with herbs and spices charbroiled, served with vegetables and mash potato” Though the fish is somewhat bland, the topping and the sauce ensure that the dish is tasty enough.

There was a chocolate fudge cake that was eyeing me from the display all through my dinner, and I succumbed finally. Thank God! Awesme, and they pour enough chocolate sauce s that its practically dripping. Pure evil!! And there are other options too, including a trifle pudding. Some other time, maybe 😀

The quantities are just right. It leaves you full but not bloated. All of the above cost us just over Rs.600, including a mineral water for Rs.25 😉

The Only Place, No: 13, Museum Road. Ph: 32718989

Photos at Zomato

October 27, 2008
Herbs and Spice

We’d already been to the first version, a couple of streets off CMH Road, and while it had a Euro cafe setting complete with a blackboard menu, we weren’t convinced enough to visit again. But when we heard there was a revamped version elsewhere in Indiranagar, we thought we should drop in.

The new version is on 80ft Road, right at the junction of 12th Main and 100 ft Road, above Planet M. The ambience is definitely better here, and there are comfortable seating options for large and small groups. The menu is considerably more than the old version, and offers a more complete spread, including a variety of salads, main course, and desserts. There’s beer too!! If you’re going later than 8 pm, you might like to reserve, since it was quite crowded.

We were however, disappointed, with the absence of a non-veg soup. So we started with a cream of broccoli soup, which after a by-two division turned out to be only a very small quantity. This was to be a recurring theme. To be fair, they did give us some breads, on the house.

For the main course, we ordered a ‘Fusilli with chicken, bell peppers, mushroom and basil pesto’ and a ‘Grilled whole Indian salmon with a cherry tomato sauce’. I don’t know if it had anything to with the fish or the Indian part of it, but it took them 40 minutes to serve us. And unfortunately, it really wasn’t worth the wait. The fusilli with chicken was quite okay, and flavoured well, but the fish was a disaster!! A sacrifice both the fish as well as us could’ve done without. The quantity was meagre, and in a long time, I actually left a restaurant with a ‘nowhere near full’ stomach. Well, I did sulk and avoid dessert, but the quantity, or rather, the lack of it, had really put me off.

They made us wait quite a bit for the bill. Pretty dumb, since there were at least two groups waiting for a table. All of the above cost us over Rs.800, which was just way too much for what we got.

Photos at Zomato

August 31, 2008
Indijoe

Indijoe opened an outlet on Church street a few weeks back, and we’ve been guilty of ignoring it for sometime now. That has been assuaged, as we reserved in advance and landed up there yesterday. It was fairly crowded by around 8pm, so it’d would be good to book in advance. This is housed in the place where Bombay House used to be, coming from Brigade Road, just before the Museum Road junction.

While the regular strategy in Indijoe is a starter, followed by a single sizzler, and then dessert, because it just fills the tummy, and we get to eat dessert, hunger overrode logic on this occasion, and we decided to go for a soup/starter (starter if we didn’t like the soup of the day) , and two sizzlers. Dessert was a decision left for later, if space permitted. The mind is always willing. 😀

The menu seems to be a trimmed down version of the one at Airport Road, but larger than the one on Old Madras Road. But we didn’t miss anything much, except for a couple of desserts, and this menu offers enough selection. So, we ordered the Non veg soup of the day, which turned out to be Cream of Chicken and Mushroom, the favourite. The starter plan plan failed before it got started. 😀 The soup was just about as good as that pun, which means it could definitely have been better. While it was thick, and creamy, the flavors just weren’t strong enough, and I was forced to try a salt + pepper+ sauces combo.

For the main course, we ordered a Stacked Chicken Valdostana, which is “sliced chicken layered with cheese and stacked, served with white wine and emmenthal sauce and accompanied with sphagetti, vegetables and spiced with green tabasco sauce” and a Jack Daniels double barrel chicken and stake (sic) combo, which is ‘grilled chicken and cheese placed between two slices of steak with smoky Jack daniels sauce served with tangy cheddar cheese, mashed potatoes and mexican salad’. The tabasco sauce and the mexican salad were served separate, respectively. The sauce is necessary because the dish is slightly bland, but I thought the worcestershire sauce was a much better add on. Though I was apprehensive on the spaghetti, because I’m not a big fan, the dish was actually done very well, and I enjoyed it. It also has a lot of french fries, not mentioned in the description, not that I had a problem with it. We were asked how we wanted the steak, and asked for ‘well done’, and it was 🙂 , though I’m not very sure of the Mexican Salad. Now you might say, I don’t recognise Mexican when i see it, but then, I do recognise Indian. Oh well, maybe they are similar 😀

The snag with ordering two sizzlers is that you might require external help to take you to your vehicle, it leaves you stuffed, with absolutely no room for dessert 🙁 . All of the above cost us Rs.800. It must be mentioned that the service was excellent. They took care to give extra inputs on the dish, so you know exactly what you can expect. I’ve always maintained that among all of the BJN Group properties, Indijoe is the most ‘user friendly’, and this one just reinforces the belief. Great, and will be definitely visited again.

Indijoe, Kalpak arcade, Church Street Ph: 41113311

Menu and Photos at Zomato

August 10, 2008
Mocha

And, at long last, we finally landed up at Mocha on Lavelle Road. Keep going down Lavelle Road (from MG Road) and this is about 50 m after the Walton/Lavelle/Vittal Mallya junction, just before Java City. We got in by about 7.45, and the place was already fairly crowded. We sat indoors, but there’re also some very good outdoor seating options.

Disclaimer: There’s a bit of anarchy in the ordering sequence. At this place, we order the shake first, and then decide what to eat. It has nothing to do with The Joker. Blame it on the chocolate.:)

So, we first ordered a Dutch truffle cake shake. The menu said it was a chocolate shake so sinful you might want to go for a confession. I confess they were right. The quality and the quantity. It must be said that we arrived on this particular choice after much debate all thanks to the exhaustive options available.

To fill up the rest of our collective tummies, we ordered a Country Roast Chicken Panino and a Blackened Balti Chicken Crustini. The former is wildfire roasted chicken and slaw served with fresh basil presto, and the latter is chicken and peppers cooked in balti spice. While we were slightly concerned about Balti, it turned out to be just fine. 🙂 However, we found that these two, while not lacking in taste or flavours, we e not sufficient to leave us satiated. So, again, afer much debate, we decided against having dessert (thanks to familiarity with the humongous portions that are served here) and ordered one more snack – Pollo con Aioli, which is marinated chicken with Aioli. No, we had no clue on who (er, what) Aioli was. 🙂 It tasted a bit like corn, and a bit like the soggy peanuts we sometimes have, but overall was a bit bland. The saving grace was the sauce they gave with it. On hindsight, we really should’ve been gluttonous and gone for that ‘That Chocolate Thing’. For now, all we’re left with is its description – rich gooey flourless chocolate cake layered with dark chocolate ganache served with chocolate ice cream. Sigh, next time, definitely.

All of this cost us just below Rs.600. Thats one of the good things about Mocha. It allows you to sample a lot of things, and still leaves enough room and dough for chocolate 😉

Mocha 080 65357111 , 080 65357222

PS. You can also check out the review of the other Mocha in Bangalore, here.

Menu and Photos at Zomato

July 27, 2008