Tag: North Indian

  • Copper Chimney

    Judging by our liking for the place, Copper Chimney should’ve been written about quite a while back. Copper Chimney is a restaurant on the 5th floor of Bangalore Central, serves Frontier/North Indian fare. Keeping in mind the lunar surface that is MG Road, and the abundance of one ways in the area, we usually park at Garuda Mall and walk up.

    We usually reserve in advance, especially since we like to sit outside. That’s only possible if you’re 2-3, but the seating inside is quite comfy. The fifth floor setting ensures that its nippy outside especially in the winter months. Once it was so windy that they closed the section outside. That’s the only time we sat inside.

    So, we started with a Chicken Kali Mirch – “boneless chicken marinated in yoghurt, spiked with freshly pound black pepper, and gently grilled. Awesome stuff, especially if you are the kind who likes the pepper flavour. The mint chutney they gave was superb, went great with the chicken, and we ended up finishing the entire bowl. Lots of pieces so you wouldn’t complain about the quantity either.

    For the main course, we asked for a Murg Patiala – “chicken breast simmered in a rich cream sauce topped with sieved eggs”, and deviating from tradition (fish), a Kadhai Paneer – “batons of cottage cheese stir fried with onions and peppers and spiced with freshly pounded coriander seeds and red chillies”, and to go with it a naan, and a tandoori roti. The chicken dish was a tad blander than it usually is, or the starter’s flavours were messing with my taste buds. But the paneer dish was spicy enough.Its only once that we’ve had dessert at Copper Chimney, the rest of the time we were stuffed, and this time was no exception. And so the meal ended there. The service was a bit tardy this time, but nothing to raise a furore over. Yes, I realise I’m quite biased. 🙂

    They’ve quite a few choices in mutton and serve alcohol as well. There are a few ‘hatke’ options of breads too – like Taftan and Kabuli Naan. In essence, a place you must try. Meanwhile, all of the above cost us just below Rs.900. No mineral water this time 😉

    The thing that brings us back to Copper Chimney (other than the great food) is the wonderful view (when you take the two seaters outside) of Bangalore’s skyline. It makes you reflect. Food for thought. 🙂

    Copper Chimney, 5th Floor, Bangalore Central, Residency Road. Ph: 080 66111800

    Menu and photos at Zomato

  • Kabul

    Continuing the Asian theme for this weekend (we saw CC2C on friday, a movie i strongly recommend you not 2 c, until it arrives free on TV), we decided to move on to Kabul yesterday. Kabul’s Bangalore version is on Residency Cross Road, the one way that goes up from Residency road and lands you next to Symphony on MG Road. You could park on Brigade road/ Bangalore Central and walk. Just adjacent to it is Malgudi (belongs to the same group), and that mortal enemy of anyone who even contemplates a diet – Corner House 🙂

    So, we reserved in advance, but actually, on hindsight, not at all necessary. We were alone when we started, and by the time we were through, there were about 3 other groups. The ambience is quite nice with comfortable seating, though from the music played, Afghans are huge fans of Pankaj Udhas and Jagjit Singh.

    As the name suggests, the place serves Frontier cuisine. Though we’d planned on starters, we ended up trying a shorba – Murg Kabuli Shorba, which was fine, except for a strange oily flavour it seemed to have. You could try out the Murg Jehangiri starter, sounded nice – chicken legs with minced mutton stuffing.

    For the main course, we ordered a Doodiya Murg, which is “boneless chicken cooked along with milk, cream, khova and topped with malai”, a Mirch machli Masala, “boneless seer fish dum cooked with tomato and topped with herbs”, and to go with that an aloo paratha and a makhini kulcha. The rotis werent sufficient, so we ended up ordering a Masala Kulcha too. There was so much potential in that damn description of the chicken dish, but… don’t fall for it!! It actually tasted like a dal curry (parippu curry, for those who know Kerala cusine). The fish curry wasn’t so great either, and for once I was complaining at the extravagant size of the portions. With Corner House nearby, the dessert menu is wasted, especially since it doesnt offer anything spectacular.

    The service, for what its worth, was quite good, attentive and there were no delays at all. All of the above (including a bottle of mineral water for Rs.45) cost us just under Rs.750.

    You’re advised to try out Sikandar (Garuda Mall) or Copper Chimney (Bangalore Central), both of which are in the vicinity and offer similar cuisine. The food is guaranteed to be better. (I realised I havent written about either place, shall do soon!!!)

    On our way back, we noticed Chung Wah (on the same road) Once upon a time (when we came to bangalore), we had to wait to get a seat there, and now, on a Saturday night, there were all of 3 tables occupied. The times, they are a changin. 😐

    Kabul, # 45/3, Residency Cross Road, Ph: 08025580440

  • Flame of Tandoor

    That name and the description – ‘a contemporary cuisine restaurant’, in a paper insert that said “Get greeted by an Italian host, experience western ambience, place your order for a continental dish with a chinese attendat (sic) to be cooked by a flame chef” meant that I really had to take a look myself, even though (for some strange reason) I had the same feeling I did when i bought tickets for Himesh’s Karzzz, this, despite it being a part of the Azad Group (the same that owns Tandoor)

    To get there, (when coming from the Indiranagar side), after the Sony World junction, take a right turn on to the road that has William Penn, Barista etc, and then a left towards Jyoti Nivas college. The place is after the Apollo clinic, and before the Qwiky’s outlet.(both roads are one ways)

    I’d begin with saying that whoever decided the name should take a long hard look at the menu card. My professional experience (brand) tells me that higher powers must have insisted on having ‘Tandoor’ in the name for some strange synergy only they can perceive. The menu is a mix of continental, oriental and a few north indian items. The issue is that there is very limited ‘depth’ in each category, with the continental part being slightly better off. For me, the very fact that a restuarant with such a name has Tabasco and HP sauce on the table jarred. Though the seating is quite comfortable, the ambience is also like the menu – lacks any specific theme. They play “9x music”. 😐

    Anyway, considering that there were only a couple of choices in chicken gravies, and we’d rather go to a specialised Oriental cuisine place if we wanted that, we decided to go Continental, and started with a Mushroom Cappuccino soup, which is “white wine and thyme flavoured cream of mushroom”. D asked for chicken in it too, and got it. Must admit that the soup was pretty good. They also gave us some bread with some special butter, which seemed to be mustard based.

    For the main course, we ordered a Flame’s mix grill – “a combination of chicken, lamb, fried egg served with potato roesti and grilled tomato”, and Lasagna alla pollo – “baked layer of pasta with chicken bolognaise, parmesan and cheese sauce”. The mixed grill was strictly okay, i really have had better stuff – in terms of quality and quantity(at Indijoe, for example). The Lasagna was definitely better though the garlic flavor was a bit too much, but the quantity was quite sufficient.There were a few dessert options, including a rice kheer+strawberry ice cream combination, but we really didn’t feel adventurous enough.

    Wallet wise, it set us back by a little less than Rs.700. The service is pretty decent, though  after every course, two people ask you how the food was.That gets irritating after a point. The pricing means that the target crowd is definitely not the JNC kids, who have way too many options around anyway. I really wish they’d concentrate on one kind of cuisine though, this spread really didn’t appeal to me.

    Flame of Tandoor, #63, Near Jyothi Nivas College, Koramangala Industrial Layout. Ph: 41104337

    PS. Okay, I admit, maybe I was just disappointed that the chef didn’t turn out to be one of the Fantastic 4. In my defence, ‘Flame chef’ is very misleading. The Italian host was missing too. Okay, I’ll stop nitpicking!!

    Menu at Zomato

  • Moti Mahal Delux

    After being told by a lovely voice to contact Airtel customer care, since the numbers i dialled could not be found, we still reserved after having got through to the mobile number. Moti Mahal is in Lido Mall, on Old Madras Road, and serves Indian and Mughlai cusine. We realised after we got there, that a reservation really wasn’t necessary, since there were exactly 3 groups during the time we spent there. It perhaps has to do with the fact that they weren’t accepting any credit cards, except for Amex (only for the day). Before I really get stuck in a Sholay kind of scene (Jai and Mausi for Viru’s rishta with Basanti), let me proceed.

    So, after checking our wallets’ cash component, and ensuring that we wouldn’t be washing vessels later, we started with a Moti Mahal Almond and Mushroom soup. It was quite spicy, thanls to the contribution from the open green chilly. Its served in glasses, not exactly the style I prefer. There were tiny slivers of almond, and we hoped that the mushroom was somehow built in. I think you should try some kababs, since there are lots of options, though all the non veg options are priced over Rs.295

    For the main course, we ordered a ‘Murg Korma from Old Delhi’, a ‘Brain Masala’ and to go with it, an onion kulcha and a lal mirchi ka paratha.  The chicken curry was just about okay, though the quantity was more than sufficient. D says the tomato flavour that it had was a bit overboard (I wonder why i never have these gustatory perceptions 😐 ) The brain masala was quite good, and perhaps the redeeming factor, though at Rs.295, it happens to be the costliest brain I’ve had. (comic references to MY brain will not be tolerated..hmmph) They also give a small paratha as part of the brain dish. The Kulcha was big enough not to warrant a second one, and was quite good. The lal mirch paratha didn’t go overboard in spiciness.The dessert options are the regular North indian cuisine suspects, except for Mawa Chocolate, but we were too stuffed to try.

    The ambience is not great, quite bare. I also thought that the two seater tables could be a bit bigger, especially since their roti containers are quite large. The service was quite pleasant, except for the part where we were asked whether we were ready for the main course, when we’d just started with the soup. All of the above and a mineral water cost us a rupee and fifty paise short of Rs.1000, that’s inclusive of a service charge of 10%.

    Moti Mahal Delux, Lido Mall, 1/4 Swami Vivekanand Road, Near Trinity Circle, Ulsoor, Bangalore Ph: 080 42127112/3, 9741886985

    Menu at Zomato

  • Bombay Post

    No, its not a post on Bombay. Bombay Post is a restaurant from the BJN group on (the old) Airport Road. Its housed in the same building as TGIF and Indijoe, has valet parking and sufficient parking for two wheelers (behind the building). We reserved a table at 7.45, but called up later to check if they could hold it till 8, since we were delayed. We were told that’d not be possible, and we would have to walk in and depend on our luck. Our luck seemed intact since there were only 4 other tables occupied when we walked in. It started filling up around 8.30 though. They seemed to have changed the wall decor a bit, since the huge posters of the earlier era’s Bollywood icons were conspicuously missing. But the guard with the huge moustache (himself an icon of sorts by now) is still there. 🙂

    We got a decent table, and were given the usual heavy menu card (i always wonder if its anything to do with the prices 😉 ). Anyway, we decided to skip the shorba and starters, and went for the main course. Departing from the regular 2 non-veg custom, we ordered a Khatta Meethe Aloo (“sauteed potato in an earthy jaggery and tamarind gravy”), a Kadai Murgh Patiala (“boneless pieces of chicken sauteed and simmered in its own juices, then tossed in kadai masala. From the royal house of Patiala”) and to go with it, an onion kulcha and a plain roti. We also ordered a mixed raita.

    The aloo dish was made with baby potatoes, tilted towards the sweet side, and had a very thick gravy, but it was good nevertheless. The chicken was very well made, with an excellent gravy and though I’ve always had an egg involved wherever else I’ve had this dish, I would still recommend it highly. No complaints on the bread. The raita, though wasn’t great. It was diluted a bit too much, and hey, I just realised, you didn’t give me boondi!!!

    A few things you should check out. Bombay Post has a huge choice of kababs,  their Dal makhani is one of the best I’ve had, and i’d have liked to check out the lal/hari mirch ki roti. They also have an assortment of north indian desserts, but hey, there’s a Corner House in the same building. 😉

    The service was excellent, and all of the above cost us Rs.838, including the service charge. I suspect the Rs.70 mineral water (for 1 litre!!) made a significant contribution. 😐

    Bombay Post, Carlton Towers, Airport Road, Bangalore, Karnataka 560008, 080 41113939