Tag: Parsi

  • Bricklane Grill

    Bricklane Grill has been a source of emotional attyachar from the time I went there for an office dinner in December 2012. (thanks, foursquare) Every time the restaurant pops up in a discussion, I get accusatory looks. “Tonight, we end this!”, said I, on a Saturday evening, when both D and I were sneezing in tandem. And that’s how we landed up at Bricklane Grill. (map)

    We had reserved, and though only one table was occupied when we got there, (early – 7.30) by around 8.30, the entire section was full. For some reason, they were only serving drinks and appetisers in the alfresco area. Anyway,  it was a windy evening and we were already have sneezing fits, so we sat inside. The decor is functional yet classy, and the place has a very pleasant ambiance, with sufficient space between tables, and by the end of the evening there was a fair amount of buzz. Just right. I remember sitting upstairs (technically, the 6th floor) the first time I was there. That floor had a room almost similar to the one we were in, and a small terrace, where we had sat.

    One of the service staff introduced himself and began offering recommendations from the menu. When he heard about our nasal troubles, he offered to make us a toddy based hot drink. Good touch, but though I asked for one and said we would order another if we liked it, we got two, and D didn’t even like it! 🙁 Should’ve sent one back! We also ordered a Cream of Mushroom  soup and a Bheja na Cutlets to begin with. A complimentary plate of bruschetta arrived on the table. Not spectacular, but not bad either.  The soup was not bad, though uni-dimensional in terms of flavour. The cutlets were really good – mutton brain with a crumbed and deep fried egg batter coating. As for the drink, it couldn’t hold a candle to the LTO. (at Like That Only)

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    We waited to see what appetite we had left before ordering the main course – Patra ni Machi and a Bricklane Mixed Grill. The mixed grill had beef of two kinds, chicken, and pork. The Merlot beef was my favourite, followed by the Jack Daniels pork. The garlic chicken was not bad though the Peppercorn beef was a bit of a disappointment. But in general, well cooked and succulent meat. The fish dish, came wrapped in banana leaf, as it’s supposed to be, with a mint and cilantro chutney. D found it too bland, though the dressing on the plate could actually change that! The best part was that we still had space for dessert – so we could have that South Indian Coffee Brule (sic) that we had been eyeing. That turned out to be excellent, with the filter coffee flavour coming through beautifully. It was served with an almond biscotti, whose texture added much to the dish.

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    The service was quite good, except for the drink fiasco. The bill came to just over Rs.3050, including charges and taxes, Rs.1000 of which was thanks to the two drinks! But we enjoyed the meal and the ambiance, so wouldn’t really complain much.

    Bricklane Grill, 5th Floor, Escape Hotel & Spa, 770, 100 Feet Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar Ph: 080 42415505

  • Turquoise – The Indian

    It does sound a little like a movie dubbed into Bollywood, but hey, it’s a restaurant and the name matters only so much. The review first appeared in Bangalore Mirror, and I’ve had enough of ‘blue’ wordplay. 😀

    This is located above Mom&Me on the road leading from Intermediate Ring Road to JNC (map) and is one of the twin Turquoise restaurants. The European is on the floor below, and you can find my micro review on 4sq. 🙂 Valet parking is available.

    The turquoise theme is prominent in the decor and the chandeliers creating the shape of a musical note makes for an elegant picture. For seating, you could lounge on the comfortable sofas or choose the more functional, yet tastefully done regular furniture. The gigantic dragonfly near the bar is an attention grabber. Bollywood remixes playing in the background and a TV screen offer ‘entertainment’.

    The menu begins with a few standard shorba options, and then offers a decent range of kababs. Thereafter, in addition to some standard and some not-so-standard main course Indian fare, there is also a page devoted to Parsi favourites. For once, there seems to be a balance between vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. The rotis section manages to offer a few unique options, but the desserts section is limited and sticks to the regular favourites. The Indian is a resto-lounge, and seems to have a well stocked bar and a collection of mocktails. The Turquoise Smoothie we tried turned out just fine.

    The Galawati Kabab, a patty of tava fried lamb mince marinated in spices and served on a mini paratha, didn’t quite get to the ‘melt in your mouth’ level but managed to live up to its billing of a signature dish. But the Baida Roti with kheema and eggs stuffed in a pancake and tava fried proved to be the unanimous favourite.You really must try this. The Aatish e Aloo – stuffed potatoes – managed to start a spicy Bollywood conversation, but the dish itself was quite bland. The Mahi Afghani Tikka, Calcutta Betki chunks with coriander, yoghurt and cream, too went into the same category.

    In the main course, the Zardari Kofta in a nut-based gravy was the pick, followed by the Murgh Makhani. The Hyderabadi Lagan ka Murgh with the cashew nut gravy had sounded right, but fell short of expectations. The efforts of the Dum Pukht Aloo’s gravy, to salvage the dish’s reputation proved futile.The Naan Baluchistan with a minced meat stuffing, and the Khameeri Roti were both excellent, the Gosht ki Dum Biriyani was reasonably good, and the flavourful Jeera Rice was appreciated too. The Qubani ka Meetha didn’t do much to sweeten the dessert deal though. The biggest disappointment was when we were told that most Parsi dishes required advance notice. Even in the other sections, we missed out the ones we really wanted to try – the Naan Changeezi, the Turkish Baklava, to name a few.

    The service was courteous to begin with, but began to display an overboard version of ‘maa ka pyar’ while the food was being served. They insisted on disproportionately filling up our plates. The billing took us almost half an hour. On the cost front, a non-veg starter, a main course with a veg and non-veg dish along with a few rotis, and a dessert would set you back by `1,200. Considering the options available in the vicinity, this is on the higher side.

    Turquoise’s Indian version has its share of tasty fare, but given its location –  where a stone thrown would most likely land on a restaurant – they need to better their act. The non availability of dishes and a torturous wait for the bill left us blue, like that Akshay Kumar movie.

    Turquoise, 2nd & 3rd Floor, (Above Mom & Me), Shop #9, 5th Block Koramangala, Bangalore 560095, Ph: 65776588

  • Daddy’s Deli

    This rendezvous with Parsi food has been long pending. Daddy’s Deli is a restaurant in Indiranagar that serves Parsi cuisine, and is open only 3 days a week-  lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday and only lunch on Sunday. Its on 12 th Main Indiranagar, when coming from the Koramangala side, take a left at the 12th Main – 100ft Road junction and go straight till you see the Executive Inn on the left. Its in the same building on the first floor.

    We reserved in advance and though a couple of tables were occupied by 8pm, we could still find a good place. The ambience is excellent, with comfortable seating and cosy corners. Book shelves lined with old Readers Digest issues, and the ancient green soda bottle lend a nice touch.

    Since the place serves (almost) exclusively Parsi food, the menu is quite small, but there are still enough choices for all sorts of -vores. Munching on the complimentary sarias (Parsi rice chips), we decided to start with a plate of brain cutlets, and also wanted a Chicken Liver on Toast, but the latter wasn’t available. So we had to live with that lack of cholesterol, but the crispy on the outside, smooth inside brain cutlet made up for the disappointment. There’s no need to brainstorm on this one, have it!! There are also other starter options like cocktail kababs and Farcha (fried chicken) for the non vegetarians and at least half a dozen veg options.

    For the main course, you could either have dishes like Sali Murghi/Boti/Kheema accompanied with rotli (4 for Rs.30) or go for rice dishes. Thanks to our greed, we ended up ordering a Patra ni Machhi, “fish coated with green chutney and steamed in a banana leaf” and Sali Murghi, “chicken in brown gravy topped with potato crisps” from this set, but decided to skip the rotlis. Instead we ordered a Dhansak, “the all time favourite. A parsi speciality – masala dal with mutton, served with brown rice”. The descriptions were quite disappointing, they really don’t do justice to the food. 😀

    The fish was soft, almost boneless and served with a mint-coconut based chutney. D had to be stopped from finishing the banana leaf too for the chutney particles that stuck on. I loved the chicken dish, and thankfully, it went quite well with the dhan. The mutton-dal combination of the saak was new to us and so we took some time warming up to each other, but we parted as friends. Now before the vegetarians close the page, there were at least 4 options I counted in the rice dishes.

    And thus we come to what we call the main course, and the more ignorant ones call desserts. After much deliberation, we chose a lagan nu custard, ” a Parsi favourite, steamed and baked brown”. Soft, and topped with crisp nuts, this just melted in the mouth and was over very very soon. And then we realised what marital understanding was all about. With no words spoken, except of course, for placing the order,  a Chocolate mousse made its way to the table. Daddy’s Deli – Double Dessert – Parsi for the course!! 🙂

    All of the above cost us Rs.950. Drop in for a homely ambience, very helpful service, and some great food, don’t be parsimonious for once. 😀

    Daddy’s Deli, The Executive Inn, #3289, 12th Main, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar. Ph: 41154372-75