Tag: Thai

  • Over The Top

    (first appeared in Bangalore Mirror)

    A list of new restaurants/lounges in Koramangala would be bottomless, and Over The Top Terrace Lounge is the latest addition. (yes, there’s valet parking) Two flights of stairs from Enigma on 100 feet Road (map) will take you to a wonderful open space, with wooden furniture and if you stretch your hand outside, you can even touch a tree. Yes, a real one, a rarity in these parts now. And in case you can’t handle such proximity to nature, there’s a closed section with some superb caricatures of rock legends as part of the topography. If that doesn’t please you either, you can get the best of both worlds in a section upstairs that has a different kind of wood – Holly and Bolly in the form of posters. It was pointed out to us that they were still hunting for Stallone from 25 years back. (in the movie that’s the restaurant’s namesake) There’s a pool table and quite a buzz in this area. The music is fantastic, mostly classic and alternate rock, and I hope they don’t fiddle much with it. They were operating on a sample menu when we visited, but now have an expanded version – quite an eclectic mix with Indian, Italian, Thai….

     I wondered if it was a hat tip to the name of the place that the menu was so ‘top heavy’- appetisers being a section that boasted of a relatively high number of choices. It is a melange of sorts, with various cuisines, and we started with the Five Spice Chilly. (chicken version) This also happened to be our favourite – just the right amount of spiciness and discernible flavours. The Surkh Laal Tikka was next, and though I liked it for its fieriness, my companions seemed to be slightly put off by the spice and the mustard tinge.

    The Baida Roti (mutton) was quite a favourite but the mint sauce could’ve been better. The Steamed Bao, a Chinese bread, that looks a bit like a pinch-zoomed momo, was an interesting dish. The base reminded us of a bun – texture and taste, but the filling seemed a bit over fried.

    The Buffalo Wings were too tangy and completely dominated the other flavours, quite disappointing, as was the bland Beer battered prawns, whose only hint of beer was in the menu literature. On the green side, it was mostly bad. Paneer was the only ‘vegetable’ in ‘Orange’ barring some peppers, and the dish was just sweet! The Pita bread in the Mezze platter was soft and fresh, but the dips – Hummus, Baba Ghanoush and Tatziki were insipid.

    The sample menu has less than ten options for the main course, but that seems to have changed now. They have pasta, Thai curries too. Since we had gone berserk with the starters, we decided to sample one dish each from the Indian and Burgers sections. Representing Burgers was the Burger Over The Top. There was much reason to hope – its description mentioned that it had lamb AND chicken. (yes, written that way) That indicated a ‘meating’ of minds. The presentation was no-frills but plenty of fries. The burger itself was probably the best dish of the night, with an excellent patty and mushrooms and cheese for company. The Indian section, which offered glorified versions of Makhani, Do Pyaza and such, was represented by the Raan Over The Top, which, according to the person who took the order, was worth the 45 minutes you’d have to wait for it. I’d say it was worth about 35 minutes, 5 minutes each cut for the rice that was too dry, and portions of the meat that were too chewy.

    But alas! One section of the menu continues to be in a deserted state. During our visit, the chef sympathised with our collective pain and was sweet enough to offer us ice cream. Serious ‘desserters’ that we were, we declined.

    The amazing Bangalore weather, coupled with an excellent playlist, ensured that we had a perfect ambiance for a meal under the stars. The service was friendly, though we had to specifically ask for the main course menu. The drinks, (currently outsourced to Enigma downstairs) is an area that requires work. For about Rs.1500, you could have a couple of cocktails, a non veg starter,  and a couple of main course dishes. (Inclusive of service charge and tax) At this point, you’d go there for the ambiance and the starters, but the setting is close to perfect and if the current menu manages to do even half a decent job,  (will check it out soon) then the proverbial sky is the limit for Over the Top.

     Over The Top, 2nd Floor, #2, 100 Feet Road, 5th Block, Koramangala Ph: 080- 25633899

  • Magnolia

    One of the biggest contributors to Koramangala’s food-and-mouth epidemic is the 80 ft Road, which has more than a dozen (underdone estimate) outlets that cater to all sorts of tastes and wallet sizes. This week, we decided to drop in at Magnolia, whose earlier version existed in a quaint house very near to its current location. When coming from Sony World junction towards Sarjapur Road, cross Wipro Park, and you’ll find Reliance Fresh on your right. Magnolia is on the top floor of the same building. Here’s a map. Parking shouldn’t be a problem at all. We reached by about 7.30 and in half an hour the place was almost full.

    Magnolia has indoor as well as terrace/semi outdoor seating options. The latter is rather dim, but with the kind of weather Bangalore’s been having, its an awesome place to be. The only snag was that the photos turned out to be quite like those ‘paranormal activity’ photos. See. (that’s the soup!!) 🙁 We could’ve maybe got it right with some tinkering, but since the focus was on eating and the required material was right in front of us, being photo-foppish wasn’t a priority. Magnolia serves Thai and Chinese cuisine, (menu 1, 2 – this is the last printed one, the prices are higher by about Rs.10-20 now)  These days, we devoutly devour the former cuisine, thanks to Aroy for the Thai-in.

    We started with the ‘Thai Chicken & Lemon Grass Coconut soup’. Even considering the Mallu bias towards anything remotely coconut, this is a great soup. Its almost the Tom Kha soup, but slightly thinner and without the Galangal. The lemon grass flavour was just right, and not overpowering, and except for the rare chilli, not very spicy either. Definitely recommended.

    Next, we resisted the dim sum call and moved on to “Leg Mai Kai”. Even Google didn’t help me figure the name out completely. The closest is Loh Mai Kai. I thought it must be the iron-rich version of our dish but it turned out to be rice based. The ‘leg mai kai’ is roasted chicken with red and green pepper and turned out to be a reasonably good choice. The red and green pepper actually complemented the tending-towards-bland chicken instead of performing their regular role as space fillers. Maybe you could try the Crispy Chicken Chilly Honey, it does sound good. 🙂

    For the main course, Chicken Pad Thai with cashew nuts and as per their suggestion, Thai Chicken and Bamboo Shoot Red curry. The Pad Thai was quite good, though the cashews were conspicuous by their absence and the tamarind flavour was really subdued. The Red curry was awesome, mostly because the coconut overruled every other flavour that might have been there, except for the spiciness. The quantity of lemon grass was slightly overwhelming though. While it goes best with rice, this is a reasonably good combination too.

    The dessert options aren’t much. The service is great, and very prompt. All of the above cost us just over Rs.700. Definitely worth a visit when you need to go beyond the regular Chinese options around Koramangala.

    Magnolia, #37, above Reliance Fresh, near Wipro Park, 80 ft Road, 3rd Block Koramangala. Ph: 41102222

    This review happens to be the 50th one in Koramangala. It is also the 100th restaurant review on the blog. There is a reason why we chose Magnolia. More than 7 years back, when a newly married couple made Koramangala their home, and relied on Mars Chicken Delight, Lazeez and some others like Szechuan Garden, which don’t exist anymore, for their gastro-adventures, they saw Magnolia, the big cars parked outside, and wondered how many of their dine outs would have to be sacrificed to afford a visit.

    They picked up enough courage one day in June, and though were quite intimidated by the place, and the chopsticks presented to them, managed to have a good meal for about Rs.350, which they still considered costly. A lot of things have changed since then – they now have a blog that has a hundred restaurant reviews, for starters. They have changed too, as has the locality they once lived in. But its heartening to note that some things haven’t – despite many halfhearted attempts, chopsticks remain a strict no-no. 😀 The post is for that couple, and for the life and times then. Thanks for reading. 🙂

    PS. A new design. Much thanks to Arun and especially Mayank for the help against cruel Microsoft 😉

  • Aroy

    No, we aren’t talking about a Bong here. I read somewhere that it means tasty/delicious, in Thai. The direction of thought is roughly right though. East. Aroy is a restaurant in JP Nagar that serves Thai cuisine, along with some Burmese too. Here’s a map to get you there. (a couple of zooms should get you there safely) Its in the same building as Crossword, on the third floor. Parking is not a problem, though you’ll need to go quite a bit – until the next junction – for a U turn when coming from Bannerghatta Road.

    We reached there by about 7.30, and already found a few tables occupied. If you’re planning to get there later, it might be a good idea to reserve. Aroy managed to charm us straight away with its wonderful rooftop ambiance. There are indoor seating options too, but with a slight breeze, lightly swaying trees and the distant lights of south Bangalore’s apartment complexes, we decided to sit outside, under a cloudy sky.

    CIMG1229Ok, before I go overboard, here’s the menu. They serve liquor and from the descriptions, some amazing cocktails and mocktails too. But we already had way too many choices in the food menu, and were wondering what we’d miss out on. So we asked for a Tom Kha soup, and a Pandan Chicken to start with. While we waited we were served a complimentary Amuse Bouche – a fried rice cake, which turned out to be as good as it looked.

    CIMG1231The Tom Kha (chicken) soup arrived soon after. An amazing coconut cream soup flavoured with galangal and loaded with chunks of chicken and mushrooms. Though the coconut cream flavour was strong, there seemed to be a few others too that demanded attention – lemon grass most prominently, with a hint of tanginess. The soup, though slightly thinner than a regular cream soup, uses the coconut cream extremely well and is probably the best soup we’ve had in a long time.

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    This was followed by the Pandan Chicken, which was quite unique in terms of presentation. Unraveling the screw pine leaf is not as tough as it looks. The grilled chicken, which probably comes off as a bit dry, is complemented well by the sweet soy sauce.

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    For the main course, we wanted to try out a stir fried dish as well as a clay pot curry, but we were told that the latter would go well with plain rice. So we ditched that thought and asked for a ‘Ong Noh Khaw swte’, from neighbouring Myanmar, something I remembered from ‘Gangtalk‘ and before that, ‘Panda House’, which used to exist in Transit, Forum long back. Its a meal in itself and consists of crisp and soft noodles, a chicken broth and a range of accompaniments. In terms of quantity, though, it actually turned out to be a meal in itself for both of us, and an absolutely delicious one.

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    The chicken broth is also coconut cream based with generous chunks of chicken. By the time we finished the bowls we were quite stuffed and wondered what we’d do with the rest of the stuff we ordered.

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    In keeping up with our tradition of Saturday night gluttony, we’d also ordered a Pahd Keemao, which is another excellent choice, especially if you’re into spicy stuff. Rice noodles, flavoured with red chillies and basil. We could manage only about two spoonfuls each and asked for the remaining portion to be packed. The noodles goes very well with the Chicken Cashew Nuts and Bell Pepper. Though its description also includes roasted chilli paste, its actually a hot and sweet dish.

    Though I did want to try the chocolate mousse, there was absolutely no way I could manage it. A worthy bait, and thus, a second visit is a given. Meanwhile, the service is worth a mention too. Extremely helpful, attentive and yet in a non intrusive fashion. Mission sanuk easily accomplished. 🙂

    All of the above cost us about Rs.1300. I’d recommend that you visit with a larger group so that you can try out many things. With awesome food, excellent service and  a wonderful ambiance, including some very good music, Aroy is a must visit, and its worth going to JP Nagar solely for this purpose.

    Aroy, 74, 15th Main, 3rd Phase JP Nagar Ph: 40939311

    Menu at Zomato

  • Rolls United

    No, its not a post on my stomach, and the consolidated er, six pack. Rolls United is a restaurant in Koramangala 1st block. You can find the map here. (its actually at the corner where the road takes a natural right, when coming from the 1st Block junction). Parking shouldn’t be too difficult since there are many side lanes nearby. Note that its on the same road as Cafe Thulp, so don’t look to the left. Distraction would be easy, as our friend Eveline would agree. 🙂

    The ambiance is pleasant and unpretentious, and somehow conveys a homely warmth. Of course, I am a bit biased because in the roll of honour (‘rolls united’ in various languages), there’s a separate panel added at the end for Malayalam. 😀 I must admit that I always thought the place was only about rolls, until I read a few Burrp reviews. It is a lot about rolls, but as the menu (below) would suggest, there are other things that play a role too. This is the home delivery menu (below – click for larger image), and in addition to this, they also have quite a collection of mocktails. (You can find that here  – page 7 onwards)

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    Though the reviews at Burrp had mentioned large portions, the soups and starters were too tempting for us to ignore either. We started with a Cream of Chicken soup, which was so good that I think it worked on the soul too, as some book titles would suggest. It was very creamy, with a sweet tinge to it (coconut cream/milk?) and loads of chicken chunks and mushrooms. I think its the best we’ve had in a long time. Up next was the ‘Quesadilla con Pollo’, which is ‘baked cheese dish with chicken and bell pepper, served with sour cream and salsa’. Another good choice, though 1 slice (out of 4) had a goeey base. The sour cream complements the taste, though I felt it could’ve been more spicy. The salsa didn’t help on that front either, but the dish is good enough to still warrant a try.

    For the main course, we ordered a Siberian Pelmeni, “Russian favourite pasta poaches with the mixture of mutton and chicken that melts in your mouth together with the spicy paprika sauce and original Russian salad” and a Surf & Turf, “stir fried fish rolled in an egg sheet”. The former seemed to be the Russian version of momos, and while it did indeed melt in the mouth, it was a bit too bland for my taste. The sauce served was definitely not paprika. The fish dish was much better, mildly spicy, and was served with french fries and vegetables. The fries weren’t that great though. I have a feeling that we chose perhaps the wrong dishes. All of the above cost us a little less than Rs.500.

    I’d still ask you to give it a shot. The soup was excellent, the starter was good too, and there are enough choices in the menu for you to experiment with. The service is very good, maybe you could ask them for a bit of help in selecting the right stuff. They also have executive lunch combos, which, on paper, looked like great value for money.

    Rolls United, #15, 1st Main Road, 1st Block, Koramangala. Ph: 41314847

    Menu at Zomato

  • Delicacy

    There’s no dearth of tiny value-for-money Chinese joints in Koramangala. But we read quite some good things about Delicacy and decided to have Chinese for Diwali, though I’m still bugged about Arunachal Pradesh. And that’s how we landed up at Delicacy. Its right opposite Kolkata, and for the lazy ones, from the Sony world on Koramangala 100 ft Road, head towards 1st Block (i.e turn left when coming from Indiranagar) At the next junction, where you have a Liberty showroom (on your left) and Tanishq /Silsila on your right, take a left, and then the first left. You’ll find Delicacy on your, yep, you guessed erm right, on your left. Chinese, remember? 😀

    As all the reviews said, this is not exactly the place you’d go for fine dining. Its a place so tiny, you wouldn’t believe it if you saw it. But having said that, its probably the best space utilisation I’ve seen, they’ve managed to fit in half a dozen tables without making it seem congested. Quite comfortable too, actually. But its the food we came for. And they welcomed us with some fried wontons, with a sweet sauce.

    The place serves a bit of Thai too, in addition to the regular Chinese. There are almost 20 soups, most of which have a veg (Rs.55)/non-veg (chicken Rs.60)/sea food option (Rs.65). In addition to the regular stuff, you can also find Pepper Lemon Soup, Laksa Kai soup, and the one we ordered – Delicacy Special Soup. We checked if it was a thick soup before ordering, and were told it was, but when it did land up, it turned out to be a thin soup. The person who’d taken our order apologised and took it inside to change it. It came back in a few minutes, ever so slightly thicker. Heh. Since it was quite tasty, we didn’t feel it was necessary to complain. 😀

    We didn’t actually plan for Momos, but having seen them on the menu, it was difficult to ignore. So we ordered a plate of pan fried chicken momos, and since there were more than a dozen options each of veg (Rs.65/70), chicken(Rs.80-110), and sea food starters (fish, prawns and crab at Rs.110), we had to try at least one, and that turned out to be Spicy Fish with Red Chilly. There was a flood of momos, actually a dozen of them, and quite tasty ones, especially with the sauce given along with them. The fish was awesome, hot and sweet kind, and I’d highly recommend it. We were almost stuffed by then, and we still had the main course left.

    We’d ordered a Sliced Chicken ‘N’ Pickle Chilly sauce (from a huge list of veg, chicken and sea food options at Rs.70, 90, 110 respectively) and a Butter Noodles. There are about 25 options among rice/noodles/chopsuey with all of them having a veg/chicken/sea food option. (Rs.60-100) The Butter noodles was excellent, but we could’ve chosen a better chicken dish.

    All of the above cost us just over Rs.400. Great food, excellent service, and absolute value for money. Even if you don’t want to do a sit-down meal, you should at least try the take away/ home delivery.

    Delicacy, #971/C, Ground Floor, ST Bed, Koramangala, 4th Block. Ph: 41753636/7/25502233

    Menu at Zomato