Vacation

I would be on vacation between 24th Dec and 5th Jan....so till then...Seasons Greetings!!

10 Downing Street, T Nagar, Chennai

This is supposed to be 'the' watering hole in Chennai. The music was supposed to be great and the experience was supposed to be something that could be remembered.

However, this is one of the most over hyped places to which I have been. To start with there is a fee of INR 700 of which INR 500 is cover charges and the balance entry fee.

Music on a Saturday night was primarily, relatively old, hip hop numbers and was quite bland.

The food - nothing much to say about the limited menu. I had to place the order with more than one waiter - as the initial waiter was pretty 'duh'! On the same note, the service was quite pathetic - a waiter spilt some drinks on a lady guest seated at a table beside mine. He was initially apolegetic as he should be, but when a couple of drunk male members at her table started to make fun of her, the waiter too joined the party and started laughing. Phew! I've never seen this before.

Continuing with the food - garlic chicken was nothing but the ready to fry chicken available off the shelf, fried and doused in garlic sauce. Boiled vegetables and boiled peanuts - as the name suggests are just that - so much so that not even salt is added to it.

Vegetarian items are priced (on an average) at around INR 150 and non vegetarian items at around 200. 

A large of whiskey comes at INR 190 - and you do not get smalls (you can buy a bottle if you so desire)

If you want to catch a quick bite before you leave, you are left to choose between sandwiches and rolls.

AVOID!!

French Loaf - TTK Road - Chennai

This is a place where you get some baked desserts, (cakes, pies, soufles) and breads. French Loaf offers only takeaways and there is no place to sit and enjoy your dessert there leisurely if you so desire.

For an upmarket bakery, I should say I was not too pleased with the quality of the food. A couple of pastries that I took home were stale, probably why they do not have a place to eat at the outlet!

Avoid

The Lounge Bar at Muthoot Plaza, Trivandrum

Muthoot Plaza is one of the most upmarket hotels in Trivandrum. 

The setting is very pleasant and the sound of the waterfall in the middle adds to the pleasantness of the lounge.

The food menu is very limited but the food is tasty. There is also a wide screen TV showing either sports or news.

The drinks mentioned in the menu, especially the scotch, are not always available. The cocktails are good at times and not so good at other times - it is just not consistent. 

And to top it all the service is certainly not what is expected of a Sarovar group hotel.

For want of a better setting to relax and enjoy a couple of drinks, one can venture into this place. One has to put up with the poor service and the limited drinks menu.

Apoorva Sangeetha, RA Puram, Chennai

The food here sucks!!

I thought being part of a reasonably large chain of restaurants, the food here would be palatable.  I had gone to order some food for taking away.  As they are a veg restaurant specializing in South Indian tiffin items, I ordered a few varieties of dosais and vadais.  Although the dosai and vadai were freshly made, the accompanying chutneys (sauces) were spoilt - both the coconut chutney and the onion based one were spoilt.

Unfortunately, being a takeaway, I realized it only @ home.  I pity the customers who are served the same stuff in the restaurant.

AVOID THIS PLACE

Cafe Mozaic, Taj Residency, Bangalore

Cafe Mozaic(CM) is the coffee shop of Taj Residency.  It has got an indoor air conditioned area and a few tables beside the swimming pool.  The climate being pleasant in the evenings in BLR, I ventured to take a table by the swimming pool.

I had had a couple of rounds of Balvenie @ home before setting off to the restaurant and had to continue with some single malt only.  I had 10 yr Laphroaig (small - 30 ml comes to INR 375), but it complimented to cool climate.

The Pan seared shrimp mesclun salad was good.  The shrimp was done just right, warm on account of the pan fry, but juicy and complemented by the mesclun salad.  However, the mesclun had mostly lettuce and not many other leaves as was to be expected in a mesclun salad.

The Lamb Gutti Kolambu, a south Indian mutton gravy was served with plain rice and was excellent.  The mutton was cooked to perfection and only the best pieces of boness mutton served.

The payasam of the day (sweetened milk dish) was a vermicilli payasam and this too was excellent.  It was not too sweet, with hints of cardamom and saffron and garnished with nuts.  

The starters + main course + dessert that I had came to around INR 1500/-

The service was good and the seating beside the pool quite serene.  The restaurant was quite well occupied for a Saturday evening.

If you want to indulge in good food....GO!

I bow my head for my nations shame...

One shooter who shot for India and got us gold (made us proud and happy) gets INR 3,00,00,000/- from the government  (it may be noted that this guy is very rich and his father is  a very big defaulter)

So many other shooters who shot for the same India, but in a much more important context (made us proud and sad) get a paltry INR 5,00,000/- from the same government.

Where are we headed?  People stand up!  Spread this message around!  Let it reach those who can do more!!!!!!!!!

condolences

My heartfelt condolences to the people who fought against terror and laid their lives for the sake of others.....and to the others who lost their lives to terror.

What is apparent is total lack of political will and blame game by the politicians....when will this ever stop??????

Hard Rock Cafe, Bangalore

For one, I feel the smoking ban has reduced the number of patrons frequenting HRC.  Although it was a Wednesday evening, I've been there on weekdays too and the place used to be pretty well occupied, although one might not have require to wait for a table.

I feel the acoustics have been worked upon and have improved.  I was quite taken aback during my first few visits to HRC - the acousitcs were so bad that you almost did not hear the music.

I tasted a Belgian beer - Chimay Blue Label - priced @ INR350 for a pint - which was refreshingly different and unlike any other beer I'd had...probably close to a Guiness stout but without the same texture and less caramelly.

The Indian food offering of Chicken curry with rice was horrendous.  It was pieces of boiled chicken cut and mixed with a spicy tomato / garlic based gravy.  Unlike a typical dish where the chicken is cooked in the gravy itself.  The less said about this dish the better.

The Haystack Chicken salad on the other hand was tasty and light and went well with the drinks.  Lots of chicken, some tortilla strips and lotsa veggies.

I will certainly be visiting this place again but...stick to non-Indian main courses if you plan to eat.  

SaravanaBhavan, Pondy Bazaar, Chennai

Saravana Bhavan (SB) is a very popular chain of restaurants in TN...is quite world famous, really.  One of the best chains serving delctable South Indian veg cuisine.

Over the years they have branched into other popular Indian cuisines such as Indian Chinese, north Indian meals and tiffin items, sweets and savouries and so on (all veg).  However, in my opinion, if you step into a Saravana Bhavan, where ever it is, you have to eat either a plate of idly,  vadai, pongal or dosai (plenty of varieties of dosai).

I had a plate of idly vadai {idly was steaming hot and is always served with 3 chutneys - coconut, coriander and onion&tomato - (sauces), some chilli powder mixed with sesame oil and a cup of hot onion sambar (shallots and pulses); the vadai was nice and crisp and goes very well with the sambar}, followed by some aapam with coconut milk (aapam is a pancake made with fermented batter - allowed to steam on a pan, made without oil and can be eaten like dosai with similar accompaniments - but I feel the slightly sweetened coconut milk goes best with the slightly sour aapam).  This was followed by a plain dosai (thin rice pancakes - served again with 2 chutneys and sambar).  All this was washed down with some unsweetened fresh orange juice.

There is this clever pricing for juices - if you order a juice without ice, it is costlier than the one served with ice - this is because the volume of ice is replaced with more fresh juice.  There are a number of unique things about SB - but I shall leave that for a later blog.

While the food was excellent and the place neat and clean as was expected, the service (especially the people taking orders) was a bit lax (as is again to be expected in any SB).

This outlet (airconditioned) is one of the more expensive outlets of SB - with breakfast for 3 people coming to INR400/-.

If you like food eat South Indian food at an SB outlet in Tamil Nadu (i understand from some friends that the taste of food @ some of their international outlets is not as good as it is in Chennai).

kobe sizzlers, garuda mall, bangalore

This joint was meant to be 'the place' for sizzlers in bangalore and there was quite a crowd on the Saturday I went there for lunch.

I asked for a beef sizzler with bbq sauce made medium rear. I got one which was quite well done. Although it tasted fine, it was quite a let down as they ought to learn what is rear and what is medium rear and what is well done.  The accompanying vegetables contained mainly cabbage, a few peas and some soggy fries.  I noticed that when they have a sizzler with cheese ia slice of processed cheese that is dropped on the sizzler.

The service was not quite upto the mark and so too was the air conditioning.  I was sweating like a pig due to the heat from all the sizzling food around.

A sizzler would cost around INR250/- and they do not serve alcohol.

I would not go there again in a hurry!!

Lazeez, Koramangala, Bangalore

One is greeted by a foul smell (of drainage) even as you enter this restaurant situated @ the basement level of the building.  There is no A/C section and there are around 10 tables give or take a few.  There is nothing to mention about the interrriors or the service.

The tandoori rotis seem to be made of maida and not atta and were 'nanish'. The gravy of the mutton curry seemed very good, the pieces were quite 'bony' and small - so the experience of chewing the juicy mutton piece is lost. The butter chicken lacked butter and the gravy was not great either. Prices are reasonable @ INR 250 for a meal for 2.

I certainly would not step in there again.

Aromas of China, Richmond Circle, Bangalore

Well, I went here again as it is a convenient walk from my house.

Mushoroom Pepper Salt for starters was nice, but I would suggest, instead of cutting the mushrooms, one could just stir fry them whole and then serve it.  This way while the outside gets a bit crispy, the inside juiciness of the mushroom is intact.

Chicken Hakka noodles was good and so was the Ginger and Capsicum Fried rice.  However, there was very less of capsicum in the rice (INFLATION???).

Sapo Chicken was very aromatic and tasty.  However, I wonder if it were really cooked in the clay pot?  Or do they cook it as usual in a metal vessel and transfer it to the sapo before serving?  I would tend to believe the latter is true.

All in all it was a good eating experience.  Unless you are really hungry, just order one starter, one main course and one side dish, probably share one dessert as the main course and starters portions are plentiful. 

Meal for 2 comes to around INR 1200.

Certainly one of the better Chinese restaurants in Bangalore.

Adyar Ananda Bhavan, Koramangala, Bangalore

Adyar Ananda Bhavan (A2B) as they would like to call it has a small restaurant (non A/c) above their sweet shop that serves South Indian vegetarian fare - South Indian Tiffin items

It is one of the few places in Bangalore where one can get ven-pongal. The food is quite tasty but there are very few waiters scampering around to serve the customers and hence the service is not fast.

The interiors are also not very clean, are vary basic and quite cramped. While most of the food is tasty (dosa varieties and pongal, the vadai (medhu vadai) may not be served hot as it is kept in a hot pack and is not fresh...for that matter so is the case with idly and pongal but since these items move faster the hot case is replinished with 'hot stuff' ).

Although they have a hoarding outside saying that they serve hot poli, we were told that it would be available only after 6pm. 

Food for 2 would come to around INR 100-150.

Definitely worth a try!!

Hotel Aryas, Vellore

This 'pure veg' restaurant is located on the service lane of NH 45 in the junction leading to Katpadi.  One is welcomed by a number of people, seemingly part of the management's family, and are directed to your table.

Service is a bit slow in terms of cleaning tables that have been vacated.  As in any such highway restaurant, one can find a few waiters who cough or sneeze as they go around with the dishes.  (Thank God for small mercies - the one attending to me did not cough / sneeze).  

Both a/c and non a/c sections are available.  And both meals and Indian (predominanatly South Indian) tiffin items and juices are available.

I had a veg meals for lunch on my way to Chennai from Bangalore.  It was simple and good.Not very spicy with an assortment of dishes.  There was sambar, rasam, mor kozumbu and a lentils gravy to mix the rice with.  There was kootu, a dry vegetable preperation, papad (appalam), lime pickle and a semi gravy onion preperation as side dishes.  

A veg meals in the non A/c section comes to INR 34, including a cup of curds made available on payment of INR 5 extra.

Not bad to catch a quick bite - may even improve your immunity!!

Castle @ Sandesh The Prince, Mysore

Whew!  What a funny name for a hotel.  We'd been here on our way back from Madikeri.  

The soups - Sweet corn veg and Talumein veg soup were as good as you get them in any decent Indian restaurant.

The biriyani - both Mutton and Chicken were not very flavourful.  The meat was not bad but one did not have the satisfaction of eating a good biriyani.

Sweet lassi was a bit sour.

The best item I had was the South Indian Rasam - was very aromatic and tasted just right.  As an afterthought..we should have just had the Rasam instead of the soup.

Sukhi Sabzi..ordered by some of my vegetarian friends to accompany the rasam rice was a mixed vegetable in garam masala - nothing special.

Meal for 6 adults comes to around 2000/-

About the ambience - very loud and hits one in the face type of interriors - as could be expected in "the prince".

They do serve liquour to wash down the food.  The cost of beer is as in any restaurant in Bangalore @ INR 100 for a pint and INR 150 for a full bottle.

Stick to Rasam, rice, some dry veg dish and beer!!

toscano, ub city, bangalore

As the name suggests is an Italian restaurant. I had a soup - mushroom, some pan fried norwegian salmon and a pasta. It was quite good and a meal for 2 without drinks comes to around INR 1500/-

The soup was superb and the other two dishes were nice. I should say, I have had better salmon in bangalore, probably it was a bit over fried killing the original taste of the salmon.
I should mention that they also serve bread (foccacia) with some dips on the house and this was truly lip smacking. 

When I went in August, they had not started servin liqour...hope they have started a the bar seems all set.
I would rate this restaurant above fiorano (way above) but below graze. 

just go and try it

Buraq - Sasthamangalam - Trivandrum

Buraq serves Mappilla cuisine. Mappilla cuisine is typically cuisine influenced by the Muslims of Kerala (North Kerala).

The decor is very basic and has a number of 4 seater tables. It has both A/c and non A/c Sections. The service is pretty poor as is to expected in a small 50 seater restaurant like this.

However, the food is quite tasty. I would say, the signature dish is the pathiri (rice pancake) with any beef gravy.

Meal for two would come to around INR 175 in the non A/C section and around 50% more in the A/c section.

Definitely worth a try!

National Lodge - Sowcarpet - Chennai

Walking through the busy streets of Sowcarpet, Parrys, you reach a nondescript three storey building with an equally nondescript name board.

On entering, you are surrounded by people waiting in queue for a table to be seated. There is both A/C and Non A/c seating available.

Signature food is the meals they serve for lunch. It is a typical vegetarian, Andhra meals.

For less than INR 50/- the meals is really worth it. Starts off with lentil powder (parupu podi) and sour greens pickle (gongura) with rice and ghee. There are three other gravies to mix with rice, including rasam, sambar and mor kolumbu (majjiga pulusu). Thre are papads (appalam), dried chilli(mor molaga vathal) and a couple of dry veg side dishes. To complete the fare there is curd, butter milk and a sweet.

Reco - Must Visit (especially if you like South Indian Veg fare, even otherwise try it out, you'll like it!)

Aromas of China, Eva Mall, Bangalore

The ambience is pleasant with a classy setting. There is a rooftop outdoor and an indoor air conditioned area.

The alcohol is a tad expensive as in any 5 star restaurant - with a pint @ 130 and a small whisky @ around 150.

Food is great - I had a roast mutton in pepper sauce with pot boiled veg rice and a lemongrass spicy soup - all were very tasty - especially the mutton dish which had thin slices of roasted mutton in black pepper sauce. Hot date pancake with vanilla icecream was also very tasty - only problem was that the pancake was a very small portion.

Service was great!

Meal for 2 with a drink to accompany the food would come to around INR 1600

One of the better Chinese restaurants in Bangalore

Hot Wok - IndiraNagar - Bangalore

This place serves Chinese cuisine. The menu was impressive and the waiters polite and the ambience was also quite pleasant.

I ordered some dumplings (dim sum), a fried rice and a side dish. 

The dimsums, being starters, were served in a bamboo basket.  Lo and behold, was I surprised to see small cockroaches crawling out of the basket. 

It was a Friday night and I was in no mood to spoil the evening. I just cancelled the order and left after showing the "little visitors" to the waiter and leaving the food entirely to them.

If I want to eat roaches, I'll order them myself!!!  

6 Ballygunge Place, Indiranagar, Bangalore

To start with, although we were told the place opens at 12.30pm, when we went there the waiters were being breifed by their captian and we were let in only after 12.50pm.

The batter fried pomfret that we had for starter had a rather thick batter..so much so that it had to be leterally broken before one could reach the fish.  The fish was tasty but the dish was a inconvenient due to the batter... probably, dipped in some cold batter that was kept in the fridge for ease of cooking.

The rohu in mustard gravy was also a let down..it seemed to be a fried piece of rohu put in some mustard gravy, made in bulk, just before serving, rather than being cooked in it.

The mutton dish had pieces that were very hard although it was tasty. Probably the mutton had not thawed enough!  Rubbery mutton in however tasty a gravy is unacceptable.

And to top it all, the manager or owner has his smokes in an airconditioned restaurant and reviews comments of guests..the smell of cigarettes not quite stirring the apetite.  Thank God for small mercies, now with a ban on smoking in restaurants, the guests who dare to eat in 6bally..would at least be spared the 'aroma' of cigarettes.

Avoidable!

Sterling Holiday Resorts, Munnar

This place really sucks...

I had been there between 3rd and 5th October, 2008.

The Room

The cot is a plain wooden cot with an ordinary 2 inch mattress.

There are no fans in the rooms...Thankfully the weather was great and did not require fans..but God help those who land up here during their summer vacations.

The Food

The food is horrible...there is a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner...although my package included food vouchers that would cover most of my requirements for the day, I ended up going to Club Mahindra next door for some of my meals.  

The Service

Room Service...well they take their own sweet time to serve you.  Any number of reminders does not help.  Finally, when the food does manage to reach your room, what needs to be served hot is cold and vice versa.

If you call for a manager to sort out things in the evening (around 7.30pm), you are told that he would be available only the next day.  Neither does any one else bothers to attend to the problem, nor is the manager informed that some of the guests had a problem the previous night.

The pluses

1. The service @ the reception was good.

2. The view from the room was great, overlooking a valley and a water body.

3. We were not there in the room for most of the day and only landed back in the evenings when we wanted to rest.

4. It was a 2 nights, 3 days trip and nothing more!!!

Sunnys - Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore

Fantastic continental cuisine - entre', main course and desserts are all nice. The Norwegian Salmon dish was done to perfection.  The Baklava was like having it in a middle eastern restaurant.  It is one of the best European restaurants I have been to in India.  Drinks come expensive and a meal for 4 with a couple of drinks comes to around 6k.