Hard Rock Cafe, St. Mary's Road

HRC Bangalore (or HRC Bengalooru as it is now called), is located off MG Road, off Church St., in a heritage building.

Food (&Drinks) - the Caiproska - a vodka based drink with lime, sugar and mint was quite good - a favorite of mine.  The Mojito (similar to caiproska but has white rum instead of vodka) was also quite good.  The chicken kebab did not seem to be a kebab - not a tandoori kebab..but was quite tasty and the mint chutney accompanying it was good.  The potato skins with beacon was also good, potato skins, with a bit of the body scooped out and stuffed with beacon and cheese and baked..however one potato was a bit under done and a tad raw.

Service - Its a pain getting a table around the bar section..however managed to get it...service is a bit laid back...there are a number of waiters..who display a lot of energy...but are mostly not around tables...however, they serve with a smile.

Ambiance - Has three sections, the bar, the restaurant and the outdoor - for smokers....the former two are typical HRC with a lot of music memorabilia displayed.  The music system seems to have been replaced - certainly sounded a lot better than last time.  They do have free valet parking.

Cost - A pint of KF draft was around ₹190/-, the cocktails come at around ₹360/-.  The kebab had six pieces and was around ₹350/- and the 4 pieces in the potato dish around ₹250/-.  A bit on the higher side..but in line with similar restaurants / pubs.  10% service charges are extra!

Summary - Food - Average, Drinks - Good, Ambiance - Good, Service - Can improve, Cost - Appropriate.

Reco - I'll go there again!

Terminology - ₹ - Symbol for Indian Rupee

Hard Rock Café, St Marks Road

I had been there for the event they had organized on a Thursday evening – the Rolling Stones Tribute to the Dire Straits. The show was to start @ 9pm. The area around the bar was set aside for this and the stage was above the bar. Quite a portion of the hall was cordoned off for what ever reason – at least 30-40 folks could have occupied this area – this certainly could have been better arranged. The sound system @ the portion (of HRC) that hosted the event was not bad.
There was a cover of INR 250/- per head which could be exchanged inside for food and beverages.
Going for
+ Electric Iced Tea – a lime and white spirits based cocktail with blue Curacao.
+ Caipirojka – a vodka, lime, mint leaves and sugar based cocktail – refreshing
+ Food – The spicy calamari – light batter fried and the cobb salad (with egg whites, cheese, corn, chicken, beacon and vegetables) were both good.
Not Going For
- The speakers at the food section were not switched on until the concert was well on its way.
- The arrangements around the stage for those viewing the show could have been arranged a lot better.
3 Caipirojkas, half a plate of salad, 1 electric iced tea, 1 30 ml portion of teachers highland cream and 1 calamari cost around INR 2400/-. The caipirojka cost INR 285/-, certainly worth it.
Reco – Try the caipirojka. During events, the arrangements ought to be better.

Chili's, HAL Airport Road

More of a lounge bar serving Tex Mex cuisine. Located near Total mall in a very congested portion of HAL Airport road.

Going for

+ Ambience - has a couple of large LCDs if you land there on match days. Music being played is not too loud and retro and current pop + rock. Not too brightly lit and can seat around 100 pax, maybe a bit more.
+ Presidente’ Margarita - it is their signature drink
+ Mushroom Fajitas - tastes better when ordered with extra mushrooms
+ Other Margaritas - El Nino Margarita and the Classic Margarita (Have purposely left out the composition of the drinks. Just try them out, all margaritas are tequila based as they should be.)
+ Buy one get one free on drinks till 8pm on all days
+ Other food items such as chips with spinach mushroom dip, veg quesadilla and veg pasta
+ Valet Parking
Going against

- Service - pretty slow, on match days concentrate on the TV rather than on guests, take orders wrongly and bill wrongly too (all in the same day!)
- Service Charges @ 12% on your bill!
- The crowd or rather the lack of it.

2 Presidente', 2 Kingfisher Pint, 1 classic martini, 1 el nino margarita, 1 classic margarita, 1 30ml Bacardi, 2 30ml shots of silver tequila (all the above were during happy hours = +1), 2 Budweiser pints + 2 pints of draught beer came close to INR7000/-

Reco - go with a large group and enjoy the drinks during happy hours. Don’t mind the poor service.

Chili's, HAL Airport Road, Bangalore

This is a franchise of a US based chain that serves TexMex cuisine. The place seats around 200 pax, is air-conditioned and has Indianised Tex Mex food also in the menu.

Happy hours are upto 8 pm and it is buy 1 get 1 free during happy hours. The Chicken Nachos were quite tasty - Nachos topped with chicken and melted cheddar. The fried mushrooms were whole button mushrooms, batter fried - not bad but not worth it @ INR 195/-. The presidente' margarita and the classic margarita were good cocktails @ INR 600/- a piece, worth it during happy hours where you can get 2 for the price of 1.

The plate of nachos that we ordered came with a salsa dip. The nachos were pretty bland and lacked salt. Hence we requested for some pickled jalapenos. The waiter initially told us that jalapenos are not spicy (for what ever reason) and then told us that he would get us a 'rammigan' of jalapenos. I got the jalapenos in a small cup and it cost us INR 20/-. I am still to figure as to which language 'rammigan' is from. The cheesecake was a genuine cheesecake and was quite tasty. It was unlike most of the cheesecakes you get in India which are nothing more than biscuit topped with some mousse.

But for the above, the service was quite good. The lighting was pretty bright and the music was more of pop. There are a couple of large LCD TVs beaming sports channels.

The aforementioned items + 3x30 ml servings of Gordon's Dry Gin (+3 during happy hours) + a tonic water cost us INR 3500/- including a 12% service charge of INR 360/-.

Reco - worth it during happy hours - a competitor to TGIF / HRC.

TGIF, HAL Airport Road, Bangalore

Thank God it is any day before 8pm. Yes it is happy hours time till 8pm and you get one drink on the house for every one that you order. And this is the best time to visit the place.

Seating in the air-conditioned area can seat around 150 + pax and outside it can seat around 50 more. The interiors are in line with their decor anywhere else in the world. There are a few large plasma screens beaming either sports channels or MTV. The music is a bit loud and plays retro pop and rock. Since the music's loud, the people speak louder to be heard - all in all - a pretty noisy place.

The snacks are again from their international menu and are generally pretty rich and not for one who's watching the waist line. There are only a few vegetarian items on the menu. Portions are quite large but for the starters (again nothing to complain about). The pita bread we ordered came with a humus dip and a salsa dip - both went well with the bread. The mushroom pizza too was quite good - thin crust and had quite a bit of mushroom topping. I had to stick to a veg menu as my companion was a vegetarian.

These items + a couple of bottles of beer + 2 large RC whiskey + a couple of pints + 1 large Bacardi cost us around INR 2200/- - certainly worth it. The service is quite good - can say it's a bit better than HRC Bangalore.

Reco - Good place for a drink - whether it is Friday or not!

Xtreme Sports Bar, 100 Ft Rd, Indira Nagar, Bangalore

The bar is situated just off 12th Main on 100Ft.Road.  It is on the 4th Floor and the entrance is via the back of the building and one has to negotiate their way around the various crates of liquor that is stacked for the bar.  There are no sign boards directing you to this entrance and you will have to ask your way to the entrance.

The bar counter is in the center of the room.  There are a number of bean bags strewn around to make yourself comfortable.  It is air-conditioned and there are a couple of closed rooms wherein a group of 10-15 can have fun in private.  It is dimly lit and one may have a problem in verifying the bill.  There are a number of LCD TVs all around the place and a projector screen showing sports channels.

The acoustics suck.  Fridays are karaoke nights - a nice thing to have and there are a number of crooners who try and belt out love songs.  In the absence of the crooners, a DJ plays music (mostly retro pop and rock and some contemporary popular numbers) and unmindful of the smoking ban in restaurants and bars smokes continuously.  The management also turns a blind eye to this.

The snacks that go with the drinks cost between INR 130 and INR 250.  You can not get the usual 'masala peanuts' or chips.  We ordered what was supposed to be nachos (served with melted cheese and vegetables) - these certainly were not corn chips! & cost INR 200/-.  the menu also included biryanis (including a jack fruit biryani) a number of Indian and continental main courses and a number of kebabs - both veg and non veg.

We went for a 3.5 lit draught beer that comes in a dispenser - more because it was quite unique.  This 3.5 lit of draught costs INR 850/-.  1 litre of draught is available for INR 250/-.

It takes some time before you are able to catch the eye of the waiters who are busy chatting among themselves.  After multiple attempts we had to complain to the manager who then dispersed the waiters to all corners of the bar and the service improved since.

I'll go there again to taste the jack fruit biryani. 

Reco - there is nothing special about this place - you can probably go as a large group - watch IPL matches - guzzle on the 3.5lit draught beer for the experience - try to overlook the bad service and the smoking DJ.

Bike&Barrel, Residency Towers, Chennai

B&B is the pub @ Residency Towers.  I used to frequent this place as it played out some of the best music (rock and retro pop) on week days in Chennai.  I had been to this place recently (end-Feb 09).

They have re-hashed the menu a bit.  You are served some boiled channa dal, peanuts, salads and potato wafers on the house.  There are a couple of LCD TVs displaying one sports channel or the other.  The service is not top notch, but certainly is not bad.  The cocktails served are plenty and quite good too. 

There are two levels, the first level where you need to be accompanied by a lady and the upper level - purely for the stags.

However, the music was so bad that I almost became depressed.  Till around 9pm on a Friday there was no crowd at all and there was no DJ either, just some old record that was being played in the background.  Just a few foriegners (on account of some tie up with British Council - hearsay) scattered around.  B&B used to be choc-a-bloc full of people even on weekdays, at times one would find it difficult to find a place even on the upper level.  B&B, I guess, has lost its charm.

A 60 ml whiskey would cost around INR 170/- and a beer around INR 150/-.  

Reco - better stay away if you want good music to go with your drink.

Zara Tapas Bar, Chennai Airport

I had landed in the Chennai Airport and had to wait there as I had gone to Chennai to see off a relative of mine who was flying to Australia.

What better way to spend time than have a few rounds in a bar.

The bar is not stacked with the best foreign liquor.  The interiors are dark and the service was not the best I have seen.  However, I must admit that the service was way better than what one would get in the lounges in Chennai Airport.

The bar, as the name suggests, serves Tapas - Spanish snacks.  The main courses vary between Indian and Spanish and I did not have the time for these.

I had a few rounds of RC Whiskey and a few snacks to go with it.

You are welcomed with some warm bread topped with a variation of Salsa sauce - not bad as it was complementary.  (Unlike most bars in India, the complementary snacks stop with this)

The 'Gambas Al Ajilo' - stir fried prawns (deviened with tail intact) was tasty.  The prawns were nice and juicy and had a lot of garlic flavour.  Was indeed a good cocktail snack.

'Spicy Squid' was rings of squid cooked in a very thick gravy of tomato, garlic and chilli - also made for a good cocktail snack.

Finally, the 'Berenjinas Gartinadas' - Chopped brinjal baked with cheese was a disappointment.  Although they tried to throw in 'one' leaf of basil, and baked it with a tomato gravy and cheese, it was flavourless.  Probably if it had been layered with more basil, it might have tasted better.

These food items cost a bit more than INR 500/-

The cost of 1 large RC was (I think) INR 160/-

Certainly a place to visit @ the airport when you have nothing else to do.

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!!

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.

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.