Eatery@Star Bazaar, Koramangala

The eatery is tucked in a small area under the escalators and serves a number of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, a salad bar and a host of bakes.

There is no place to sit and portions are weighed.  A little more than a dozen pax can stand and eat around this place.  The place is pretty warm as the open / live kitchen is also present there - not an inconvenience if you are doing a take-away.

For

+ Good food – the Methi chicken – a gravy dish is simply awesome.  Not very spicy (hot) and very flavorful.  The veg biriyani was also extremely flavorful and tasty.  Food is prepared fresh and is served / packed hot.

+ Convenience – The place is apt as a takeaway after you are done with your shopping to pack stuff for lunch or supper if you have not yet cooked at home.

+ Portions – as I had mentioned earlier, you are charged by weight and there are sufficient pieces of meat in non-veg dishes.

+ Reasonable pricing.

Against

- Slow billing – the staff are pretty slow, seem untrained and there is only one operational cash counter.

- Food can be better – the mushroom / peas curry – a red, spicy gravy was not tasty, although it was not bad.  The vegetables are not finely chopped in most cases – in order to save time and concentrate on volumes.

Quarter kg of the mushroom and the chicken dish and around 400 gms of veg biriyani cost around INR 190/-

Reco – Definitely a convenient place to pack tasty food if you have not prepared much @ home.

La Boulangerie - The French Bakery, Kotturpuram

Another one on this bakery...since it is quite close to home.

It is essentially a takeaway with a variety of bakes, pastries and breads.

Going For

+ Pleasant service

+ Some tasty bakes - The veg puff and the chicken puff are very good. The filling is well done and the crust is soft and flaky. The almond croissant was good too, though a bit rich.

+ Parking is never going to be a problem outside this shop. (On the road, of course)

Not going for

- The walnut brownie - was a bit dry. Had a strong dessicated coconut taste - why add coconut to the brownie?

- Chocolate muffin - not the best muffin I've tasted. A bit dry and a bit too buttery...leaves a thick buttery feeling on your palate.

- A bit on the costly side

Veg puff costs INR 25/-. Chicken puff costs INR 40/-. Chocolate muffin is INR 35/- and the brownie costs INR 50/-. The almond croissant costs INR 60/- (while the size of the puffs and the croissant are a bit above par, the brownie is certainly small).

Reco - I would still say it is worth a try....just don't buy the chocolate muffin or the walnut brownie.

Mr.Delivery, Cathedral Road, Opp Music Academy

This is a takeaway, delivery counter belonging to the Amaravati /Savera group. The counter is at the same complex that houses Amaravati, Coconut Lagoon, Palki and Snowfield.

The menu is a combination of dishes from Amaravati and Palki and a few dishes probably from their Punjabi restaurant - The Dhaba.

Going For

+ The start taking orders early - as early as 6.45pm, in case you want to pick up your supper early.

+ Can order from the menus of Coconut Lagoon / Amaravati / Palki - The choice is not restricted to the menu of Mr Delivery, especially if you plan to order from the counter. You have access to the menu and kitchens of the restaurants located in the complex.

+ Excellent Syrian Beef Fry (This is a specialty Kerala dish with small cubes of beef fried in a host of spices with a lot of thin slices of coconut and finely chopped onion and cooked in coconut oil). One of the best available in Chennai. This was from the menu of Coconut Lagoon

+ Good biriyani - The biriyani is from Amaravati and both the mutton and chicken kind were good and is served with a spicy liquid gravy, onion raitha and a boiled egg. The biriyani is not excellent but is certainly good.

Not Going For

- Do not open the complex for parking till 6.40pm. This is despite their having ample vacant parking.

- A tad expensive - considering it is a takeaway joint!

The Syrian Beef Fry costs around INR 120/- and the biriyanis too cost around that much each.

Reco - Certainly worth it and don't miss the Syrian beef fry. (Am not sure how efficient their delivery service is.)

Star Biriyani, NH-46

This is the famous biriyani shop @ Ambur. There are a few tables and chairs, but the place is more of a take-away rather than a restaurant.

As is suggestive of the name, they are a biriyani shop and there was nothing else on the menu when I went.

I wanted to have mutton biriyani, but had to settle for chicken biriyani as the mutton dish was to be made available only for dinner.

Going For

+ Adequate quantity - there is more than adequate quantity of meat packed along with the biriyani. The serving of half a plate is sufficient for one person.

+ Good pieces of meat - the pieces of meat were nice medium sized chunks and were not all bone and spare parts.

+ Reasonably priced.

Not Going For

- You never know if you will get the biriyani you want when you stop by. It is either not ready or has been sold out! I picked up my packed @ 5.15pm in the evening!

- Parking - you have to navigate and find parking on the busy service lane. Even if you stop in the middle of the service lane, no one will pounce on you!

- The biriyani was not made with basmati or other long grained rice and was a bit spicy (chili). The biriyani was certainly not bad, but it could have been better!

Half a plate of biriyani cost INR 60/-.

Reco - If you feel like having biriyani on NH-7, between Bangalore and Chennai, look no further!

La Boulangerie - The French Bakery, Kotturpuram

Tucked beside a Citibank ATM it is a small blink and you miss sort of an outlet. It is air conditioned and sells a variety of baked items.
Going for
+ Good range of bakes – you get a variety of breads including the French loaf, puffs, pastries, mud cakes, banana cakes, muffins and quiches. Both vegetarian and non vegetarian varieties are available.
+ Fresh and tasty bakes – the white cut sandwich bread and the brown cut sandwich bread were good. So was the French loaf, the banana cake and the chicken puff.
+ Pleasant service – there are 2-3 persons at the counter, and they always serve with a smile.
No Going for
- The mushroom quiche – had a distinct raw egg taste and was disappointing.
- Breads are expensive – especially the white and brown sandwich bread portions that have only a handful of slices.
A portion of bread (10-12 slices) costs around INR 35/-. Puffs are around INR 40/-. Cakes and pastries start at around INR 40/-.
Reco – Nice place to pick up cakes, pastries and other bakes including French loaf. Avoid the mushroom quiche.

Fanoos, Hosur Road, Bangalore

Fanoos is primarily a takeaway joint serving different types of kebabs (charcoal grilled meat), katti rolls (pan fried bread stuffed with meat, rather the kebabs/ vegetable stuffing) and shawrma (shaved grilled meat and pickled vegetables stuffed in pita bread.) While the bread used for normal katti rolls is covered in egg batter, the ones served here are plain paratha based. Likewise the pita bread (pan fried flat bread made with fermented wheat and should be eaten fresh) the ones available here are the off the shelf - not the best of pita.

Food tastes good and is very reasonable. Food for two would cost around INR 120/- max. the specialty dish is the beef sheek kebab (kebab made with minced beef and flavoured primarily with green chili). One is not to expect cleanliness in this place. It is more like a street food stall and is quite popular since it is located adjacent to a couple of mosques at a busy intersection. The joint is quite packed in the evenings, especially on Fridays.

Reco - Worth a shot - beware of the stomach bug!