Siam Bay Shore, Patayya, Thailand

A four star resort and spa located at the best spot in Patayya.  The resort is located at the end of Walking street.  There is a private beach and a swimming pool and a restaurant adjoining the beach.  There is another fairly large pool in the resort which also has a slide for children and a jacuzzi to calm the muscles.

The rooms are scattered around landscaped gardens which have apart from the orchids and palm fronds, large tanks holding lots of colourful fishes.

The massage parlour which is part of the spa offers excellent Thai massage.  

The only meal I had here was the breakfast - which was a buffet.  A sumptuous spread with lots of bread, spreads, cheese and lots of cold cuts, sushi, a few varieties of cereals and muesli served along with dry fruits and marinated fruits, fresh native fruits and juices, some local varieties of noodles and rice and lots of sweet bakes to finish it off.  The restaurant has both airconditioned and open air seating and overlooks the road.

Full marks to the resort but there is a stream of backwaters that flows across the resort and this gives a foul smell when you walk across it.  A minor hindrance that can be tolerated.

Walking street - is the most happening place in Patayya.  As the name suggests, vehicles are prohibited from 6pm.  The place is abuzz with tourists and locals traders.  There are a number of restaurants and bars on this street and there is plenty of street food that is available here.  A couple of restaurants where you can have a sip of beer and watch Mauy Thai - kickboxing is also available.  Plenty of places where one can watch 'night' / 'live' shows line the street.  There are people hawking almost everything here, including themselves!!

Reco - if you go to Patayya - this is the place to stay.

Street Food @ Walking Steet, Patayya, Thailand

Anytime from when the sun is about to set till late into the night,  hawkers line Walking Street and the adjoining street that leads into the Patayya Bay selling a variety of things.

The sheer variety of food that is available is awesome.  You get Pizzas, Shawrma, kebabs and then a whole lot of native cuisine.  The native cuisine includes a whole lot of seafood including fish, prawns, shrimps, mussels and squids.  There is also pork and chicken cooked Thai style.  Meat is either served grilled or fried or cooked in a Thai gravy and served with rice or noodles.  I should not forget to mention that there is plenty of fresh juices, fruits and tender coconut water available to quench your thirst - which you will definitely have considering the tropical warm weather.

For around THB 100 - 150 you are more than full.  The only problem is that you are spoilt for choice and have not tasted it all.

There are also quite a few seafood restaurants wherein you can choose the live fish or lobster that you want cooked for you.  The street is lined with a number of bars and the street along the bay also has a McDonalds and a Pizza Hut - if you do not want to experiment.

Hat's off to Thai street food.

Aromas of China, Eva Mall, Bangalore

I was quite a fan of Aromas of China, a restaurant belonging to the BJN group.  I've liked the service, ambiance and the food in this outlet and the one in Richmond Circle.

I'd ordered a thick duck meat soup.  It was quite good and had a distinct flavour of green chillies.  The duck meat was hard but that is how duck meat is.  The chicken in sichuan sauce was also nice and spicy and went well with the bamboo fried rice ( veg fried rice served in a hollowed out bamboo stalk - meant to be cooked in it too, but I doubt it was considering that the bamboo was quite dry on the outside).  The items I ordered along with a starter or a dessert would be sufficient for two.

The bill for the aforementioned came to INR 830/- including service charges @ 10%.

And once I had paid the bill, a nice and big cockroach ran across the couch on which I was seated.  I had enjoyed the meal and did not want to take this up with the management.

I certainly will not visit this place in the near future.

Reco - at these rates, if you are keen on cleanliness, please avoid.

World Cuisine Network- La Vigna, Indiranagar, Bangalore

This was supposed to be a place that served various varieties of world cuisine in specialty restaurants under one roof.  I later discovered that it is part of a chain of restaurants based out of Dubai.

We went to the Italian Restaurant - La Vigna.  The place was extremely cold and nothing was being done to increase the temperature despite our requests.  Thankfully we managed to find ourselves a seat beside a pillar that shielded us from the air-conditioner's blast.

The restaurant was quite full as was expected on a Friday night.  We decided to go for a Pizza and since 'Diavola' seemed quite interesting decided to go for that.  Diavola was meant to be a spicy pizza with mozzarella, tomato sauce, beef salami and dried chilly.  It was quite large, if I am right, at least a 10 inch diameter one.  Although it was not the best pizza I have had, the taste was very strange.  It tasted of saffron.  There was a strong saffron flavour in the pizza which was quite unnerving.  I quite did not enjoy the pairing of saffron with tomato, chilly and beef salami.

The Tiramisu was superb.

Service was horrible.  You had to repeat your order to at least one other bearer other than the one who took your order before you are served.

The aforementioned dishes + 2 pints of beer and a large Smirnoff came to INR 1300/-

Reco - Probably can give it a shot to try some unimaginable (may not be tasty) culinary twists.  However, mind the service.

Cream Center - RA Puram, Chennai

This was another one of those places that had got rave reviews in the media. It is a branch of a Mumbai based outfit and dishes out vegetarian cuisine - North Indian and international.

I had a stuffed paratha of onion, mint and garlic - it was nothing but a roomali roti stuffed with onions and deep fried. It was not a paratha where the veggies that needed to be stuffed are stuffed into the dough. A big disappointment.

Veg pakoras were nothing but mixed vegetable bajji and instead of using the bajji chilly for one of the bajjis, they had used regular green chilly. The difference between a bajji and a pakora is while both use similar batter of gram flour and red chilly powder, in the case of a bajji the vegetable is dipped in a slightly light batter and fried in oil, while in the case of pakora, the vegetables / cashew is mixed in a slightly thicker batter and handfulls of the batter are then fried in oil.

The aloo paratha was quite good though. I understand the place specialises in Chole puri - I have not tried that out. Portions are not too big. The ambience and decor are great.  The place is air conditioned.

Although espresso and other coffees are on the menu, they are nothing but those from a Georgia vending machine. Disappointing, given that it is meant to be an upmarket eatery.

Meal for 2 would come to around INR 500.

reco - avoidable

Hotel Dravida, Veilankanni

This is a restaurant located on junction of the 'bus stand' road and the road leading to the main shrine / church.  

We'd been there for lunch.  You are served a number of combos of meals.  Plain vegetarian meals (not recommended as the sambar - a South Indian gravy made with pulses, vegetables, tamarind and a variety of spices - is quite insipid. ) The rasam - another typical South Indian gravy, more like a clear soup, literally means 'essence', made with a host of spices including coriander seeds and cumin seeds, with pulses and either tomato, tamarind or lime to give it the sour punch - is tasty with a garlic flavour.  There is a pulse dish mixed with vegetables (dal / kootu), papad / appalam (a crispy fried snack made with black lentils - urud dal) and a dry vegetarian preparation that are served as accompaniments.  There is also generous servings of very light butter milk (neer mor) but curds are served @ additional cost.

The other meals that are available are fish curry meals, mutton curry meals and chicken curry meals - the veg meals + a spicy gravy of the selected meat.  There are a number of typical non-vegetarian chettinad dishes that are available - such as fish fry (seer fish fry), brain masala (made with goat / cattle brain), mutton chukka ( a dry mutton preperation), sora puttu (a dry flaky dish made with sharks), nandu masala (a semi gravy crab dish) and the list goes on.  

We had ordered all three varieties of non-veg meals and I had a bit of all - the fish gravy meals was the best, although the other two were not bad either.  The fish fry was a bit too well done and a bit dry.  The sora puttu was good and so too was the mutton chukka.

The bill for 6 meals + 3 omelets + 1 mutton chukka + 1 sora puttu + 1 fish fry came to a bit less than INR 400/-.  The interiors are very basic.  The place is quite popular and at times one may have to wait to be seated.  There is no air - conditioning and a place that could comfortably seat around 40 pax seats around 60+pax.

Reco - Must try - especially for lunch- and don't miss the fish curry meals.

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.

Sangeetha, GandhiNagar, Adyar, Chennai

Staying in Kotturpuram, I have to go to Adyar, T Nagar or Mylapore to get to a decent restaurant with air-conditioning to have breakfast.  I decided to go to Sangeetha in Adyar the other day.  I have trashed a couple of other Sangeetha outlets in this blog and I knew I was taking a big risk.  This is a vegetarian restaurant.

There is a non air-conditioned section that can seat around 50 but ends up seating around 75.  There is also a self service section with around 6-8 tables where seating is not available.  The air-conditioned section seats around 75 pax - it was dimly lit but the interiors were typically gaudy, quite old with wet patches and peeling paint in some corners.

We ordered idly(steamed wet rice flour), pongal (a rice preparation), rava masala dosai (thin pancakes made with semolina batter and served with spicy mashed potato) and aapam (rice pancake made with fermented wet rice flour). 

All the dishes, save the aapam, were served with at least two different chutnies (sauces) and sambar (a typical South Indian preparation made with pulses and vegetables) and were tasty.  This is one of the few restaurants that serves hoppers (aapam) with sweetened coconut milk - an awesome combination.

The service was quite good and I was quite pleased that I found a Sangeetha that lived upto its reputation.  Only on receiving the bill did I realize that this outlet was a franchisee of Sangeetha - no wonder it was striving to maintain some standards.

This chain does not serve liquor and the bill came to INR 285/- (2 plates each of idly& pongal and 2 orange juices thrown in).

Reco - certainly not a bad choice for South Indian tiffin varieties.

Kattumaram, St.Mary's Road, Chennai

I'd been here to parcel something for supper.  It was supposed to be a new specialty seafood restaurant and had been reviewed highly in the local papers.  There is an air-conditioned area which can seat around 30 pax and a roof top area which can also seat around 30 pax.  I noticed that there was only one waiter for each of these areas - probably the service would be a bit slow.

I ordered for some hoppers (aapam - pancake made with fermented rice flour batter), fish kothu paratha - supposed to be paratha (fried Indian bread made with refined wheat flour) that is mixed with fried fish and onions and some green chillies and is minced on the pan. A plain paratha and a dish called 'yeral thoku masala' - Prawns in a gravy of mashed pickle.

The appam was nice - although I always prefer to have aapam served fresh on my plate rather than having it packed.  The paratha was quite large (around 8 inch diameter) - nothing to complain about.  The fish kothu paratha was a disappointment.  It had a 3 cubes of fried fish mixed with plain kothu paratha.  The fish itself was not minced with the paratha and this is just not the way it has to be made and served.

The gravy of the yeral thoku masala was good.  It was a fresh tomato thoku (mashed tomato pickle).  However, there were only 6 pieces of very small prawns.  @ INR 150, it certainly was not worth it.

The bill came to INR 365/-.  I may not be keen to visit this place again.

Reco - Nothing special about it - go without any expectations & you may come back a bit satisfied.

Olive Beach, Ashok Nagar, Bangalore

This place was highly recommended.  Located in a converted house on Wood Street, off Richmond road - it is in a blink and you miss kind of place. Seating is available indoors - air-conditioned) and outside in the garden.  I chose to sit in the garden as the weather was pleasant.

The bar which is indoors looks out into the garden too.  Nothing great about the ambiance but it is pleasing.

The wild mushroom soup was a creamy soup and was good.  A bread basket with various varieties of bread is served 'on the house' along with a cream dip - nothing special about either the bread or the dip - you do not even get the aroma of fresh bake when this is served.

The sea food salad was awesome.  Had quite a few pieces of salmon, jumbo prawns, fish and some crab meat tossed with a light vinaigrette dressing and with some lettuce thrown in.  The 8 hour lamb is something that should not be missed if you happen to eat here.  The meat was just falling off from the bones, waiting to be eaten and was served with mashed potato.

The smoked chicken and pesto pizza, while being flavourful was a disappointment.  The crust was thin - no issues with that, however it was not soft as a pizza crust ought to be.  It was crisp and biscuity.  And the 'Lavazza' espresso was more of an Americano - very light.

Service was not bad - nothing special.

The bill for the above amounted to INR 2100.  They charge service charges @ 10% on top of this.  A pint of beer would cost around INR 160/- and a small of domestic whiskey would cost as much too.

And there is a mandatory donation of INR10 towards some Charity - I did not bother to ask about it as it was getting late by the time we were done with the food - but they ought to inform guests that such collections are being billed and what they are for. 

I went with very high expectations.  While some of the dishes lived upto the expectations, I was not fully satisfied.

Reco - give it a shot - not a must visit type of a place

Memories of China, Taj Residency, Bangalore

Before I comment about the restaurant, I should mention that the security @ the Taj has been beefed up.  Guests cars (even resident guests) are not parked in the complex.  You have to exit your car almost as soon as you enter the gate (not even @ the portico...I don't understand how they would manage it during the rains).  All baggage is scanned like in our airports and you enter through a metal detector.  I certainly hope they are able to manage their security well @ all their properties.

The restaurant seats a bit more than 100 pax.  Was brightly lit and when I entered @ around 8pm, only one other table was occupied by a couple.  But soon enough the place filled up, mostly with foreigners.  Quite good considering it was a Tuesday evening.

They took around 40 minutes to get the steamed pork dumplings (jiao zi pork).  Six tasty dumplings that disappeared in no time.

I ordered a beef semi gravy dish (Poached beef tenderloin in spicy sauce).  Was rather tasty.  However, it was not thinly sliced as it was meant to be.  The portion was also quite large.  I ordered a seafood noodles to go with the beef gravy.  The hakka noodles was again very tasty.   The noodles had quite a bit of crab meat and prawns, I should say.  The portion of noodles is certainly not enough for two hungry people.  One should order at least two items (rice or noodles) along with a gravy in order to be satiated.  I did not order more as the gravy was over by now and I did not want to wait for another 15 minutes for the food.   The main course items were served in less than 15 minutes, thankfully.

The food cost INR 1700/-.  One small RC whiskey costs INR 250/-.

Reco - Food's tasty.  Portions could have been better.  Worth a visit.

Now, a word on the parking.  The hotel has a parking lot adjacent to the hotel which can apparently accommodate upto 100 cars.  However, if you are lucky and this place is filled, your car could end up quite a distance away and you would have to wait for at least 15 minutes before you get yours back.  Of course if you have the time, you could spend it looking at the reactions of other impatient and nervous guests who had arrived before you to collect their vehicles.  I should say I was disappointed with this.

Silver Wok, Off Richmond Road, Bangalore

This restaurant serves Chinese fare.  The menu is quite extensive.  The restaurant is air conditioned and seats less than 100.  On a Saturday night I was among only a handful of guests who had unfortunately gone to this place.

Almost as soon as the whisky arrived, so did the flies.  It was really amazing as I found not only the common housefly but also a really small variety and the bigger variety that is normally present near animals.  As the waiters tried their best to rid the place of the flies, I put up with this inconvenience.  It was then that I realized that the interior walls looked rather patchy and stained.

The asparagus and chicken soup was very tasty.  The Prawn - Spinach fry was rather good..it was fried prawns served along with crispy fried chopped spinach...except for the spinach being a bit salty, it was rather tasty.

Fish with mushroom and bamboo shoots was a dish in thick gravy (primarily of tomato, garlic and vinegar).  It was not bad at all but contained probably 3 sliced button mushrooms and 5-6 pieces of bamboo shoots.

I also tried a mixed meat fried rice.  Nothing special about it, but the meat (pork and mutton) were rather hard - probably because it was frozen and not thawed enough or probably because it was re-heated a number of times and had hence become bereft of moisture.

These four items cost INR 760/- - pretty expensive for the experience.  1 large RC costs INR 230/-.

Reco - Certainly not worth it.

Daddy's Deli, 12th Main, Indiranagar, Bangalore

Daddy's Deli is a Parsi restaurant.  It is part of a lodging called 'Executive Inn'.  It can seat around 40-50 people at a time and is air conditioned.

Service is personalized with the owners acting as the hostess and host.  Not much of choice of beverages, although beer is available.  The menu too is limited and the restaurant is open only on Fridays (dinner), Saturday and Sunday (lunch).  There are specials of the day (1 item) that are available outside the menu.

The special of the day when I visited the place was 'Stuffed Brinjal', I was told.  Although not a brinjal fan, I decided to try this dish.  It was fried brinjal in a tomato based gravy with peas, served with phulka.  Although it was not stuffed brinjal, it was certainly a tasty dish.

I then ordered a prawn pulav.  This was one of the best pualv's I have ever had.  It was very flavourful with shallots, leek and coriander chopped finely along with the usual spices that make up a pulav.  The prawns were juicy and done to perfection.  This was served with some mashed black lentil (dal) gravy.

The veg dish + the pulav is sufficient for 2 who are not very hungry but is certainly too much for one person.  The bill for these two dishes came to INR375/-.

Reco - Must try - the only joint serving Parsi cuisine in Bangalore (Food's tasty too).

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.

Roadside@Veilankanni

Veilankanni, a coastal town in Tamil Nadu is a popular pilgrimage center.  It is famous for the Church of Mother Mary - Veilankanni.

As early as 6am in the morning for around 3 hours and again in the evening from around 6 pm, the road that lines the sea facing entrance to the main Church is lined with women serving delectable delights (OK...do not get carried away...i was referring only to food).  These roadside eateries spread into the road that leads to the beach.

You get nice hot idlis (steamed rice and lentil (urad dal) flour) served with coconut chutney and fish curry.  Mouth watering stuff.  You also get steaming hot puttu (dry rice flour and fresh grated coconut mixed and steamed) with coconut and sugar - one may choose from either the one made with white rice or the one made with red rice.  The stuff is simply mouth watering.  You could catch a couple of puttus (combo) for around INR10/- or a couple of idlis combined with fish curry for around INR 15/-.  You also get steamed tapioca and fried fish, but I did not try these.

I must mention that the place is not the cleanest and you would have a few four legged creatures accompanying the cooks - but it is certainly a must try if you visit Veilankanni.

China Pearl, Koramangala, Bangalore

For those who are familiar with Bangalore, this place is no different from a Chungs or a Chung Wa except for the price which is at least 20% more than these places.

I had a Pepper Lemon Sea Food Soup - not a bad concoction. Had 4 pieces of prawns and a bit of fish.  Was not too spicy but was certainly lemony with both lemon and lemon grass adding to the taste and aromas.

The Veg Fried Rice was very ordinary and probably like what would be available @ a road side joint.

The Fish in Schezwan sauce was not bad but it certainly hurt the pocket @ INR195.

The cost of the experience was around INR 450/-.  The above items are enough to serve 2 people who are not very hungry.

The interiors are very basic and air conditioned.  Service was a bit tardy.  However, the place seemed quite popular as the 25 odd table restaurant was almost full.

Reco - Maybe a Chungs is more VFM (Value for Money).

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.

Grameen, Koramangala, Bangalore

Dishes out North Indian vegetarian fare, with the option of Jain food if requested. The aloo paratha was quite good, but the other parathas had a bit too much of masala, thereby masking the taste of the vegetable(s) filling.

The side dishes, especially the veg koftha was very tasty. The grameen biriyani predominantly tasted of the curry leaf masala used. The curd rice was sour and probably, they had used the left over rice from morning. Among the beverages, the sweet lassi was nice and so was the 'kokum' soda. They served only gulab jamuns for dessert and this was a let down.

Interiors are designed to reflect a villiage atmosphere, but is quite cramped for space. Service is not too fast, considering they take the order even as you wait outside to be seated.

Meal for three comes to around INR 360/-. 

The set-meal lunch is recommended. As regards other items, some are really good, while others are less than ordinary - give it a shot!

The Tasty Tangles, UB City, Bangalore

Having walked out of Toscano as they do not serve alcohol, I went to a restaurant on the other side of the terrace.  It looked quite appealing from outside with a fairly large area with tables both outside on the terrace (covered) and an airconditioned area.  The name was also quite intriguing - Tasty Tangles.

I was ushered in bu a courteous lady and seated.  I ordered for two starters - one veg - Chayote salad - it was plain cut vegetables in a sauce that had no taste - an absolutely bland dish and one non-veg - Fried Calamari Rings - It was batter fried calamari rings and was not bad.  Does not deserve any special mention though.

The Tom yum soup did not have any lemon grass - had a few pieces of jumbo prawns that were nice and juicy - but tom yum without lemon grass is unpardonable.  The 'small' portion of this soup that we had ordered was in itself a bit of a large serving.

Having tanked up in so many starters, we went for just one main course and a side dish to accompany.  We ordered some Singapore noodles - vegetarian - it was glass noodles with veggies in a soya sauce and was not bad.  The side dish was a kong pong prawns - The serving size was good.  There were quite a few pieces of jumbo prawns.  But it was not very flavourful.  It was a semi gravy with soya sauce overpowering the taste of the other spices and the bell pepper that the dish had.

The service - less said of this the better.  When we asked the waiter to serve the main course and the gravy - pat  came the reply that as a policy they do not serve.  The dishes are just left on the table and the patrons are expected to serve themselves.  Considering there is a 10% service charge on the total bill this is atrocious.

The bill for the aforementioned dishes came to around 1400 + service charge + taxes - around INR 1800. ( I had a couple of drinks -RC Whiskey- too and with the drinks the bill came to around INR 2300.)

When I saw the charge slip later, I realized that the amount was charged to 'Noodle House' - a place that I do not dig much.  Had I known this earlier, I might have thought twice about going to this joint.

Ordinary food and poor service - I would certainly not go there again.

Dahlia - Church Street - Bangalore

This was a Thursday evening. My friend and I thought we should try some new cuisine and after a pint of draught each at Coco Grove, decided to go for Japanese cuisine.

The place was not crowded (around 9pm), with a couple of tables occupied. The ambience was clean and nice (as any far east restaurant would be), I did not notice any sushi bar. However, there were a few low tables to sit with folded legs and eat like one does in Japan. We sat down at one such table to enjoy the fare and the menu was offered to us. The menu had the photographs of some of the dishes, but not for all of them. The dishes had Japanese names and the menu did not specify whether a dish is a rice based or noodle based one or whether it is spicy or less spicy and so on (in most cases).

We decided to take the services of the captain who was taking the meal order. He tried to explain for one query from us and then told us (in a pretty rude tone)that he is not paid to explain what is in the menu. By Jove! Were we surprised by this! On asking him as to how were we to order without knowing what we are ordering, he went on to say that it was upto us to figure out.

The poor service prompted us to walk out without tasting the food.

Reco - Avoid if you want good service 

Toscano, UB City, Bangalore

I have reviewd this restaurant on 2nd Nov.  This blog is only an update.  I went to UB City to enjoy some Italian cuisine @ Toscano with some whiskey by the side.  However, they still do not serve alcohol...probably why it had any customers compared to the other restaurants around it!

Bon South, 80 Ft Road, Koramangala, Bangalore

This is a fairly new joint that has cropped up in one of the 'Food' streets of Koramangala - 80 Ft Road.

From the outside it looked upmarket and as the name suggested was to serve South Indian Cuisine.

They have both an ala carte and a buffet.  The buffet is billed as - lunch buffet (does not include unlimited alcohol) for INR 350/- and brunch buffet (includes unlimited tiger beer / bacardi / eristoff vodka and cocktails based on the aforemnetioned drinks).

I opted for the brunch buffet.  

There were only two starters (there was a tomato rasam and a chicken soup also) - a dry baby corn fry and a really dry chicken 'bones' fry - the less said about them the better.

Aapams and Kerala Parotta are served hot on the table.  The Fish gravy and the mutton gravy were good and went well with the Aapam and parotta.

There were a few rice items, sambar, rasam, and a few veg curries and salads - not bad but not good either.

The desserts included vermicili payasam (sweetened condensed milk), a rice Halwa, ice creams and cut fruits.  The latter two were good while the former two were very sweet.

The service was quite good and certainly is worthy of mention.

Reco - Maybe once in a while when you want to tank up on the drinks!  otherwise avoid!

Maharaja - 80 ft Rd, Koramangala, Bangalore

The ambience is similar to any of the Andhra restaurants such as Bheemas, Sridevi, Navayuga and so on. The menu was multi cuisine, but I stuck to the traditional thali meals.

While the food was tasty, the service was slow, considering the fact that some of the tables were not occupied.

The powders used for mixing with rice in any Andhra restaurant was not available on the table and had to be requested for. Ghee also was not served with the rice. The rice served was not hot and one had to request for hot rice.

For a change there were hot pooris served with the meals unlike chapathis that are normally on offer.

The special boneless pepper chicken was tasty as were all the accompaniments with the meals, especially the dal and rasam. Meals for 3 with a couple of side dishes costs between INR450 to INR 500.

If you can forgive tardy service and can wait for hot rice, you can try out the meals here.

(The restaurant has since shifted to a place on the other side of the road.  I have not been here yet)

Crocodile Meat

Happened to taste Croc Meat Down Under.

Was prepared like an Indian Curry though.  It was the Croc Tail that was cooked.

Tasted quite like chicken, looked quite pale (white) and a little less rubbery than chicken.  

My Verdict - As good as chicken!

Australia..land of the flies

Had a wonderful time vactioning in Australia.  Covered Sydney and Melbourne.  Would have loved to go to the Great Barrier Reef...but time was a constraint.

You only need the sun to shine nice and bright on a day with tempratures around 25 degrees C and you would be attacked by houseflies.  It is as though you are walking in a really dirty slum in Mumabi sans the dirt and stink.

Some of the interesting things I saw covered were...

- The Boxing Day Test Match on Boxing Day

- Kangaroos jumping / grazing along the roads - even one that was run over

- The Kookuburra @ close range

- Ate croc meat

- Dandenong Ranges

- Sydney Harbour Area

- Boarded a fighter ship and submarine @ the museum

- Great Ocean Drive

- 12 Apostles

- Yarra Valley wine tasting

- Jenola Caves

- Blue Mountain - 3 Sisters

- Melbourne Casino and Pokies joints