20 Feet High ...

This restaurant is exactly what it's name suggests, 20 Feet High is a shack perched twenty feet above the ground, it has wooden floor boards and cosy round tables. This is one of the very few restaurants in Bangalore which makes use of the wonderfully pleasant Bangalore weather. According to me, it is the name and the ambiance which would take to you this place and it is the food and service which will bring you back.

This place serves mainly continental food. The steaks are good, but the fish and chips are exceptionally delicious. I have had a variety of steaks at this place, beef, chicken, lamb, etc , and have found all of them to my liking. One warning though, do not order anything whose price is not mentioned on the menu or you will be in for a shock (Ice tea for example is Rs.150).

All and all this is a wonderful place to chat with friends over a delicious meal.

A dinner for two at 20 Feet High would come out to around Rs650-700 (without drinks).

20 Feet High:

22, Church Street

Bangalore- 560001

Ph. no. - 080 25594631-2

American Desi

Indijoe is located on the airport road and is just opposite to Diamond District. It is one the many restaurants that BJN group can boast of serving great food with good ambiance. BJN describes the food at Indijoe as Global cuisine with a desi twist. I would say it is an apt description with their menu consisting of pizzas, salads, noodles, soups and kulfis (an west asian ice cream).

I would suggest that you go to this place for a lunch buffet as there is no way you would be able to appreciate the variety of food it caters if you are ordering Ala carte. As it is with most buffet, your battle plan should be start with deserts, skip the main course and finish with deserts.

This plan works pretty well at Indijoe, but do not miss the thin crust pizza or the pasta. I have tried pizzas at many places but this beats them all. The salads are varied, ranging from fruits, veggies, cheese, chicken to sea food. be vary of the soup as it is disappointing most of the times. Then go to the pizza (couldn't help but mention it again), I could pay a 1000 bucks just for the pizza itself. Then nibble a bit on the fish and the pasta and when you stomach is on the verge of bursting, go and indulge yourself in the variety of deserts served: cheese cakes, pastries, fruit salads, etc. But remember, never miss is the kulfi (I had had 4 once, but would not advise you to do the same, because the after effects were not pleasant), they serve an addictively tasty kulfi. I been trying to find out where they get it from, so that I can stuff my freezer with it, but no luck so far.

This place should be visited on weekdays and that too for lunch buffet. And ensure you have a reservation, as it gets as crowded as hell. The cost per head is about Rs.320 on Mondays-Thursdays and Rs.370 on Fridays-Sundays..

Indijoe:

1, Carlton Towers

Airport Road, Bangalore

Contact: 080-4113636

Pearls from China ...

China Pearl, is a very popular Chinese restaurant in 5th Block, Koramangla where you have to wait for at least half an hour on a weekend to get a table, unless you make a reservation. It serves quite a number of dishes which are unique (wouldn't say authentic Chinese, as from what I have heard, the Chinese food we eat in India is nowhere close to what people eat in China). The food is delicious and interesting at the same time because of the menu it provides. There are many things in the menu which you would not find anywhere else in bangalore like Red Dragon, Drunken chicken, etc. The ambiance is pretty good with comfortable seatings and decent lighting (which I find missing in many restaurants).

Most of the dishes here are pretty good. But, the chicken momos here just melt in your mouth and I assure you that the more you eat the hungrier you become. Another must have here is the drunken chicken, which is chicken cooked in home-made Chinese rice wine. This dish has a strong taste and smells of wine, which might be difficult for some people to like. Nonetheless, you should certainly give it a try.

This place is decently priced too, with a meal for two would leave you poorer by just Rs.600-650.

China Pearl

53/1, 5th Cross

6th Block, Koramangla

Phone Number-41105060

Taste of Tibet ...

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and my regular dabba, had not come. I was alone and in a not in a mood to spend, wondering what to eat and drifting through the streets of Koramangla, I came across a small Tibetian restaurant, Momo Hut, it looked like a promising place with the owner hardly speaking any hindi or english.

I went inside and ordered a plate of steamed beef momos. They were hot and succulent, the fillings were adequate the sauce was spicey, just the way it should be. I followed up this order with a plate of Phing with Tingmo, though I had absolutely no idea what it was. When the dish came, I found out that Phing was a soup with lots of vegetables and meat and Tingmo was a Tibetian steamed bread. The Phing was really hot with lots of pepper and garlic and the Tingmo was rubberly but went pretty well with Phing.

This place is really worth visiting just for the steamed momos, if you are not in a mood to experiment. The other dishes like Shaptra, Phing and Thukpa have a distinctly different taste which takes some time to adapt to, but once you start liking it they are addictive.

Momo Hut is a very small place near The Empire in Koramangla, 5th Block. It is pretty clean for such a small and inexpensive place. The best part about this place, apart for the delicious food they serve, is the cost, a meal for two will come out to be just Rs.130-150.

Contact:

Opp Daily Bread, 4th 'B' Cross

5th Block, Koramangla Industrial Layout

Bangalore-560095

An Obituary ...

This blog is dedicated to one of the most unique restaurants I have had dinner at, Dahlia. Unfortunately the place has closed down, but the memories remain and hence it finds a place in my blog. Dahlia was a modest but clean little restuarant on Church Street, which looked like a two bedroom flat converted to a restuarant.

I never had any intention of trying Japanese food, but I went there with a few of my friends, who wanted to have sushi. I was a bit disappointed by the business like seating and the bare blue walls, but when I tasted the food I was thrilled. The maguro (tuna) sushi was amazing, though the fish was raw, I had never tasted anything so wonderful and succulent in my life. The soy sauce and the wasabi paste were perfect to go with the fish, rice and seaweed treasures that were entering my mouth. Next on the menu we ordered some fried prawns (forgot the name of the dish), the prawns were of the perfect size, neither too big which makes them hard, nor too small which leaves you disappointed. We had all the dishes with japanese tea, which is neither warm nor cold, but is served at room temperature. This was one of the most wonderful gastronomic adventure I had ever had and was on the verge of commiting suicide when I saw that this place had closed down.

This place wasn't expensive considered the exotic quality food that they used to serve here. A dinner for two would leave you poorer by around Rs.1000 .

I don't consider myself to be experienced enough to rate restuarants (yet), but if I did this would have got a 5/5.

From the plates of the Sultans ...

Anyone living in Bangalore would have heard of Sahib Sindh Sultan. It is located in the very popular and over-crowded mall, Forum, which is on Hosur Road. Two things I promise about this mall: one, you would never have any trouble finding it and two, you will never get a table without making prior reservations. The ambiance is quite impressive as it's interiors are made to resemble the first Indian train which travelled from Bori Bunder to Thane in the year 1853. You get to sit inside the train or the platform. Now to the important part, the food. Unfortunately, I found the food really disappointing. The starters were ordinary, the rotis hard and chewy and the main course disappointing. I had the much reputed atta chicken, which I found was nothing but a whole chicken roasted inside a wheat flour covering and wasn't impressive at all. One might go to this restaurant only if he/she is looking for place with an impressive ambiance and ordinary food.

The restaurant is pretty expensive. An average meal for two would come out to be around Rs. 700-800 (without drinks).

Level 2, The Forum
080 22067878

sahibsindhsultan.blr@bjnhotels.com

From the western coasts of India ...

Kubay, is a homely little restuarant near Koramangla Club which specialises in Mangalorian and Goan cuisine. They serve prawns, squids, crabs, fish and pork at really affordable prices. The food here is really spicey and must be taken with a glass of chilled kokkum water. The starters are a delight for any food-lover and one must try the kubay sukka masala (clams), squid or prawn sukka/garlic fry, fish fry and butter garlic squid. For the main course I would suggest any of the curries from the seafood section with neer dosa (which is dosa cooked without oil, don't ask me how). It is better to avoid the chicken and veg dishes here as they might be a bit disappointing. But if you live in Bangalore and love to eat, you should be hanged for not eating at this place.

The average cost per head here would come out to be around Rs 150-200.

Kubay:

# 110, 6th Block, 6th Cross
Koramangala Club Road
Bangalore 560 034.
Tel 080 5110 5221

http://www.kubayrestaurant.com/index.htm

A New Beginning !!!

I have been thinking of starting this blog for a long time now. Being a software engineer in Bangalore with limited hobbies, I had to find a way to keep myself busy. So I decided to immerse myself into the oceans of gastronomical delight. Two years afterwards, armed with the experience of trying out 50+ restaurants, I decided to enlighten the world ( or at least the food lovers of Bangalore) through this blog.

I decided to start with the restaurant which is the fave for many a meat-lover of Bangalore, "The Jukebox"

The Jukebox is a smallish restaurant located in Koramangla, 7th block. Though it is a multi-cuisine restaurant, one should only indulge in the continental non-veg section of the menu. The steaks, specially the Hawaiian Ham and theBeef Steak with Pepper sauce, are out-of-this-world. The lasagne is wonderful, but only if you really love cheese. Make sure that you order the dishes with mashed potatoes and also that you have plenty of time in hand as the dishes take some time to get served.

The per head cost here would be around 250-300 (main-course + a beer)

Jukebox is closed on Mondays and if are coming for lunch ensure you are there before 2 p.m as it closes at 3 p.m