Quick Lunch At Sunnys. 3.75/5.00

Met a few friends, some long lost, for a quick lunch at Sunnys. I should have known better and arrived a half hour past the appointed time but I hate being late, even notionally, and so Mache and I landed up a good 30 minutes before any one else did.

As I had to have a quick lunch and scoot (meeting you see.) I had a mushroom barley soup, a ham and cheese s'wich and some rasberry ice-cream for dessert. The soup was pretty good, though Mache opined that it looked like sambar, tasted much better though and actually looked like mulligatawny! The s'wich was pretty good too, a nice mature cheddar, great bread, a dressing that complimented the filling (english mustard, honey and something exasperatingly difficult to identify) of ham. Only issue was the ham, Danish pressed and tinned ham needs all the help it can get which the cheese and the dressing rescued quite well. The potato salad was le magnifique. New potatoes in a creamy mayo-type dressing with some parsley. The ice-cream was outstanding. Tart, not too sweet and creamy while the flavour of the rasberries shone through.

The others had a few starters, golden fried prawn (why oh why, might as well have been at Little Chef where the prices are cheaper and the portions more generous and it tastes about the same. A tartare sauce isn't wortha all that much.), lamb dumplings (ibid.) and some bruschetta with olive marinated vegetables (didn't try it, won't comment. Suffice to say it was vegetarian.)

I had a ginger-lime soda too, it's a nice change from the fresh-lime soda. Plus ginger is a wonderful digestive and easy on the stomach.

My all-time fav. Sunnys picks. Prawn cocktail, chicken liver pate, smoked salmon with cream cheese rolls, greek salad with feta, spanish fish soup, wild mushroom ravioli, crepes, seer fish anna, lamb chops, tournedos and the frozen rum raisin chocolate fudge. (And a hat tip to Chamique and the paris breast.)


Update: Sunny's Revisited. Rating upgraded to 4.00/5.00

Awesome Photoshop Picture

via BoingBoing and from Mason Inman's Blog

Dinner Tonight.

Same game, guess the location. Bonus points for joining us!

Biryani Time!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and all the yummy biryani that'll be sent my way. What is your favourite biryani? (And just to remind, Biryani Merchant is not an acceptable answer.)

I used to have a friend who had the most amazing biryani at her place. Pity we didn't stay in touch over the years.

Wedding Crashers

Rachel McAdams is hot, what? She has got this amazing neighbourhood-gal-like quality and is refreshingly imperfect but oh-so-wholesome.

And for our lady readers, may I present Mr. Owen Wilson. What's your take on him?

Not a bad movie too...

Indiauncut On Food

Amit Varma, who is in Pakistan currently covering the cricket matches, has posted a few food related entries. Head on over there and ogle at the pictures and words.

I think I may need to visit our neighbours to get at some of that outstanding looking food. (And I'm glad to see the Coca Cola is their drink of choice!)

Cooco's
Breadlike, After All

Legend of Sikandar Revisited.

Alu and me. A quick dinner before a movie. Seekh kebab, murg tikka something, galouti kebab, aloo took, dal sikandari and assorted rotis. I stand by my original rating, the food was excellent even though they were in the middle of a mad rush of customers. Kebabs were outstanding, rotis were great, though the dal is their weakest link. No shame in that, some of the best eateries fail on the dal.

Just for the record, we didn't make the movie.

Baked Porn!

And these are a few of my favourite things!

Dominos cookies, Trader Joe's ginger spice cookies, McVities milk chocolate and caramel digestives and Brownie Point walnut brownies (fresh off the plane from Mumbai!). Yummy!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find a cup of coffee and OD on all of these goodies.

Stating The Obvious

The Revolt Of 2005

The cover story of the latest Outlook was on the rise in availability of regional food across India. It's a pretty decent read and hints of a slow demise in the “Tandoori, Mughalai, Chinese” variety of restaurants that coincides with a rise of niche eateries specializing in Bengali, Chettinad, Kerala etc. cuisines. On the whole, I'd agree with the trend they identify and welcome it. Too long have we put up with inauthentic garbage served simply for lack of choice.

My only grouse with the article was the list of eateries they have chosen for Bangalore. Apparently these symbolize this new culinary movement sweeping across the nation. For better or worse, here is the Bangalore list and my comments.

Katpadi Janction at Garuda Mall for Mudaliar food. Yes, that would be appropriate. Link this gastronomic movement with the mall movement. How could they overlook Annachi, reviewed below, Salem Kitchen in Indiranagar and Ponnuswamys on Residency Road? Was air-conditioning a prerequisite to be reviewed?

Unicorn on Infantry Road for Konkani food. This is, after all, an upmarket branch of Fishland in Gandhinagar. The food at Fishland is fresher, tastier, cheaper and has more attitude and charm than the sterile and aseptic interiors that Unicorn offers. Once again, were cushioned seats a prerequisite?

Halli Mane in Malleswaram. Never been there but heard good things about it from Dilettante.

Any opinions on the restaurants listed for other cities?

A Mouthful Of India @ Outlook

Restaurant Suggestions @ Outlook

Picture via outlookindia.com and (c) Sephi Bergerson.

Measure Your Attitudes

This is scary, revealing, frustrating and more.

Take these tests (start with the India-centric ones) when you have some time. Though I do harbour a sneaking suspiciosn that it has more to do with the test than the subject matter.

India-centric Tests
Implicit Main Page

Results were a bit worrying.

Restaurant Reviews via Rediff

Rediff have a semi-regular series of restaurant reviews, most of them featuring places in Bangalore. I've linked to the ones of interest to our *local* readers.

Chandni Chowk in Bangalore?
No time to cook?
Hot culinary spots in Bangalore
Will you do anything for good biryani?
The restaurant on the highway
Eating Out: Want a taste of home?
A culinary yatra of Bangalore
Bangalore: Great meals on lazy Sundays


Comments are welcome...

Soars vs. Sores

Saw this at Cricinfo today. Is he sore from soaring? Pretty daft, you'd think they'd proof-read!

The link is Ponting Sores To The Top

Guess The Locations...

... as the title goes. Winner gets to suggest a review they'd like to read.

Ghost In The Machine

Herbs & Spice 4.31/5.00

First, I'm not sure how to give points on these restaurant reviews that BB and I do except this rating indicates I really like this joint.

Herbs & Spice is tucked away in a quiet corner of Indiranagar, near Rashmi Eye Clinic and IBBC's Victory Grounds. No advertising at all, just word of mouth popularity over the last few years and a little confusion with names, what with the former Spice Garden on Whitefield Road deciding to call itself 'Herbs and Spices'.



2 gentlemen, Pankaj and Manjit run this restaurant - a lady used to be their partner when they started out, no news of her. It's menu is constantly changing, they always keep less than 20 items on the menu, which is written on a blackboard with chalk (so you can eat their cheese). Sorry, couldn't resist.

This is a view from their extended interiors meaning they doubled their seating to 10 tables!

Assorted breads are constantly replenished and they aren't stingy like Sunny's where you are billed for extra.

Soup was Cream of Broccoli which Girl from Oz, GFO for short and I shared. The soups are usually brilliant but since I'm not such a big fan of broccoli, I felt it wasn't that great but GFO loved it. The other soup on the menu was a tomato soup. Now tomato makes me gag.

This menu is small but does offer enough choice for most people. Now all of youm know how fussy I can be, this place still offers at least 2 entrees I can choose from.

Dinner was Fish Fillet with Olives and GFO ordered Penne with chicken, mushroom and sudried tomatoes.

The fish was just right, soaked in olive oil with a little chopped olives on the side and dressed ghaas-poos on the other side. Nice. Made nicer with a drop of squeezed lemon.

This combination of penne made me order the same dish in many other places, often with disastrous results. The creamy sauce the penne is soaked in is dee-lish. These guys are good.

Now desserts were the first reason I started coming to Herbs & Spice when I was a student and couldn't afford a full meal (which is not to say the desserts are cheap).

Walnut meringue was shared with the 2 little dessert forks. Don't see the Pavlova that often though. It was the most awesome thing I've ever had. Little slices of kiwi fruit and strawberry placed on half a slice of the meringue and cream. *sigh*

The fact remains, outside of the Casa Piccola chain and the 5star hotels we didn't have much of an option for Italian. Herbs & Spice was one of the first and remains amongst the best Italian/Continental restaurants in Bangalore.

The waiters are friendly and not snooty, even though it's a lot of fun trying to decipher what they are saying. The source of ingredients, I've been told by someone reliable, is the same in all the leading Italian restaurants in this city. Yet the prices in Herbs & Spice remain significantly lower.

Update (30 Jan 06): Bangalore Bytes was at Herbs & Spice with a couple of friends and I joined them in time for dessert. They weren't too happy with the food, complaining the quality went down and prices went up. Strange. In 3 weeks. Maybe it was an off day.Anyhow, was chatting with Mr. Bytes online and here are excerpts of the conversation. (Names changed to protect superhero identities).

Bangalore Bytes says:
dude, update the H&S post

Dilettante says:
what dyu want me to say?

Bangalore Bytes says:
that it was a disappointing meal. tasteless hot water for a consomme, over fried leather for fish, insipid pasta and no salt or herbs in anything. that and the abomination of the new bread basket,

Dilettante says:
hahahahahaha

Anyway, I had a good dinner 3 weeks ago.

Jobless Picture Of The Day

A mangled truck being towed, nay dragged, by a loaded LPG transporter. Road safety week special?

Annachi. 3.00/5.00

Alephnull called and said he was starving, I wasn't but that doesn't ever stop me. Picked him up and went to a new branch of Annachi* at Kammanhalli for lunch. I do like Chettinad food, (Ponnuswamy comes to mind.) and Annachi does a fair version of it.

I had an egg biryani, we shared some pepper fried prawns and some sort of sweet pongal for dessert. The biryani was mediocre, we fair suspect that they have a common rice base and add the meat/egg/veg. according to the order while the stand out feature was the fire extinguisher that was not served with it. Bloody screaming sphincter was it hot?! The prawns were great, superb even, fresh, not over cooked and of a size that was visible without magnifying aides. Dessert was good, if a tad too hot. They really need something frigid to salve our chilly-induced ageusia.

To be fair, their dinner menu is far more interesting. With stuffed parathas, kothu parathas, rabbit and quail (which I highly recommend!)

Go for the food, be prepared for the spice, order buttermilk on the side and a yoghurt/sugar combo for dessert. You should be ok.

*While this may, prima facie, seem to be in conflict with my aforementioned rules of restaurant reviews, it isn’t. I have been to Annachi more than once, just different branches and I have paid my bill on the heretofore-mentioned occasions. Just not this time. (Excuse maadi. I used to be a lawyer)

Imperial and Corner House Combo Meal. 4.25/5.00

Another night, another review. Think Mars vs. Venus, North vs. South and in Epicurean terms it boils down to…. Imperial vs. Empire. My vote, Imperial and this is where I dined, or rather gorged, last night. Alephnull, Karax and moi joining in the debauchery. A word of advice, if meat and unrestrained gluttony are a turn-off, stop reading…NOW!

Imperial is rumoured to have a menu, an extensive one too, but I have never seen it. Well, maybe once but I averted my gaze forthwith. It distracts from the task at hand. I tried the butter chicken once, last night in fact, and will never try it again. It would make a legion sardar cry…like colicky babies. I tried the biryani once, unrecognizable as biryani. Thus ended my experimentation.

On to dinner then; chicken kebab, ghee rice, special gravy, butter chicken, kerala parota, wheat parota, coin parota, special salad and fish fry. The kebabs are outstanding, they are fabulous and have been memorably so over the last 15 years that I have eaten them. They go best with ghee rice/kerala parota and some of the special gravy. And you have to wash it down with a Coke*, never a Pepsi (It cuts through the fat, honesty it does!) Point of note, you need to be a regular to get the special gravy and the special salad else its thinned-down-unidentifiable-gravy and cucumber for you. The kebab has many imitations, Empire comes closest but it does grill a better grilled chicken. The parotas are not the best example available in Bangalore, Arabian Savoury is better but doesn’t have the kebabs. The ghee rice (khushka) is probably the best of its type and so are the coin/wheat parotas. (actually Bombay Kebabs has a better wheat parota which goes well with their goat/cow udder kebab.) The fish fry is not too bad but I’ve only ever eaten it during Lent along with a roomali roti and paneer butter masala (Never. Ever. Again.) but I was asking for trouble by going there during the Lenten season. Beelzebub, away!

Other things that are a must try at Imperial, brain fry (outstanding! Think warm scrambled eggs with pepper and curry leaves.), teethar (for very very special customers only), egg mix kothu parota (if you’re ever in Madras, go to Blue Diamond on Poonamalle High Road and try their version. While you’re there, also try the ceylon egg and kheem parota, ghee parota, mutton korma and round it off with a peach melba. Exemplary! ) their fried chicken tikka, which is quite a mind-f**k and their dal fry (that and ghee rice is about the only things a vegetarian can eat).

Moreover, it is mandatory to finish the meal with a sulemani (proper form being not to stir the sugar that settles at the bottom. Speaking of tea, has anyone tried the cardomom-saffron-green tea served at Kashmiri carpet stores? And then there is Infinitea and Cha Bar and….some other time perhaps…)

We then rolled down Residency Road to Corner House and had two juniors (try the HCF with praline instead of the regular nuts.) and one vanilla chocolate chip ice-cream. Corner House is, like Imperial, the best ice-cream joint in the world except for the Cold Stone Creamery. As for your Nirula-loving freaks, it sucks b***s, big time. However, Corner House needs to take the "Brown Bomb" off their menu. It’s an unsightly name for ice-cream.

Imperial, through an object lens, serves some of the best food to be had anywhere in the world. The emphasis is on the food, ambience is tertiary. I work with many Japanese food technologists who absolutely adore the food and it is a mandatory stop when they are here. Why? It’s fresh and tasty beyond belief (Umami, its all about the umami). What more could one ask for?

Dang, it was some meal.

* In case you’re wondering, drinking/sipping/mentioning Pepsi constitutes grounds for the unceremonious precipitation (with due apologies to Chat!) from my gastronomist circle. Unless it’s Diet Pepsi, which is ok.

Popular media

There's this Kannada tabloid called 'Hi Bengaluru'. They are typical of a tabloid, sensationalist headlines and the like.

There is a photograph of Sonia (known only by her first name), the researcher who was injured in the IISc shootout.

The above headline says (across): Avanu Muslim (He's a Muslim),
and the banner: Bandavanu deiva sainika (God's soldiers have arrived).

This is our media with the abilities to sway popular opinion.

It's fucked up.

Blogworth

My blog is worth $3,387.24.
How much is your blog worth?

Wok After Wok, Dinner at Silver Wok. 3.50/5.00

Hello dear blog readers. One more dinner, one more review. So last night Dilettante, Alephnull, Mache and your favorite gourmet decided to go to Silver Wok for dinner. Since Mache is in India after a 4-year hiatus he wanted Indian Chinese and as Taipan (purveyor of the finest examples of Indian Chinese) was out of the question (Mache owns the place!) it was either Mainland China or Silver Wok. Dilettante maintains that MC is a far better restaurant, which might well be true, but it's too fancy for a guys night out.

Appetizer was bacon wrapped prawn which, as usual, were superb. Fresh, juicy large prawns (or shrimp, if you so please. There is no difference.) wrapped in salty, smoky bacon dipped in a tempura batter of sorts and fried. One word of warning, the use a toothpick to restrain the construct while frying, do remove it. And it is a giganta-normous portion! That and a chicken lung fung soup which was nice, though the use of coriander in place of chinese parsley always disconcerts.

Main course was an egg fried rice, chilly chicken (boneless!), schezwan prawn (ought to be sichuan and contain sichuan peppers, but no worries.), a chicken steamed rice (think kanji with veggies and meat) and a chicken hakka noodle. The rice was good, typical indian fried rice (try the malacca fried rice if you're in the mood for something different), the noodles had that smoked flavour that makes it Indian (although the chicken registered its strong protest at being kept in the refrigerator too long.), the chicken was good, though Alephnull turned up late and had to be content with Chilly Bell Peppers, the prawn was great (a hint of scallion and fresh prawn) and while I liked the chicken steamed rice, Dilettante wasn't so impressed.

I scream, you scream and some ice-cream (sorry!) for dessert and a few bottles of Dr. Mallya's finest rounded out the meal.

Pretty good meal though not the finest examples of Silver Wok's cuisine. My picks, pork momos, barbecue spare ribs, chicken with red and green peppers, lamb conjee and sunflower wontons.

Holla back with what you think of chinese and indian chinese food in namma bengaluru.

The Cute Factor.

Does this qualify as cute?


Jessie Cohen/Smithsonian National Zoo, via Reuters and NYT.

More @ NYT

Shampoo Can Be Dangerous

"Sanath was reaching for his shampoo when he slipped and fell in his bath" and dislocated his shoulder.

Does he even have hair?

More @ Cricinfo

Jobless Pictures

From Hyderabad, with love.

Legend of Sikandar 3.75/5.0

To kick off, I went to Legend of Sikandar last night with a few colleagues from work.

Getting to the restaurant is pretty messy, given that it is at Garuda Mall and moreover, last night was dance night or some such idiocy at the Mall. The place exudes a very intimate allure (bordering on adulterous, a lot like the vibe at Cinnamon) with the tables by the plate glass windows being the best in the house.

The liquor menu is well and good, nothing to get excited by and the best drink in the house is actually on the main menu, some concoction of oven roasted green mango that is thick, warm and tangy to the point of surprise.

The menu is a revelation; they’ve gone for the understated appeal of presenting only a few selections, which is something I appreciate. Appetizers were a lamb seekh kebab, which was, as with all of their food, generous (don’t, dear reader, believe that portion control was the highlight!) moist (how often one is served leather to chew on) and most importantly, restrained in spice to allow the flavour meat to stand out. A chicken noorani kebab that was good without really aspiring to the greatness of the seekh and an outstanding potato creation called aloo took. To be fair, the english translation was smashed potatoes, but this was so much more than that; pan-fried baby potatoes that were slow fried to allow a crust to form without the inside drying out and then lightly tamped to bring out the moisture and flavoured with a delicate spice blend that bordered on chaat but without the horrid hajmola flavour that would have destroyed it. An absolute marvel that, and this from me a carnivore.

Given the appetizers, the main course would really have to dazzle. Lamb shanks served with sheermal, (made the Samarkhand version look positively ordinary), chicken legs cooked in an almond paste (sinful, divine albeit chicken. Chicken ought to be a vegetable.), fish something or the other (the best that could be said about it was that it was fresh and not over cooked. Fish isn’t something that Alexander would have eaten and isn’t something I would have orderd, but Mr. Banerjeee decided otherwise and who am I to argue with a Bong over fish!), a house dal (not bad, yet monotonous. Best black dal in Bangalore? Aangan and Jamaavar.) and a yakhni mutton biriyani. The biryani was terrific. The lamb (couldn’t have been more than 24 weeks old) was fabulous, the flavours delicate and the whole thing had so much of a bouquet.

Dessert was a tad boring, an apricot trifle, (pass.), a kulfi with rose petals (not bad but clichéd.), and a baklava with ice-cream (the best of the lot.)

All in all, a great place to go to if you don’t mind dining in a mall.


Update
Legend of Sikandar Revisited

Calling All Gourmets, Gourmands and Gluttons.

Awright, so here's the thing, I've decided to start posting semi-regular food reviews.

My criteria for reviewing a place are:

1. I need to have visited at least twice,
2. Accompanied by at least one friend,
3. Eaten a starter, main course and desert, and
4. Paid my bill.

Comments are welcome!

That's A Big One!

No? ;-)

What Is Irony?

KFC offering miniature workout station toys along with their kiddy meals! That and a weightless machine.

You're going to need these after eating...must...control...the..urge...zinger...burg....*chomp*

Random Postings

Take a gander at this post on Arif's blog.

bad-bad-coldplay

"Un. Fucking. Believable. This is India, Virgin. INDIA. Piracy started here, dammit. You can’t play Nazi with India."

Heh!

Then walk on over to Wikimedia and watch in amazement as the NYC skyline loads.

NYC Skyline

Good Friends & Laughter

I managed to have a quiet new years eve celebration. A few friends, lots of booze (I did not indulge, but the coke was great!) and laughter. Couldn't have asked for a better beginning, or end. What did you do?

2006 here we come!