Reviews Posted by: Ruth |
| 57 Reviews |
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| "Lots of creases to be ironed out" |
06 Jan 2010 |
| Java City in Jayanagar is part of this three-restaurant set-up that comprises, Annabrahma on the first floor and Chung Wah Opus on the the semi-open terrace. Java City on the ground floor has a nice open air space that runs around the entire building and is done up in customary wrought iron seating and green umbrellas. While the pastry counter is at the restaurant entrance, the kitchen is on the other end.
We went there on a weekend for lunch and were surprised that the place was empty except for us. There were two of the wait staff, but it was a good 10 minutes before they approached us. The restaurant was promoting waffles - savory and sweet. So I went for the chicken and cheese waffles while husband opted for the waffles with blueberry sauce.
The waffles took a really long time in coming and were a total disappointment. They were definitely not freshly made but rather the heat and eat variety. This could be attributed to the fact that all chain restaurants often have a central kitchen from where food is packaged and dispatched. Mine had one measly slice of chicken folded in half and a slice of cheese. The whole thing was very chewy with absolutely no taste. As for the husband's, his came with a small cup of blueberry sauce, that sadly did not do anything to up the taste factor.
For junior we ordered chicken nuggets, which again was a measly lot served with ketchup and mayonnaise. It could easily have been a frozen packet opened up and served. You can't go wrong with fries and thankfully this place didn't.
To drink, I had a berry and yogurt drink while better half had a cold coffee, the name of which I don't remember. Both were nice without being spectacular. Funny though that despite Java City being a coffee place, we were told that hot coffees of any type were not available.
Dessert was an apple pie which looked a bit hard when it came. And after the first bite, it was safe to say that I was not wrong.
Service is oh-so-slow and from what we had, the specials are nothing to talk about. The time between ordering and the stuff coming to the table was an eternity and we spent the time rolling over laughing at the typos in the menu. Again the loo here is only the one on Chung Wah Opus.
For more pictures visit http://onruthprabhusplate.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html#2454039826285939402 |
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| "A place we can't get enough of!" |
06 Jan 2010 |
| There are some restaurants that you can never get tired of. One of them is Bangalore Bistro. We went there some time ago and decided that we will not stick to our regular order. And so this time round instead of beers, we decided to go with Sula white wine, which comes at a steep Rs 225 a glass.
For starters we decided to have something call Spoony Beef. It sounded really nice and to top it all, it tasted heavenly. The presentation was classic. A square glass dish, with actual spoons of well marinated and tangy chopped beef. This was a bed of lettuce. Each spoon was an absolute delight. It merged the tastes of spicy, tangy and finger licking delicious, all in one. It finally came down to hubby and me assigning spoons to each other.
For the main courses, hubby decided to go Arabian and ordered the Lebanese Sheesh Touk. This was skewers of well marinated meat kebabs, the skewers were heavt duty brass. The came along with three portions of Kubbus or Arabian bread, Hummus, a dip whose name I forget and I a olive salad.
I went in for the Chicken and cheese infused with garlic risotto. Yummmmmy!!!! This time we really had no place for the desserts, but it was a lovely meal, since junior was well entertained and we actually had an entire meal without interruptions. The meal turned out to be a tad more expensive thanks to the wine glasses, but it was well worth the money.
Address: #74, Brigade Road, Bangalore - 25
Phone: 41131616, 25571616
Cuisine: Mediterranean, Continental
Cards Accepted: Yes
Wallet factor: Rs 1200 for two
Parking: Exclusive but limited
you will find more pictures and reviews on Bangalore Bistro at http://onruthprabhusplate.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html#7841328509040158291 |
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| "Real value for money" |
07 Jan 2010 |
| It being Sunday, better half and junior decided to rise at 11.30. I was starving by then since I had skipped breakfast and soon we headed out to Ada Hind Ki. Got there easily enough, it being on Museum Road (its on the same road as The Only Place with Empire at the end of the road). Part of the HM Group, its driveway is a really steep one and then you have the luxury of valet parking.
You have to go up a wooden staircase to get to the restaurant. The ground floor is home to the Chinese restaurant In China. Now I was really up for a long a la carte meal and so was really really disappointed when we were told there was a buffet on and that the restaurant was not prepared to handle an a la carte meal.
Anyways, since we were there and my stomach was not up for a long wait, we dove right in. Soup and starters were brought to the table. Chicken soup and a range of starters, chicken kebabs, tawa fried fish, onion-kheema-malai chops and a mutton dish. All of which were very well done and tasted good enough for another round of a few of them.
The buffet tables were set separate for the vegetarian and non-vegetarian courses, which ensured that there was a good spread for both sides. The was also a salad bar as well as a live pani puri counter.
Rotis were brought to the table and to go with that was a methi chicken which was thick, loaded with methi and delicious. Mutton rogan josh was the onion-tomato based thick gravy. Again, loaded with flavor, piping hot and excellent along with the rotis.
Then came the mutton dum biryani. The wheat seal was broken in front of us. The biryani was wonderfully light, with the rice fluffy and flavored with a raisin paste. The use of raisin paste is something I have seen in traditional Mangalorean cooking which makes a chutney out of raisins to go with sweet pulaos. Anyways, this inclusion made the biryani wonderful. To go with this was the Burani raita, a Hyderabadi specialty.
I wish I had room for the pani puri which I personally adore, but I was not about to let go of the desserts. There was warm Rajbhog, hot jalebis (so they claimed but they were not), a peach cake and hot sabudana kheer. A lovely end to a satisfying meal. To wash all this down as an nice mint flavored jal jeera as well as tasty buttermilk.
Though a buffet was not really what I wanted, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The number of items were limited, but each one was well made and could not really be faulted. Service was nice without be too in-your-face. The entire meal came to Rs 299 a head
For more pictures - http://onruthprabhusplate.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html#7547335928382539613 |
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| "The first Arya Vyshya restaurant" |
07 Jan 2010 |
| Whenever I don't feel like cooking but want a full course vegetarian meal, it has always been Nagarjuna (the Andhra food chain). So what is so different about Annabrahma is that it serves Arya Vyshya food or rather the traditional vegetarian fare that you will find homes of Andhraite vegetarians like the Settys.
Now the food. Before us was placed a steel plate with several partitions, just like most of us had when we were kids. First came a carrot milkshake and some buttermilk. I was quite skeptical about how carrot juice and milk (yes I know gajjar ka halwa, but that is carrot and this was the juice) would go together. But it really did go well together and was yummy.
Next came two sweets - obattu ( a jaggery stuffed pancake) and pineapple sheera. Junior demolished the obattu and I saved the sheera for after dinner. Am still not used to the sweets before dinner habit.
Next came a round of savouries - hot and crisp onion bajjis, sandige (fried crispies) and chaklis. Needless to say, junior was the happiest. The four partitions were filled up with a chutney, tendli or tondekai palya (small gherkins), a raita and a kosambari (cucumber dish). The roti of the day was that of toor dal, a first for me. Yummy is the verdict for all.
Next came my all-time south indian favorite - the bisi bele baath with the crispies. It was hot and absolutely hit the spot.
This was followed by rice with a greens sambhar and then again with rasam which was dal based. Both good, but rather on the sweeter side for me. I am more of the chilli and pickle types and if you put both together I will be the happiest.
The menu changes all the time and you will have ragi rottis, rava rottis, a change in the chutneys as well as the rice dishes in place of the bisi bele bath that we had. The drinks to vary with coconut water, jal jeera, kokum and other such being served. Same goes for the sweets. Service is very friendly and you could ask for as much of anything as you wanted. The meal was Rs 110 a head which is pretty good considering the number of items on offer.
For more pics - http://onruthprabhusplate.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html#915215295982800762
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| "Nice Chinese for nice prices" |
09 Jan 2010 |
| We decided to go Chung Wah's with a vegetarian couple friends of ours. We got there all bundled up since I need an excuse to feel cold. Chung Wah Opus is semi-open to the elements and it can get a bit chilly. Have always loved the wooden decor and the courteous staff.
We were seated at the same place we always sat. This meal, I knew was going to be interesting because one side of the table with our friends, would be entirely vegetarian without even a hint of eggs. And the other side - us - was going to be a carnivorous side.
We decided to go all the way and ordered soups and starters in veg and non-veg. Soups were Tom Yum chicken soup and sweet corn soup. Starters were vegetarian spring rolls and chicken on crispy spinach. The soups were both nice but I felt the Tom Yum could have done with some more lemony zing.
As for the starters - the vegetarian rolls were amply stuffed with vegetables with a nice crisp and hot exterior. The sweet and sour garlic sauce served with it, is a recipe I am hunting for. We have had the chicken on crispy spinach before and have always liked it. The spiciness of the chicken is offset by the slight sweetness of the crisp spinach.
Main courses for the vegetarians was a choice of noodles - am not sure of the name but would go with the vegetarian mixed fried noodles and vegetable balls in hot garlic sauce. We went in for the double cooked lamb and Chung Wah Fried Rice in Veg. All of the dishes without doubt were good. Quantities too are good value for money.
Desserts we were told could also be brought from the Java City downstairs which is also part of the same management. We ordered the walnut cake and the darsan with ice-cream. The walnut cake was so-so. And for some strange reason the darsan had lime juice squeezed on it which did not really make it appetizing enough to go with the ice-cream. Those eating it left it largely untouched.
Service at this place is nice. The bill I am not sure of since our vegetarian friends decided that the treat was on them. But I would safely put it at Rs 750 for two.
For more photos - http://onruthprabhusplate.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html#3115570949705548876 |
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