Restaurant Week India 2014 and Republic of Noodles (St. John's Road, Banaglore)

September means Citibank Restaurant Week India!  A whole week of 'food glorious food' and tough decisions (so many places to try, so little time). I was invited for a preview dinner at one of the participating restaurants and chose Republic of Noodles. In all honesty, it was not my first choice but the world works in mysterious ways and I’m actually glad I went there last night. After Indian food, I think Asian food is something that tickles my palate – the complexity of flavors never ceases to amaze me.  

  

Republic of Noodles is located at the Lemon Tree Premier on St.Johns Road. Started in Goa in 2007, this award winning restaurant has slowly made its mark as an excellent destination for food from the regions of China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos and Burma. After alighting from the lift, you walk through a wooden door to step into a space dominated by red and black. The Buddha statues and green plants add the much needed contrast to the heavy colors and in the end it results in creating an intimate and warm dining space.  

The FPD Festival: Jamva Chalo Ji - Parsi Cuisine @ ITC Cubbon Pavilion (Residency Road)

I’ve grown up lusting over Dhansak. The Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall and the Fire temple was very close to where I lived and the sprightly Parsees always had some fair or event where one on them would be doling out Dhansak! I also had a Parsi friend in school whose lunchbox came crammed with delicious treats. So it’s pretty fair to say I know and love Bawa cuisine. 

The ITC is playing host to Chef Parvez Patel’s (of Ideal restaurant fame from Mumbai), to showcase the best of Bawa cuisine. . Parsi food is primarily Persian in origin but is heavily influenced by Gujarati cuisine as well. A Parsi wedding is judged by how good the meal spread was and it’s not uncommon to find conversations just revolving around food. There is another unique thing about most Parsees I know – their inherent dislike of vegetables and the need to dress it up with some meat or egg at least! So vegetarians, it’s understandable if you feel sidelined here – but ITC has definitely tried to include the tamer veggie versions of the Parsee classics for you. 

Breakfast and Gossip @ Church Street Social (Church Street, Bangalore)

I hate having to get up at unearthly hours on a weekend (10 AM of course) to catch breakfast at a decent joint. Church Street Social serves Breakfast throughout the day. That’s reason enough for me to like them. I also like their industrial design, quirky prints, funky trays and fun drinks, but we’re not focusing on that today. We are paying homage to bacon and sausages and pancakes and eggs and French toast and sugar and spice and everything nice. Just like God intended. Word.  

The FPD Product: Pure Indulgence with Royce Chocolates (Bengaluru Baking Company, Bangalore)

 At the mention of luxury chocolate, the first thing that comes to mind is a Swiss or Belgian brand. So it was natural that I let out a faint sign of disbelief when JW Mariott, told me that Royce Chocolates (which was due to launch on the 20^th of June at the Bengaluru Baking Company) was actually a product of Japan! Like most laymen, my association of Japan was with Sushi and Sony (yes I’m a bumpkin like that!). The team explained that the chocolate is produced in the Hokkaido region of Japan which is a doppelganger for the Swiss Alps with its green pastures, snow covered mountains and dairy farms!  Somehow, the world seemed less crazy now.

Royce (pronounced like Rolls-‘royce’, but having no connection to it), has been around since 1983 and is a pretty familiar name to the well-traveled in Asia. The most popular of their offerings (and in my opinion the one with most fanfare) is their Nama range of chocolates. We tried the Ghana Bitters (48% Cocoa) and the Mild Cacoa flavors. I was instantly taken in by the Ghana bitters. Delicate, creamy (courtesy – cream from the Hokkaido cows), melt-in-the-mouth with just the right edge of bitterness. Nama means pure in Japanese and the product stays true to the name by being hand rolled, using raw cocoa, and having no preservatives. This also means that it has a short shelf life and you need to consume it soon. (No problem with that!).      

The FPD Festival: mmmBurger @ Smoke House Deli (Bangalore)

Grills, Burgers, Cold Beers and other tidings of summer always make a Bangalorean happy. Not that we have too much to complain, considering our weather is more equitable than most cities in India and we indulge our summer fancies right through the year! The pub capital of India seems to have a soft spot for burgers (including veggie ones) and I can bet my bottom dollar that every pub has burgers listed on their menu. Why, even coffee shops and breakfast joints can’t stay away from listing meat sandwiched between a bun as their runaway hit. Smoke House Deli went a step further and had a whole festival dedicated to burgers. They call the mmmBurger Festival an ode to all things meaty as well as a little gift to all their patrons. “Each burger promises a distinct charred, smoky and flame licked flavor”, they say. We went on a balmy Wednesday evening to unwind over a couple of cocktails and sample their wares.

The FPD Festival: Hot Rock Grills @ Dublin (ITC Windsor, Bangalore)

There’s something about the sizzle of a grill that brings out the caveman/ cave women in us. The thrill to see something cooking on a hot rock versus a modern day oven is a primitive urge I can’t explain. There are umpteen theories about why this style of cooking results in the most luscious grills. The ones that makes the most sense to me are A. the ability of the stone to retain and distribute heat evenly and B. the retention of moisture and flavor in the food while preventing flare-ups caused in regular grills. Now, not all of us have the privilege of owning hot stones (generally made of volcanic rock) but Dublin at the ITC Windsor brings the excitement of cooking on a hot stone right to our plate, with the Hot Rock Grills festival. The Irish pub comes alive with a variety of sizzlers crafted by Executive Chef Uchit Vohra giving diners an option of healthy, oil free cuisine made from a selection of meats and seafood. Presented on preheated “Rocks” served with an array of rubs and sauces, it’s a festival designed to delight your inner grill monster. 

We tried their offering this Saturday and (I’ll say it even before I finish the post) came away absolutely delighted. There are many restaurants these days that focus on the frills and thrills rather than the food and eventually lose their regular patrons. Dublin need not worry – their commitment to make food the hero, will always hold them in good stead. 

Terrariums and other Surprises @ Ottimo (ITC Gardenia, Bangalore)

It looks like every five star hotel worth its salt, needs to have an Italian restaurant to cater to our new found love of Italian cuisine. You can’t blame them after all, the Indians have taken with gusto to pasta as if it were dal chawal! Ottimo (which means excellent in Italian) has steered away from the carb-heavy renditions of Italian cuisine and bravely presented a lighter fare with emphasis on nutrition and fresh ingredients. Chef Vittorio Grecco has also indulged his love for molecular gastronomy here and his experience in Michelin starred restaurants across Italy has helped him nudge us towards trying something which looks unfamiliar, but in the end is an excellent tribute to the flavors of Italy. 

Ottimo stands in place of the erstwhile West View Grill and has an air of relaxed luxury. The restaurant itself wraps around the main kitchen which displays a row of terrariums (Micro gardens within their own eco-system, sitting pretty within glass containers). While I am not personally a fan of velvet sofas (this one has a coat of arms of essential herbs!), I loved the beautiful pictures of plants and herbs shot by Magda Indigo that hung above it. The red tinted glasses offer a beautiful shot of color in the otherwise subdued theme. However, after sampling the dishes on offer, I was tempted to suggest that the restaurant needed to present a more light and airy atmosphere to go with Chef Greco’s beautifully plated dishes. 

Some Irish grub and Amritsari Fish @ Blimey! (1 MG Road Mall, Bangalore)

If you’ve lived in Bangalore for the past year, chances are you have already heard of Blimey. Not the expression ‘Blimey!’ (I’m pretty sure no Irishman/women uses it these days) but Blimey the gastropub located at 1MG mall. They are pretty notorious for their packed to the kilt hilt Sunday brunches and the teeny boppers that frequent the place for sundowners. With the amazing view of Ulsoor lake from their terrace, coupled with some cool cocktails, Irish brews and grub – they have survived the one year mark. And that my friends, is an achievement in Bangalore, which has become ruthless in weeding out restaurants and pubs which don’t make the mark. So to celebrate their coming of age (yes, one is a good number), the gastropub has decided to update their menu with some cool new dishes. We went on a Monday to sample the old and the new and let you know what hits the spot. 

Dining in Style - Riwaz @ The Ritz-Carlton (Bangalore)

A New York style maven once said, ‘Style is a way of saying who you are, without having to speak’. In the matter of The Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore, luxury seeps through every pore of its being! From the awe inspiring driveway, to the elegant and intricate jaali work, to the splashes of gold and the fire and stone décor – you just can’t escape it. Riwaz their North-West Frontier cuisine restaurant envelopes itself in this richness while somehow managing to still keep the décor modern. Chef Ramandeep Kukreja heads the culinary team at the restaurant and is clearly passionate about the cuisine. While I felt this type of cuisine was done to death in all the ‘North Indian’ restaurants in Bangalore, I still could not turn down an invite to sample the new menu at Riwaz. (They make a conscious effort to come out with something new every six months.) Why, some of the recipes are sourced from the chef’s own family and that gave me the necessary incentive to accept a dinner invitation on a weekday. 

FoodLovers Gourmet City - Le Jardin @ The Oberoi (Bangalore)

Bangalore has been a glutton for restaurant showcases in the past couple of years and every gourmand worth his salt, bookmarks this time to explore and indulge. Le Jardin at The Oberoi played host to us this Thursday to kick start the FoodLovers Gourmet City event. With 20 of the finest restaurants in Bangalore participating this year, it promises to be a celebration of all things food. While value for money has always been the driving theme for restaurant showcases, FoodLovers Gourmet city combines that with a specially curated menu featuring the chef’s signature dishes. Add to that the variety of cuisines on offer, options to dine out at lunch or dinner, choices between a 2 course and a 3 course menu – and you have yourself an event that’s bound to stand out from the crowd. 

FoodLovers takes it a couple of notches higher and ends the showcase with FoodLovers Chefs for Charity. The 20 participating restaurants offer a gourmet grazing experience over lunch on 29^th March, at The Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore.  All proceeds from this event go to Sneha Nilaya, an orphanage run by the Franciscan Sisters Of The Immaculate Society, in Langford Gardens, Bangalore, that looks after the complete well-being of orphans and under-privileged children. We had a chance to meet with Executive Chef of The Oberoi, Bangalore - Amit  Wadhawan and Chef and Director of Caperberry restaurant – Abhijit Saha, who over lunch offered us their perspective of why Chefs for Charity holds a special place in their hearts as well. I’m a staunch supporter of Corporate Social responsibility and when it comes in the form of a celebration, there’s little that I can do to resist. March is also going to be a month of celebrations for me – with seven birthdays, including my own, interspersed with dining at fabulous restaurants and ending with the Chefs for Charity event – all I want for my birthday is an iron gut!

The FPD Festival: Syrian Christian Delicacies @ Karavalli (The Gateway Hotel, Bangalore)

Karavalli has a long standing tradition of training its chefs in the kitchens of traditional homes and still continues to procure ingredients from the original source. As a tribute to household recipes that can be lost in the pages of time, Karavalli makes a conscious effort to bring this back into our memories and taste buds by hosting traditional food festivals. This February it plays host to Mathai Achayan and his Syrian Christian delicacies. 

God’s own country has a host of different communities that call it home and each one of them has a special way of treating local spices like red chillies, coconut, pepper, fresh fish and meats to bring out something completely unique. In Kerala, the Syrian Christian food is a little different from the regular Kerala Hindu Sadya, becaue of the addition of non-vegetarian elements to the meal. The most noted contribution of the community to the cuisine of Kerala has been the hoppers, duck roast, meen vevichattu and the istew (stew). Mr. Mathai hails from the Vattukulam, in Kottayam district, which is the heartland of the Syrain Christian Community. Having trained under his mother and grandmother, he is here to let your experience the traditional recipes from the grand kitchens of Kottayam, Travancore,Kollam, Allapuzha and Chaganassary now recreated at Karavalli. 

Live Blogging for Social Media Week Bangalore 2014 @ Fava (UB City, Bangalore)

Bangalore played host to Social Media Week (#SMW Bangalore) this year and it was definitely an honor to be a part of it! The FB page states that “SMW Bangalore is where we make progress in regards to how humanity and technology come together”. Taking place in eight cities simultaneously from February 17-21, 2014 it is truly an amalgamation of the best social media mavens in the world. #SMWBangalore is powered by Nokia India & Hosted by R Square Consulting, and I was invited to take part in the Live Food Blogging Session at Fava. I also spoke in a panel discussion about Social Media and its impact on the restaurant industry, but I will focus my efforts on taking you through the live blogging session. 

Let’s be honest first off. It is super difficult to eat, listen, interact and finally blog at the same time. Especially when people like me are attached to their DSLR’s like conjoined twins. My Samsumg S3 takes fairly good pictures compared to other mobile phones but it really cannot do justice to the food presented. So in all fairness, the blogging that happened at the event was restricted to my FB page. I could not however deprive you of the beautiful pictures from the lunch at Fava and so this post materializes!

The FPD Festival: Grill Fest @ Polo Club (The Oberoi, Bangalore)

Let’s say you had a chance to dine under the stars in a beautiful garden with the sound of a gurgling fountain in the background. Let’s say you had the finest and freshest produce laid out in front of you. Let’s say you had a very accomplished chef manning the grill to keep you company. And let’s round off this hypothetical situation with one talented mixologist who wouldn’t stop impressing you with exciting cocktails. Wouldn’t you rush to be a part of this? Well, lucky for you this scenario is not something I cooked up in my overactive imagination. Polo Club at The Oberoi ensures you will have a lovely evening at their Live Grills Festival. 

I was invited for an evening of grills, cocktails and fun conversations (the last part we rustled up ourselves) and left the evening a little more light headed then when I arrived. Polo Club is a place that fits perfectly with Bangalore’s Garden City tag. And it really is a joy to dine alfresco in a city that is designed for it! They also have indoor seating where you will come across vintage photos of the Raj era depicting scenes from the game of Polo. The garden area is bathed in the soft glow of candle light and definitely put me in a relaxed mood. In all, a classy space where you can linger over your cocktails or knock down some unique drinks and indulge in conversations with friends. 

The FPD Festival: The Monkey Bar Burger Festival (Residency Road, Bangalore)

Monkey Bar has some tricks up its sleeve for the next two weeks – their Gourmet Burger festival! I mean, who better than the Gastro pub pioneers in the country, to bring us something out of the ordinary?! If you’ve read Malcolm Gladwell’s book - Outliers, you know the ‘10,000 hour rule’. It simply states that mastery in any field can be achieved with close to 10,000 hours of practice. Well, MoBar can aim to get on the master bandwagon – after all, they claim to have churned out 10,000 burgers since they opened! J

MoBar has always been out-there when it comes to their interpretations of classics and I like that they push the envelope a little bit (ok, a lot!). How different can a burger get? Well, they promised us it was ‘the most fun we could have between two buns’ (ahem…), and I for one wasn’t planning to pass up an opportunity to try their creations.

We were a little spoilt for choice – 8 different gourmet burgers to choose from, between the three of us. Oh wait…the last one was a dessert burger! (How? Why? Really?) Comon, where’s your sense of adventure? :P  

The FPD Quickie: Drinks and Dimsums @ Yauatcha (M.G. Road, Bangalore)

This restaurant has been spoken about in hallowed hushes and reverent tones ever since it opened its doors to us poor Bangaloreans. The branch of a Michelin starred restaurant from London? Here? To grace us? *gasp, stutter, swoon*. Take a second - breathe. Now hear me out. For all the brouhaha – Yauatcha does not claim to be some super sexy, high-on-a pedestal brand. What it does claim to be and rightfully so (considering its pedigree) – is a contemporary dim sum teahouse offering an international experience. You would not wince to spend $70 on a nice meal for two abroad with the same quality of ingredients, similar setting and almost ditto execution of the dish – so why flinch now?

Zen and the Art of Lounging @ Tao Terraces (M.G. Road, Bangalore)

After reading mixed reviews about the Tao Terraces, it was time for me to check it out myself. I have always visited their gorgeous terrace lounge bar for a couple of drinks and to enjoy the best house music in Bangalore. Even through the restaurant on the 1^st level looks like a setting out of an opulent Thai mansion, I’ve always headed straight up for the views and the wonderful Bangalore weather. This time I was determined to give their Pan-Asian restaurant a try as well, especially since I realized that they served Japanese, as well as Burmese cuisine.  

Situated on the 5^th floor of the 1MG mall, it’s not hard to find. The hostess will guide you to the big red door that opens into the lavish and distinctly Asian setting. We headed up to the lounge first for a couple of drinks before our dinner reservation downstairs. One thing the Tao Terraces can boast of is having space! The terrace is made up of Thai style open cabanas, water bodies and little lamps. Overlooking MG road and Ulsoor it makes for a pretty picture. My only grouse is that they serve only drinks and a limited selection of starters and dim sums at the lounge – for the full menu you need to head back to the restaurant. (They also have something called the meal in bowl option – but I’ll save that for a quick lunch day). 

Citibank Restaurant Week - Szechwan Court (The Oberoi, Bangalore)

Restaurant Week is a week of indulgence for me. But excesses of the excellent variety are always welcome in my books! This is the second year for the Citibank Restaurant Week India (RWI) in Bangalore (23^rd Sep to 2^nd Oct) and reservations open for Citibank customers today. Everyone else will have to wait till the 18^th of September to get a chance to dine in the finest restaurants of Bangalore – think Olive Beach, Szechwan Court, Dakshin, Caperberry and a whole lot more! RWI runs twice a year in March and September, simultaneously across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The prix fixe menu allows the restaurants to showcase their signature dishes in each category and diners get a chance to experience this at an unbelievable price of Rs.750/-++ in Bangalore. You need to make reservations online before you can dine – so having a fast broadband connection and the gumption to beat the hundreds of others vying for a dinner slot helps.

I was offered a preview dinner for RWI at the Szechwan Court a week ago and I gladly accepted. The Oberoi in my opinion has no equal when it comes to service and I have always been a fan of their award winning restaurants. I had offered a step motherly treatment to Szechwan Court in favour of Rim Nam and Le Jardin on many occasions. So when RWI put Szechwan Court on the list – It was my first choice. We strolled in for our 8:00 PM reservation and were promptly taken to our seats by the window. The restaurant is a subtle mirror of the orient with red and gold hues. With large windows looking out to the garden and soothing music playing in the background you can sink into the comfortable chairs and await a truly five star experience.

Togarashi and The Bento Box @ Monsoon (The Park, Bangalore)

Japanese cuisine is so varied that to even fit the basics into one post would be a gargantuan task. So I will restrict myself to what I tried as part of the new Bento Box introduced by Monsoon at The Park Bangalore. The Bento Box is ahem…a box (sheepish grin), that holds a single portion meal of rice, cooked fish or meat along with pickled vegetables. It is the Japanese version of our lunch dabbas, albeit carefully prepared and presented (as is with everything Japanese)!

The Japanese have created an art form, even with something as simple as a lunch box. Bento’s can range from the simple arrangement of food to the more complex ‘Kyraben’ where the items are arranged to look like popular Japanese cartoon figures or ‘Oekakiben’ where the food is arranged to form a picture. The Bento boxes itself can range from beautiful black lacquered boxes, shiny metal boxes to the more modest and convenient disposable microwave boxes. Japanese homemakers spend a considerable amount of time making Bento’s for their kids and they even have competitions to judge the most beautiful Bento. (I shudder to imagine how much time that must take up everyday – especially with our harried schedules and workloads!)

Sussegado - Goan Food Festival @ LIDO (Hyatt, Bangalore)

My love for seafood is a direct result of Goan cuisine. There’s nothing I like better than good prawn curry rice or a pomfret recheado or a kane rawa fry. I’m not Goan by birth…not by a good 485 kms 567 kms, but I love that place and it’s sussegado (laid back) culture like my own! So when a friend invited me to the Hyatt for the Goan Food Festival, it was hard to say no. Especially because the delicacies on offer were from the kitchen of Chef Edrige Vaz from Casa Sarita at the Park Hyatt, Goa!

Break'First' at Monkey Bar (Wood Street, Bangalore)

So my favourite bar (like it was a secret!) in Bangalore is now serving Brekkie! And not just any brekkie but gourmet brekkie. We’re talking the whole nine yards! And of course I went there to stuff my face because breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. I like that fact that we can eat bacon and pancake syrup and fruit and chocolate and bread and ice cream – all in one meal and no one thinks that’s weird! See why it enjoys a special place in my heart?