Category: Food – Out and About

The Royal Afghan is the poolside restaurant at the ITC Windsor Hotel, a beautiful hotel built to look as though it’s been there for at least a century even though it was actually built in 1982. It opens at 7:30 and we got the earliest possible reservation at 8 pm. A  sweet desk clerk walked us through other beautiful restaurants to get to ours where Melissa was greeted by name at the entrance (one benefit of making a reservation). We were led to a table apart from all others, right next to the pool. It was lovely with a nice view of the building and grounds, although the peace was a bit broken by the honking of cars on the other side of the wall.

The waiters were kind and attentive, putting bibs around our necks (for meat-eaters, this is a barbecue place) and bringing an array of wine bottles for us to consider. They actually had Erath on the wine list, which would have been an obvious choice if it hadn’t cost $150. Knowing Erath as well as we do, we also knew just how inflated that was and couldn’t bring ourselves to do it. Melissa chose the shiraj sangiovese Vino Della Casa, made by Fratelli, an Indian winery who we think brought in an Italian wine maker. It isn’t necessarily our new favorite, but not bad for Indian wine. They also brought us hand towels and explained that we would be eating with our hands, although they said they could bring silverware if we needed it. We assured them that we would eat the food the way it’s meant to be eaten, which made them happy.

After perusing the menu, we told our waiter what we wanted to eat, and he basically said no. We had neglected to order their signature dish, the Dal Bukhara, a black lentil stew that simmers over charcoal fire for 18 hours, and he was disappointed that we would not be able to taste more things. His solution was to offer half portions of four different

This is an entirely inadequate photo of an amazing meal.

 dishes in addition to the dal, paneer makhani, and breads.  It was a magnificent, if overly plentiful, meal. Melissa’s favorite was the Tandoori Phool, roasted spiced cauliflower that is breaded, fried, and then finished on the tandoor. It was amazingly delicious with complex, smoky flavors inside and a nice crispy outside. The Tandoori Simla Mirch was unlike anything we’ve had before, a green pepper stuffed with spiced veggies and cashews, then roasted. So good. The Tandoori Aloo was a peeled, hollowed potato, stuffed with cumin-seasoned potato mashed with cashews and raisins, then roasted in the tandoor so the outside became crispy while the inside stayed soft and flavorful. The Subz Seekh Kabob was probably our least favorite, while still being a very tasty blend of minced, rolled veggies, baked in the tandoor. The Dal Bukhara was just as good as our waiter suggested it would be, and the paneer in a flavorful gravy was quite nice.

At dessert time, we were asked whether we would like an Indian dessert or a chocolate dessert. As good as we’re sure the Indian desserts are, Melissa wanted chocolate for her birthday. A woman came out from the chocolate shop with an iPad to show us the chocolate desserts we could choose. They also gave us a quick primer on the growing chocolate industry in India. Apparently, they are still buying the chocolate itself from Brazil, but there are more and more chocolatiers here. There are also some farmers in Kerala experimenting with growing cocoa.  We selected a gorgeous confection of chocolate mousse on a crispy chocolate cookie, coated in dark chocolate ganache.

It was a perfect birthday dinner.

Flechazo means “love at first sight” in Spanish. While the environment is perfectly pleasant, it wasn’t the sight that got us – it was the delicious food and enthusiastic service. The idea of MediterrAsian food lets them effectively cover all bases, which could have meant mediocrity across the board, but somehow didn’t. The approach was clever and fun and tasty.

There were a few signs of the quality that was to come. First, we had both independently found fabulous reviews of the place. Tom went to Melissa very excited to find a good idea of his own only to find out she already had her eye on the place. Then, there were only two reservation times available: 6:30 and 9:30. We opted for 6;30, which also happens to be opening, since we are usually in bed by 9:30. Finally, by the time they opened, there was quite a crowd gathered, eager to start their experience.

Despite two waiters giving us an introduction to our experience, we had no idea what was coming with the starters and were a little overwhelmed as they just kept coming. We had tandoori paneer tikka, smashed potatoes with cheese, breaded cauliflower and mushrooms with a tasty sauce, and a few other tasty treats. They even offered us french fries, which we opted to decline.

The sushi-go-round style Asian appetizers had veg items on green plates and meat items on red. The veg sushi had lots of wasabi, and the chaat with crispy crackers and delicious sauces was really tasty. We wanted the garlic spinach served in a little bamboo basket, but kept missing it as it came out.

The pasta/pizza station was very much the highlight of the kid-friendly nature of Flechazo. Melissa made us a very tasty pizza. The waiter recommended a pav bhaji, a sort of a sandwich on a soft grilled bread with a potato lentil patty. As with everything else our waiter recommended, it was delicious. We ordered pasta from the pasta station – though it sounded delicious, we were kind of relieved that it didn’t show up. There was simply too much good food!

Although we were getting full, the Indian main courses awaited. We had the familiar — biryani and aloo muttar — and some new to us dishes — such as dal makhani. These were as good as any other we’ve had here. They delivered fresh made butter naan to the table as we returned with our full plates.

Finally, it was time for dessert. They have a huge, colorful, chocolatey display of desserts, but the highlight is the ice cream made to order using liquid nitrogen. Melissa enjoyed the mocha while Tom had the caramello, all while reminiscing of our favorite ice cream back in Portland, What’s the Scoop, made with the same process.

As much as we enjoyed it, it’s probably even more fun with a group. We’ll plan an outing and go back with friends!

We were walking through Bengaluru, having a wonderful walk, headed toward the highly recommended Mavalli Tiffin Room for lunch, when we realized, “It’s Ganesha Chaturthi! I wonder if they’re open!” Sure enough, closed. Rats. A quick search for alternatives, though, showed that we were near not one but two microbreweries. We settled on lunch at Bangalore Brew Works (and ended up at the other, Arbor Brewing, the next day).

We’re not sure we ordered our food very well. We ended up with three fried foods: corn and cheese balls, Indian loaded pots (essentially India’s answer to poutine), and potato and cheese bites. We also got the “Cottage Cheese Delight Slider”, which came with more fries. Oof. Veggie burgers around here are in general quite good — potato and lentil based with varying amounts of masala flavoring and other goodies — and this one was exactly that, quite good. That other stuff all would have been perfectly fine, if we had only one of them. As it turned out, it was a whole lot of fried food. For what it was, it was good enough.

The beer was ok. This is only the second local IPA we had had, but we were starting to worry that IPAs here aren’t the same. Like the one at Druid Garden, it was a little maltier and the yeast was a little, let’s say, Belgianier.

They highlight of the place was the view. It’s on the 10th floor of a building that looks out over what feels like the entire city. There are several spaces, from quiet to raucous, each with its own version of the view. Down one hall, they even had their own poolside bar.

We got there before it was officially open, and by the time we left, there might have been one other group there, so we had the place to ourselves. To this point, we had pretty much either experienced service that was either overwhelming and pushy (in restaurants and stores) or hard to flag down. The young man helping us here got it right. He kept a comfortable distance, but was on top of it when we flagged him down.

Everything at Bangalore Brew Works was good enough. If we end up here again for whatever reason, we’ll be happy. We probably won’t go out of our way to come again.

After a couple failed attempts, we finally made it to Druid Garden. Our expectations were overly high. Shane (Tom’s Head of School) intended to send us there for our anniversary (it was closed so we ended up at Saffron instead), and everybody seems to indicate it is their go-to for a nice, festive night out. In fact, Tom’s colleagues had been the night before, and one of them, Ivana, was very excited for us to try the Vietnamese salad rolls.

When we thought we were going there for our anniversary, while we were still in Portland, we looked at their menu on-line, so we already had a good idea about Druid Garden’s most notable characteristic: a multicultural breadth neither of us had ever seen. They serve Italian, American, Southeast Asian, Latin American, and Indian.

Despite the vast size of the place, it is really very warm. Though there is one large main space, there are a number of smaller, more intimate spaces, as well. We were seated in a secluded little section at a window overlooking the surrounding neighborhood of Sahakanagar, which was lovely, except that we were afraid we were forgotten. Melissa had a nice view of a very large TV, from which she got not only an intro to the ubiquitous cricket, but also an intro to kabaddi, a sport we had been told was basically full contact tag and is a very popular professional sport in India.

And then came the food. We went with a multinational spread: the Vietnamese spring rolls Ivana suggested; leak, corn, and emmenthaler empanadas; and a margherita pizza. We also had their own IPA.

All of it was good, if unremarkable. We will return for the festive, friendly environment and the reliably decent food, but won’t again anticipate a fine dining experience.

For our first meal out on our own at a restaurant we found all on our own, we decided to go to Koshy’s for brunch on our first Sunday in Bengaluru.

Koshy’s first opened its doors in 1940, so it’s been around a while. Melissa had read about it while researching places to go in Bengaluru – while no one lists it as their favorite restaurant, everyone feels compelled to give it a nod, referring to “good old Koshy’s” as a stand-by. When Tom described to his peers that we had been, they had the same unenthusiastic but respectful reaction.

The menu looked ok and the prices affordable, so we thought it would be a good first breakfast out. It definitely has a sort of dimly lit, by-gone charm, and it was packed, which is always a good sign. We enjoyed a dish that was totally new to us, the Sunday special of Appom with vegetable stew, after seeing people around us eating it. Appom are large pancakes that are very thin around the edges and very thick in the middle so they almost look stuffed. They are made from rice flour and coconut milk (gluten and dairy free!), and they are really delicious. The only thing we could equate them to is the Ethiopian bread, injera, but the similarities are really as thin as the outer portions. The accompanying vegetable stew was mild with a coconut milk base and potatoes, carrots, and green beans in it. The combo was delightful. We also enjoyed a cheese omelette (it was cold — we wonder if this is the norm), toast, and coffee.

When trying new restaurants, we always wonder about the Delhi Belly risk. We were, after all, the only white people there for most of time. Our worry was nonsense. It was a delightful meal.