Hungry in Bangalore: Ice N Spice, St Marks road (Guest Review by Karthik)

Guest Article by Karthik -

Situated in one of the most happening areas of this so called "Silicon Valley", Bangalore, lies my most beloved restaurant that goes by the name of 'Ice 'N Spice'. A title that very aptly describes LIFE as well. And yes, i find my very purpose for existence in here. GOOD FOOD.

Known primarily for its British, Italian, and Mexican cuisine the place also offers a few Indo-British (yeah you read that right! ) dishes which are no doubt, the chef's own creation. But good ones at that. The exquisite flavor, and the variety of the food makes the place quite a rage among the foodies!

I, personally being an aficionado of British cuisine( Steak, burgers, et. all) am a regular face over there. The ambience is quite good, and the music is just another reason to be present here. The Non veg steak being a specialty of theirs, is so well made and soft, that you wouldn't need a knife at all! And all this food talk is making me extremely hungry. Sadly I am miles away,and can only look forward for tomorrow to arrive.

A tad too expensive, the place does not have much to offer for the common man, hoping to find an 'Idli' or a 'Dosa' over here. What it does have, are the mouth watering Chicken Steak burgers that are embellished with Barbeque Sauce and oodles of Mayonnaise that comes with the classic potato chips as well. All in all a great combo, that makes for a very satisfying experience every single time i come here. With a large crowd present almost through out the day, the service is
is well...limited. But who cares as long as the food is worth it?

And I am off to make myself a midnight snack!

Until next time,
Bon Appétit!

Advice Animal - Avoid getting trapped by the Net

Internet addiction - digital dope of the masses now. Depriving millions from exercise, well rounded personalities and 20/20 vision over the past decade. Sporadically recognized as a problem, this personal vice is affecting people with alarming pace and magnitude.

After alarm bells were set off by my junior who apparently spent a huge part of the day on the internet, consciously ignoring more time on this vice, I decided to write the following mail addressed to both of us.


I noticed your computer usage is largely unproductive in nature and now that your student life is coming to an end, there has to be a drastic correction for your own significant benefit. Trust me, I am speaking looking back at my own and others mistakes.

Somedays I would be surfing FaceBook and share sites the whole day. The brain just happens to tune out of anything 'work' related. I read stupid jokes and forwards and procrastinate on things till the last minute when I would work through the night to complete things. I wonder why would I knowingly while away time so very very unproductively. Its scientific probably. We get so used to this habit of instant and constant internet stimulation that we rewire our brain to seek out this artificial hit of dopamine. Much like nicotine.

If one writes down what he/she has done the entire day they would realize how much value that day had and was lost. By value I dont mean constant productivity, watching a cooking show would teach you something new too. As long as you have your priorities right, you would know what is worth the valuable time spent. But this is very difficult, I guess only Buddhist monks can be the true practitioners of this wisdom - knowing what really matters. I am guilty of not practicing what I type.

Since you are not a monk, lets stick to the basics and get down to the point. Time/Life is getting wasted in front of a screen. What to do? Like it takes an injured man incredible resolve and perseverance to become fit again, a comparable and satisfying effort is required here too.

1.There is life beyond a PC. There is the great outdoors which is getting lost everyday due to pollution and what not. There are so many new activities done and they dont come as attachments or apps.

2.Maintain a strict schedule. Take a decision how many minutes and how frequently you thinking surfing is good, write it down and STICK TO IT.

3.Cultivate better uses for the internet. There are so many productive sites to learn so many things and add something of solid value to your life. Learn a Foreign Language (livemocha.com). Join a professional forum, if you are an electronics engineer there are robotics site. Blog..etc etc there are endless good things that can be done. Scheduling time is necessary as its very easy to get carried away with things so easily.

4. Most important - Donot neglect you have a problem which has a solution. Neglecting a problem is first and usual reaction; to escape from a problem by neglecting it. Like all bad habits, realization of its presence and knowledge of the solution immensely helps overcoming it.

I look forward to your reply.

Hungry in US: dil ko SAKOON at Mountain View

Coming soon the pics as soon as I get it

Indian food in the US, many a times victim to the degradation to suit 'localized' tastes. Its what has happened to Chinese food in India - to that effect you get the 'Indo-Chinese' cuisine in the US ..mind blasting! But it hasnt suffered as much due to places like Sakoon at Mountain View, Ca.

Probably the best Indian food ever. Its a whole new ad different dimension to Indian food - sample this the Avocado Jhalmuri - basically the humble Bhel on a base of Avocado cake with Tamarind chutney and the Lavender Kulfi, take something basic and make something innovative and super tasty. The traditionals like Shahi Paneer and Chana Pindi got the thumbs up from Veggie King Rohit. The Chicken Sakooni was very very good.

Veg Biryani, paradox in its name since Biryani was invented to be a non vegetarian affair, but these guys here took it, gave it a great presentation and even better taste. The service here is good with the waiter cutting open a doughy shroud of freshly cooked biryani which tastes great.

I am keeping it short because I have to sleep on time if I am to be on schedule tomorrow for more feasting and fun. Probably celebration for getting over my writers block at the end of my awesome US experience.

Hungry in US - Monterray, CA: Indian Summers

Do you know the Chinese food in India. Its not Chinese. Here is what is happening to Indian food. Well not the exact analogy, since Indian is so unique you can only go so far as to corrupt it..anyways hungry from our long drive we come down to the nice city of Monterey in the night. Read that this place is a tourist destination - well not in the night.

Indian Summers. Music is arabic, not a single desi in sight. Its definitely a happening place, but chilly and the fireplace you see in the pic is not for show. You need the fire to keep warm. Well food, me and Sharayu tried to Non veg with Spicy Fried fish not spicy, Chik Jalfrezi - mysteriously spicy since we didnt see chillies. The veggies had a good time with the Maakhanwala, the dal and the peas jeera rice. They even went as far to say this was the best they had! Come on now Non Veg is also food, you have to make both of them good.

Anyways we had to leave before the Reggae band started playing. Yes Reggae band in and Indian Restaurant. On the expensive side...

On a foodie blog roll! No.3:

Hungry in US - Aptos, CA: Manuel's Mexican

I was growing loathsome about Mexican food in the US. Mexican is close to the Indian cuisine, but I just simply didnt like the fast food version. Until we got hungry along CA1 and decided to have some mexican. Thank you GPS, for guiding us to this delightful place. I like mexican now, especially at Manuel's.

Hemant guided the vehicle to this blink and you miss restaurant. This place is pretty old with and old style mexican tavern feel to it. The service was very warm and friendly. We needed a lot of guidance with the orders since we were new to this authentic cuisine which is unlike that of taco bells. Lot of variety for Non Veggies. We didnt want to risk anything meaty on the road so we opted for everything Vegetarian. Which again the hostess guided us. The Cheese Enchilada I had ordered was enchanting. Delicately made pockets of veg stuffed with cheese and covered in a wonderful tomato bean gravy melted in my mouth. Sharayu had the Quesadillas and the guys had the traditional Bean Burrito which were pretty decent. The Salsa Fresca was adequately hot. The Mexican equivalent of masala Papad - the Tortillas and Habanero sauce kept on coming. We generally dont have deserts, cause in the US, the portions are huge. Still we decided for the hostess's suggestion and again she hit the sweet spot with Flan and Mexican ice cream - a nicely spiced (not hot spice) chocolate ice cream which she described as 'her favorite ice cream'. Its really really good.

For those who would want to know and should know, they do not take Amex :)

Hungry in US - San Francisco: Burma SuperStar

This made me right a review at Yelp and give it four stars. This made me write a blog about it without a pic (coming soon). This is making me very hungry writing about it.

I said hello to Burmese cuisine in San Francisco. Burma, our country's iron curtained mysterious neighbour, has such delightful food to offer and I wonder why we didnt take it and indianize the hell out of it.

Well, authentic or not this place is a must visit. My cousin followed instructions, not suggestions, to drive all the way upto Frisco with the kids and me to San Francisco just to eat at this place. We had to wait 30 mins to get in at 5.15 pm. So that just pretty much sums up the popularity of this place.

Heres my review same as at Yelp:

The food here is very very good. For an Indian guy, even I found this place to be spicy..I guess because the server was observant of my tastes and got my order in the right time. I loved the Samusa soup,Tea Salad, Nan Pia...well heck everything. Really liked the Mango Coconut juice too. I am coming here again and ready to wait in line for a long time just so I get hungry and eat moar!

San Francisco - City by the bay

Man is measured by his friends. I am a billionaire. Before I reach the US invitations, plans and discussions arrived or started with gusto. So dear pal and ex boss Sharayu and her Husband Hemant lay it down for me...first weekend its Frisco!

And not just any tepid car tour, we biked over the golden gate bridge. If you can imagine joy, aching muscles and wind blasted wide eyed exhilaration in one moment multiplied by several hours.

We had to buy a 3 bike rack, exchange it for a new working piece, load up the bikes then start to SFO from Surajganj, CA (Sunnyvale for noobs). The good thing in this season is that Sun sets at around 8.10 pm so you can do a lot of activities in day light. First stop FisherMans wharf. This place is the chowpati of SFO, but not a beach. It has rows of Piers, some of which are functional. Rohit had to rent a bike from here and off we go.

Slopes are killer in SFO. Killed my gears right off the start. My Bike was rescued by Hemant with his common sense and plain mechie skills. I dared not change my gears but then as can be imagined, I stress the slopes are killer. I crawled my way up the slopes while Sharayu, Hemant and Rohit were floating like fairies up the the picturesque route.

The route went through beaches, through awesome lawns, through lovely neighborhoods, through hills, through scenic high point vistas, through the golden gate bridge..through a mindbendingly beautiful montage of sights and sounds.

Biking over the Golden gate bridge is an experience not to be missed. The win blasts and chills you while you over look the pacific over one shoulder and Frisco city over the other. You see the traffic stream mixed with tour busses and you wonder why they are boxed in steel when they could be biking or else walking over the bridge. Get Sunscreen. Just after we went over the bridge is an awesome ride down slope into sleepy Sausolito. Unexpectedly we come across a bunch of Indians and among them is a pal Rakesh. What a coincidence.

A nice ferry ride took us back to Pier 39 where we had parked the car. Like little kids back from an amusement park we went back home with a glow and deep tan on our face, ache in our body and warmth in our hearts.

Amrikka!

Finally I manage to erase the shame of not having gone to 'Foren' despite being in IT for 3.5 years. Unlike my imagination, the entry wasnt as wide eyed and breath taking as I imagined primarily due to the fact that the airlines lost the bag which had all my clothes, the immigration giving me a hard time and the customs insisting they hand check every thing in my bags and pockets. Couple that with a let down of a hotel and you have one seriously angry jet lagged desi. The journey from San Francisco airport to my place in Belmont wasnt that jolly as I had imagined.

Rescue was 35 mins away at my cousins place in Santa Clara. Jumped into a cab driven by a weird bigoted taxi driver who started advocating me the reason for U.S's problem is the president till I reached Santa Clara. NOTE: its pronounced Sana Clara. Almost like the 'T' disappear here.

But things are not bad, not bad at all. I guess everyone goes through the pain of lost baggage, Immigration and customs once in their life. I got a small dose in my first trip overseas.

But things went better from then on...