Hungry in Bangalore: Delite Chaat House at Indiranagar

Delite is a bonafide Gujju Chaat place (got directions to their new place in Gujarati) which serves 'authentic' (as per me) chaat. So Mumbaikars in Bangalore might travel through 1 hour of traffic to get here for Delite's really amazing and authentic fare. The Dabeli is incredible. For 30 bucks in Indiranagar, you will fill up and just get a cold drink at all the snooty places you were planning to hit when short on cash.The sev puri, bhelpuri are great. Except the Pani Poori which was disappointing, which they promised to fix. Great place, well setup, good tasty chaat and very reasonably priced. In short, unmissable.

Now the long. Chaat (or Chat) is subjective. Different people, different tastes. What the hell is wrong with Chaat in Bangalore, the general chaat fare to be precise?! I know, Mumbai would hear the same from a Bangalorean when the said Bangalorean samples a Dosa Sambar. Its kinda a dosa and remotely a sambar. But it works! We have authentic Croissants and Baos and bubble teas but no, not the chaat in Bangalore. Curry / sambar powder and boiled peas gravy (that mysterious green stuff ) in 'Chaat' gives me nightmares. My brethren from the Eastern belt equate Golgappa with Pani Poori in Mumbai (blasphemy!), yet every corner in Bangalore has a Golgappa guy handing out insipid watery stale pooris and call it Pani Poori. My reaction is over the top, but I been avoiding Chaat in Bangalore for years. Its bad, to my tastes. And so agree a lot of other folks. We just give it a miss, unless its at a wedding. Respectable mentions - Anand Sweets, Calcutta Victoria Chat (yet to try) and a few others who do get it just right.

The flip side, Bangalore has incredible indigenous chaat  - Bullet chaat, pineapple chat, congress chaat, nippat chaat, capsicum chaat (entire globe of fried capsicum stuffed with chaat) are outstanding. If not tried cause all you come across when talking about chaat is bhel puri etc, these have to be sampled. I would recommend getting this fare from VV Puram, Jayanagar (near the playground behind Amoeba) and Banashankari where I discovered this stuff.

Hungry in Bangalore: Majlis Kamannahalli

Muglai..tried and tired, the tastes same all over. No matter how good a restaurant you end up, tastes the same with varying levels of butter to drown the palate. But then thats what you get when you go to a local darshini and ask for Roti curry, its not quite Mughlai. But the same occurs in high end restaurants, not just in Bangalore, but all over. Or is it that the taste of Mughlai has become very common, so over done and similar, again same all over.  The only respite might be if one goes to expensive places like Bukhara or Samarkhand.

But Majlis breaks the mold. The food is different yet what I felt was essentially Mughlai, a fusion of Indian Mughlai (or I guess Awadhi) and Arabic cooking and at the end of it not very expensive. The Roti itself, the very basic is superb. I think one of the best Rotis I have ever had, its wholesome, fluffy, layered good and not drowned in fat. Tasty as it is, dosent have to be anything more, but its so good. The spices are different, not accosting your stomach with too much garam masala, but a balanced fresh bouquet. Overdoing Majlis might cause the same ennui, but as a one off once a month event, this place rocks.

The restaurant proudly displays its lineage with photos of Padma Shri winning Chef Imtiaz Quereshi. Read the Chef was very particular about the spices he used, which was evident here. Its very easy to miss on the now maddeningly congested Kamannahalli  road, on the roof of a gym building. A friend recommended it to me, which made me get a take away Kabab - which came with a wonderfully fluffy Roti, Hummus and salad. The Kababs were few, but the accompaniment really was good and it made for a good meal, I was very happy with the Roti. Good enough to get Mom along for dinner the next evening. Mom who is a tough critic to please when it comes to North Indian food, she absolutely loathes egregious amounts of butter and over spiced conveyor belt fare.

We ordered the Kadai veg, Warki Paratha (fluffy cross between Roti and Naan with Ajwain on it) and a Veg Biryani. The portions were very generous which made us parcel more than half of the stuff back home, except for the Paratha which was delicious. The Kadai veg was balanced, unique and tasty. The Biryani was nicely spiced, again unique with hot undertones, not the Chillies spice, but a heady cinnamon, anise and perhaps 'dagadphul' (kind of lichen which heats up the palate) with a 'Kevda' aroma in the background.

Its open air on the roof with fabric top. The ambience is decent and comfortable, but its on top of a 4 storied building on Kamnnahhali so you do get subjected to a little cacophony spilling from the road, which can be ignored. Cannot imagine how it would fare in a hot day during lunch, but the evening was pleasant. Perhaps its obscurity makes it relatively under attended.

A telling sign this place is good, Mom cannot wait to go back to this place...

Hungry in Bangalore: Chaaye Stall

MBA types call it luxury positioning. Old wine in a fancier bottle but served in a swanky place with fancy plates and edgy names. Chaaye stall, in my opinion, does this well enough to charge 243 bucks for two decent chais and one excellent sandwich. Ambiance inside is good for conversations, but the open windows and terrible traffic outside kills the vibe. Place has good choice of teas, a few coffees but a nice spread of tea time snacks like Pakodas and Sandwiches. We went with the Queen of spices and elaichi chai which were pretty good and decently priced. The waiter recommended a Mumbai Manoos sandwich which was yummy but a tad expensive, it did have the authentic Mumbai sandwich taste (Yay!) which will bring me back. Being  close to Garuda mall is good location and will make a visit here a good idea once the ongoing construction ends.

On a side note, blogging after such a long time is to be attributed to pals from Writers club which I been hanging out on Saturdays on and off since the last 4 years. Great way to get over writers block.

Going Nuts

Peanut a super snack. My superfood for my mostly vegetarian diet, great source of protein, convenience and deliciousness. I ate it roasted and salted (my favorite), in 'Shenga Holige'  (Shenga = peanut in North Karnataka Kannada parlance) 'Shenga Laddu', 'Shenga Chutney / Pudi', Chivda, Chikkis (original Snickers), Snickers (duplicate Chikkis), Reeses etc and Pad Thai! I seriously dont remember long stretches when I didnt eat any peanuts.

A persistent gastric condition and focused diagnosis later, the Doctor pronounced me allergic to something. Something was my beloved peanuts after a selective exclusion exercise and eureka moment.

The amazing realization set in me and my Family was that I have been allergic (and also was my Father) to peanuts since my teens. I suffered mild stomach upsets, aggressive and consistent skin breakouts and sluggishness. The transformation was semi miraculous when I stopped immediately.

Mild jokes here and there thrown about being a 'Firang' and having a fashionable 'American' condition. Worse when someone serves something traditional which cannot do without peanuts (Chivda, Poha for example) and you gotta eat around it leaving nuts at the end like a bad mannered kid.

I wish I could show them the scene from Hitch.

Hungry in Bangalore: Quaint little Kammanahalli Part1

"Where for lunch man". "I don't know, how about Andhra? or Mexican or Darshini (Dosa, Idli South Indian Fare etc) or Subway or North Indian (separate list) or Mac or KFC or Chinese or Empire (mostly non veg fare and Malabari cuisine) or Momos or Arabian or Continental or Pizza....". All this within a Kilometre. Typical eating out conversation within us room mates, its a glorious problem of plenty close to our Humble abode.

I moved into this area about 6 months ago and have been loving this quaint, well now recently popular place. About a Kilometre around the Kamannahalli main road lands you smack in the middle of youthful energy and foodie delights. I am gonna write about this place in parts, cause there is so much to go around. There is a huge foreign student population here, mostly from Middle East and North Africa and a upper middle class population which creates an interesting food situation.

I will start with Breakfast. So recently I was in Delhi, the options - Paratha, Idli, Uttapa. Repeat. In Pune - Poha, Idli, Vada. In Mumbai - Poha, Idli, Dosa. Typical Indian restaurant in the US also served  Idli, Vada and Dosa for breakfast. Get the drift. So after an entire week of eating Idli Vada in office I cant wait to have the superb combo of Idli Vada and Coffee at A2B (whose Vadas are wonderfully fluffy and spiced) or at Adigas whose Dosas are superb or at Filter Coffee (another Darshini style restaurant) for its unique Tamil fare. Any trip outside Bangalore, I cant wait to come back and have the proper breakfast. I am more inclined to Adigas cause they always seem to have a newspaper lying around to read.

My Favorite

Best Coffees to be had

Now not everyone is a fan of South Indian food (or developed such a strong taste for it like me) so there are other great options. If you say Cafe, this place has a lot of them.

Au Bon Pain is one such, the proper Bagel Cream cheese is really good and the Cappuccino was surprisingly wonderful.

Au Bon Pain

The Middle Eastern and (lemme qualify)  North African Students particularly enjoy their coffee so you will find a lot of them enjoying cafes in the relaxed way they are used to, none of the hustle of Darshinis. 

And yes Donuts!

So pretty much every franchise owner wants to open a shop in this area. Not much from the 'local' aspect or street varieties like other areas. As expected the prices are on the higher side. But its pretty good that things are sanitary (yep nothing wrong..so far) and standardized and a lot of options to be had. 

Come a long way from having a solitary Darshini ( small South Indian joint with very limited options and some times sketchy hygiene) to international stuff available at a stones throw away.

Its lunch time, thats another blog...

Viva la Vile Parle Again! Gajalee

Four years and six months ago I had written of this place, it was the same dinner with Brother while on a vacation from Bangalore. No difference this time around - which is a good thing. Meaning the food was as again really awesome.

This place cant go wrong with anything that thrives underwater. Don't know much about the ones living above. Gajalee does crustaceans really well. They get a whole plate of live ones you can choose for your meal and after just a few minutes it arrives steaming and delicious on your plate.
Plus a brief cameo by the actress Raveena Tandon, who is stunningly tall and still pretty(not included as part of the package).

Always a joy to be back home for Diwali. With such separate lives, its great to connect over some great food.

Whew! Blog after a good 10 months. Great to be past this writers block. Plus I hope it helps put down doubts that I am vegetarian. 

Hungry in Hyderabad: Rayalaseema Ruchulu Jubilee Hills

Rayalaseema Ruchulu (RR from now) is a chain of Local Cuisine focused restaurant serving food from the Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh. A good break from the usual fare of tried and tested. Generally restaurants cater to a 'generic' taste. Their food is designed to appeal to palates with strict attributes of sweet, spice and so on. It comes a good relief to find a place which takes you to the edge, some may find it good like we did, or utterly bad. The fun is in trying it out.

RR specializes in the super spicy domain. The cuisine is extremely spicy (I mean pungent in a good way) with some dynamite chilies to make your nose run rivers. The other accompanying spices are also on the very higher side. Still its damn tasty.

Since unluckily they didnt serve their famous Thali on Sundays we ordered ala carte. We had the Jolle Roti (millet roti), Bhindi kaya curry (Okra curry), Palak Pappu ( palak daal), the RR Kodi and to save our stomach linings a glass of Majage (buttermilk). The waiter thankfully asks how much heat would we like in the meal. We mentioned medium since we wanted to go authentic. The dishes were hot as in temperature and very hot on the scoville scale. But the taste was amazingly unique and the combination of heat and spices were enjoyable.

Definitely not for a daily fare, but for a change from the usual, this place is a must visit. There is a Dadu's downstairs in case desert is due which is unmissable after a meal at RR. Another reason to come back.

Hungry in Chandigarh: Pal Dhaba

My short and hectic stay in Chandigarh Mohali started with a wonderful lunch at Pal Dhaba. This iconic eatery is famous for its Punjabi Dhaba cuisine. Its a favorite of locals and tourists who make it a point to visit this place every time they come to Chandigarh. Me and my pals were famished after a long flight. A friend, familiar with the terrain, suggested we hit this joint. What followed was a discovery of the amount we could actually eat when the food is so good and an array of superb Punjabi surprising food.

Surprising because I never had punjabi food this way. This was the authentic dhaba version. Take for instance Tandoori chicken. I have had literally a hundred variations of this stuff. But almost nobody made it so tender, not-overtly spiced and flavorful. Its the same stuff yet different.

The butter chicken we ordered next is huge. The photo dosen't do justice, but the serving is massive! Same thing, never had butter chicken made this way. This wasn't sweet at all and really yup. We also had the mutton and chicken curries. Mind you thats 4 non veg dishes and we were totally digging into all this stuff and almost finished.
Obviously we had the lassi and that sealed the fate for a dreaded 2 hour siesta.

I can't wait to go back to this place after things chill a little bit.

Edit: I ate here 5 times in 3 days. I had butter chicken 3 times. I have loosened my belt a notch. It gets boring after a while cause there isn't much in terms of variety of offerings and you surely wouldn't wanna have this as regular fare. Its definitely a must visit in Chandigarh, but the dhaba fascination wears off quickly. I wouldn't repeat a visit, rather spend the time looking for some more rustic offerings. For example I heard of some Dhabas on the highways who serve really good everyday Punjabi food. There are some sweet shops and upper scale restaurants in Chandigarh you should check out rather than repeat eating at a place 5 times. Now I am really hungry for some succulent tandoori from Pal Dhaba....

Hungry in Hyderabad: Little Italy at Hitech City (finally!)

Can't escape the buffet

There are some places which are ubiquitous, everyones been there done that a million times. Eating at Barbecue Nation for one is as usual routine for techies as getting a haircut. But there is of course chance of  one odd which gets left out.

Same it seems is for Little Italy, I seriously don't know why I missed it. The countless eating excursions as part of the IT industry to the same old tired and tasted venues, its so bad I never got to try Little Italy in Bangalore.

Its a vegetarian Italian restaurant with very good and wide options. Ordering a la carte doesn't make sense here when compared to the buffet. So if its lunch time, it has to be the buffet. A wide spread of soups, salads, breads, starters, dips the list goes on. Plus you get to order a starter, pizza course and pasta course at your table.

The desert array is pretty good. The Mousses and Panna Cotta are great! We were warned to make room for desserts and its to be taken very seriously.

OK thats done, next stop long pending visit to Hard Rock cafe.

Hungry in Hyderabad: Dialogue in the Dark at inOrbit

Yes that's how it looks

This is my best shot of a restaurant ever, actually its just black color image. But that's exactly what is Dialogue in the Dark all about. Its a dining experience in absolute darkness, and a unique experience it is. You absolutely cannot see anything. All you have to guide you are your other senses touch, sound, smell and would you believe - taste.

Unlike a usual restaurant you pre-pay for your meal from the combos on offer, check in your phones (I like this a lot, I hate phones during meals), your watches and basically any light emitting device. You also get frisked by a guard for good measure. Past thick curtains you meet your server, a very capable and warm blind person who leads you to your table and looks after you for the meal.

You constantly remain amazed at the lack of sight in the new, almost alien environment where even discovering there is a plate and fork, spoon placed in front of you and how you and your friends sound. Those senses are highly amplified. I couldnt wait for my meal.

The server serves your meal deftly, and its a complete surrender to the food. Despite my unwashed hand, I had to dig in to feel what I am eating and taste it and know it minutely. As I said - amplified. I could really taste how good the various items on my plate were. Very nice experience to have.

Outside,  some of the staff leaving for the day in the background

And I really liked the fact that this idea benefits the blind, gives some of them a role in such an experience and some of the funds go for their welfare.

Its also a very good corporate team building activity I came to know, so I might get my future colleagues to a similar place later.