Turquoise - The European

The post for Turquoise has been long pending, and in fact, I had written it once, was about to 'publish' it, but ended up doing something while sleepy and the entire post got deleted. And then I wasn't able to find any of the pictures! Thankfully the horror story ended there, and I'm back with the details about Turquoise - The European (I'll need to visit the Indian a couple of times more to gauge the place fully and type it down).

The menu at Turquoise is expansive, and can leave you spoiled for choice. When Mr. P and I are together, we've just got to get ourselves some soup. The creme de Porcini and the cream of broccoli are the ones we tried, and both are quite good, with the Porcini soup taking the cake for me simply because I like mushrooms over other veggies, especially when it comes to soups. That isn't to say the broccoli wasn't good. In fact, the consistency of the broccoli soup is to be appreciated for not being 'grainy'.

Creme de Porcini

Cream of Broccoli

Some of the starters we had were the Mezze platter (we asked for 3 dips; you can ask for 6 or 9 as well). The dips we asked for were the muhammara, hummus, and falafels (OK, so falafels aren't dips, so sue me!), malazane con pomodoro confit (baked aubergine with tomato confit and cheese), kefta kebabs (ground lamb) with tzatziki, veg tapas platter, grilled prawns (day's special), and chicken wrapped with sage.

The Mezze platter, especially the muhammara, was simply superb. The texture was spot on, although the levels of heat were a little less than what it could have been. I'm not a big fan of falafels, so won't comment, and the hummus was creamy and just the way it should be. The kefta kebabs, similar to the Indian sheekh kabab, was again spot on. The meat was tender, well seasoned and flavoured, and most important of all, the meat wasn't dry (most common issue with most sheekh kebabs in Bangalore). The baked aurbergine was good! So much so that Mr. P, who initially wanted to go with the mozzarella fritters, was actually polishing the thing off. But we did agree that the tomato confit and/or the added tomato puree on top made the dish a little too acidic. The hash browns on the side were quite a treat (if you're a fan of hash browns).

Mezze platter with falafels, muhammara, and hummus

Kefta kebabs with tzatziki

Baked aubergine with tomato confit

The chicken with Prama ham and sage was a nice little package. However, I don't think this is available on the menu now. Sad, because if you like and appreciate subtlety in flavours, then the marriage between the sage and the chicken with the ham is something that you should try. The grilled jumbo prawns were good, but I have an issue with jumbo prawns - I don't like the smell of the shells. Only of the jumbo prawns. I know! Weird, but true. The meat itself was sweet and nice, but when it comes in the shell...boy! not happening I tell you. A Thin crust pizza is always a delight, and Turquoise makes a mean thin crust pizza. Since every time I visited the place I was with a sizable number of vegetarians, I ended having the same vegetarian pizza every time - the fig and ricotta cheese pizza. Leaving aside the disappointment that there wasn't any meat on the pizza, the pizza by itself was soooo good!

Chicken with Parma ham and sage

Grilled jumbo prawns (day's special)

Fig and ricotta pizza

For the mains, there are a multitude of pasta options that you can choose from. Mr. P had the raviolini stuffed with spinach and ricotta and it was quite superb. The tomato and asparagus sauce though was a little too acidic - not sure if that particular batch of tomatoes had a higher level of acidity or what. The braised pork belly on a bed of red cabbage was divine. As hard as I tried to find a fault here, I couldn't! To nit-pick, the fat had peeled off the meat and for some reason the meat tasted better WITHOUT the fat (I know some people who aren't too find of pork fat), but when the fat isn't giving you the jollies, something's gotta be up! The red cabbage underneath was simply to die for. Pickled, or made sour, the acidity was the perfect balance to the pork. The fish Florentine, rolled and stuffed with spinach and mushroom is quite easily one of the best fish dishes I've had...it's right up there at the top. The rolling of the fish without breaking it is quite remarkable (it may be a simple, commonly known thing, but was a first for me), and the stuffing complimented the fish perfectly.

Braised pork belly on a bed of red cabbage

Fish Florentine

Spinach and ricotta raviolini

Another of the vegetarian dishes we had was the grilled eggplant rolled in parmigiano. I seem to have developed a liking for eggplant in the last few years, but somehow I just didn't think this worked for me, although Mr. P thought it was quite good.

Grilled eggplant rolled in parmigiano

The desserts we had every time were fabulous, especially the Pavlova. The first time, we ordered the Turquoise trio - chocolate pâté, crème brûlée, and Pavlova. The chocolate pâté was sinful and rich, and had the perfect soft texture with the right amount of 'butteriness' (sorry, my vocab eludes me now). Typically, pâtés are made from ground meat (liver being the most common) along with some fat. So in other words, pâtés are slightly heavier, or denser that a mousse. Now imagine that with pure chocolate. Pure delight.

The crème brûlée had the perfect crust, and the inside 'custard' was baked just right. We were actually jostling and sparring with our dessert spoons to see who gets a little more of the crème brûlée. I'd never had a Pavlova until then, but I'd seen enough of it on Master Chef Australia, so I had a fair idea of what it ought to have been like, and it was. The meringue was nice, the base was crispy, and light. The only dip in an otherwise consistent graph was the mango mascarpone mousse - not because it wasn't good, but because the rest of the dishes were far better. Also, it seemed a little too gelatinous for my liking.

(L-R) Chocolate pâté, crème brûlée, Pavlova

Mango mascarpone mousse

Crème brûlée

After three visits to the place, and with consistent levels of service and quality of food, I can happily say that Turquoise - The European is a place to be.

Also, if you're reading this, from the month of June, I have made it a point to post at least 2 posts per month, pushing for 3 a month. Should I not achieve that target by the end of each month, the first person to point it out to me through any media will win a free lunch. OK scratch that, we'll make it 600 bucks off a meal you have. We'll work on the 'how' once this actually happens.

Food: Very good
$$$: Expensive (~ 800 per person). I think the pricing could hurt them in the long run in spite of the quality of the food.
Service: Decent
Verdict: Must visit

Turquoise - The European, 9, 2nd Floor, Above Mom & Me, 1st A Cross, 5th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore. Phone: 65776588, 9739942912

The Fat Chef

Just to emphasize, this blog is NOT dead! Although it's quite an old post, and I thought I'd write in the usual style (what style?), I decided to go with a more 'editorial' approach, just for a change (not that I particularly like this style or anything). A few months ago I'd visited The Fat Chef - the phrase apparently refers to the owner, who is a rather 'healthy' chef - is located next to the Jagriti theatre on Varthur Road in the Whitefield area. Notice how us folks from areas that we consider to be within the city refer to Whitefield as the Whitefield area - that's because not only do we not know where it starts and where it ends, even the residents there don't!

The Fat Chef may be off traditional 'restaurant zones' within the city, the new settlements springing up around the periphery of the city seem to swear by this place. And why not! The restaurant is located within the Jagriti complex, and adjoins a small lawn. Seating is both indoors as well as outdoors, and both options give you sufficient space, light, and a semblance of well-being. White interiors make the place seem that much more well lit, and the place has decent ventilation and is almost always cool. And did I mention that the restaurant's menu is chalked up on a blackboard? This just goes on to add to the charm of the place.

The food at The Fat Chef is mixture of Mediterranean and Western European food. Among the starters, you would do well if you stuck to the nachos, baked stuffed mushrooms, sauteed prawns in coriander, Vietnamese rolls, and chicken wings. The beer battered prawns is a much touted dish, but I feel it's the coriander prawns that score higher simply because of the flavour. Also, I'm not a big fan of batter frying meats because it can so easily mask the actual taste of the meat if not done right. Among the salads, the watermelon, feta and olive salad is a must have. Light, refreshing, and tasty, this should be on our list irrespective of whether you are a weight watcher or not.

























The chicken wings with a barbecue sauce flavoured coating is also a superb starter if you don't mind having starters that have bones in them. For the vegetarians, the sauteed mushrooms is another decent option.


For the main course, if you want something light, then the crepes or the grilled fish are the way to go. If not, then the lasagna, chicken casserole, or the steaks, or even one of the pastas are perhaps options that could satisfy you. There's also quite a decent selection of wine on offer, so if you're a wine lover, then do look up the list.

The fish curry and rice is a wonderful curry-rice combo if you like rice. And in fact, if you don't want to try pastas and other such dishes, I would suggest you go ahead and try this dish - it was finger lickin' good. The ratatouille, on the other hand, was a little insipid in flavour.

Ratatouille
Indian fish curry with rice
Chicken breast stuffed with cheese
Veg lasagna
Lemon grilled chicken
Grilled fish
Mutton curry with rice
The chicken breast stuffed with cheese is nice, but the cheese is just way too powerful and completely dominates the dish. You'd do well to ask them to go easy on the cheese. However, I'd prefer if they used a milder cheese. The veg lasagna was nice and a very satisfying dish, both in terms of quantity as well as taste. The lemon grilled chicken was very nicely done, but a little too lemony for my liking. The mutton curry with rice, just like the fish curry, was a smashing super hit with everyone at the table.

For dessert, it's a bit of a lottery. You need to make sure you place an order soon because desserts are in limited quantity on display.




Service can be a little dodgy on weekends when they're running full, but otherwise, for the best part, the restaurant staff are fairly well informed about most of the details of most dishes. The owners, Mayur (The Fat chef himself) and Vandana can be seen doing the rounds and you could very well ask them your queries. Overall, very good ambiance, and if you can stomach the drive till that corner of town, the food should feel just fine in the stomach.

The Fat Chef, 5/2A, Jagrithi, Ramagondanahalli, Varthur Main Road, Whitefield, Bangalore. Phone: 080 40992981, 080 40992982.

Birthday at Pepper Cafe

This post is more than a month overdue. It was the day I updated the description of the blog from "A 27 year old Bangalorean's ..." to "A 28 year old Bangalorean's ...". It was my birthday dinner at Pepper Cafe with a few of my closest friends. Special day, special people, special moment. Nothing much to write, most of the dishes were the same as what we had when I'd gone to review the place.

One fact worth mentioning is that Ms Quiche and Ms BakeAnything came with a gift - Ms BakeAnything had baked me a wonderful chocolate cake. I usually don't choke, but I did while writing this post :) Many thanks also to Rohan D'Souza (partner & chef at Pepper Cafe) for ensuring the food was top notch.

Chef's summer salad

Italian chicken bites with garlic scallion mayo

Fish rissoles

Crab, chilli and corn soup

Fried calamari with cocktail dip

Beetroot hummus

Grilled basa topped with Cajun spiced crab

Asparagus and artichoke fusili pasta

Chicken something with a pepper sauce

Lebanese lamb chops with tabouleh

Grilled tenderloin strips with vinegar salad and horseradish cream

5 spice marinated chicken breast with spicy Asian sauce

My budday cake

BM Review: Chamomile

Wow, it's been a full month since the last post. Sorry for the delay, but after shifting to a new house, there are soooo many tasks that crop up every now and then, at times I've even wondered if it was worth it. Well, just so that I don't leave that dangling, it is. So a while back, I visited Chamomile again, this time to review the place for Bangalore Mirror. The review that was published can be read here. As I had already visited the place during Christmas, I knew what to expect from the place, but since we were in a group, and it was essentially going to be a collective opinion, I didn't see any points of potential conflict. Moreover, when P, VP and I had visited during Christmas, we ordered from the special Christmas menu, while this time around we were ordering from the regular menu.

There aren't any snaps of the starters that we had, so apologies for the same. For starters, we selected dishes from the regular menu as well as the bar menu. So the dishes we had from the regular menu were shrimp and avocado salad, honey mustard chicken, herb marinated prawns, and chicken wings and mushroom & Parmesan cigars from the bar menu. The only disappointment here was the salad, with the avocado being old and soft, 'sagging' being a word used at the table by someone. It surely could've use a shot or two of botox. The wings and the honey mustard chicken were nice, both with suitable amount of seasoning and flavours. The hits at the table that evening were the herb marinated prawns - large, chunky prawns marinated in a mixture of coriander, basil and perhaps mint (green stuff), and the mushroom cigars - these were phyllo stuffed with mushrooms and Parmesan cheese. The mushroom cigars were a pleasant surprise and were actually quite delightful and we couldn't seem to have enough of these.

For the mains, we selected one dish from each 'section' that we were able to form after looking at the menu. So Italian saw us ordering the aubergine lasagna (also doubled up as the vegetarian option) and the seafood cappelletti (cappelletti is a stuffed pasta, and means 'little hat' because that's what it kinda resembles), proteins were going to be the T-bone steak and the rosemary flavoured leg of lamb, and then there was grilled salmon in an orange sauce with a whole lot of other things.

The salmon was the only disappointment - almost no seasoning, bland, and the fish actually seemed old. The rest of the dishes though, we quite superb. The T-bone steak was a lovely cut of meat, and I'd for it to be done medium-rare, and it was done to near perfection there, well seasoned, and the mashed potatoes served with it were also very nicely done. The only grouse - they gave us a stainless steel table knife instead of a proper knife knife, and cutting a medium rare steam with such a knife is quite an effort. The cappelletti was a pleasant surprise - didn't have a fishy smell to it, tasted good, and although the texture of the stuffing inside wasn't very 'firm', it tasted good nonetheless, and so got the thumbs up.

Grilled salmon with an orange sauce

T-bone steak

Seafood cappelletti

Usually, whenever someone uses rosemary, they tend to screw up the flavour by using too much. If you ask me, adding too much rosemary often kills the dish, but these guys had managed to get the amount just right for the leg of lamb. What's more, the meat was cooked well and it wasn't chewy, making it a good selection, and a better dish to eat. The aubergine lasagna was a smashing hit at the dinner table that night. Who'd have thought a bunch of carnivores would be raving about a vegetarian dish, but that's exactly what happened. Although the lasagna looked a little disheveled, when it came to taste, it was quite exquisite.

Rosemary leg of baby lamb

Aubergine lasagna

Desserts were a bit of a mixed bag, tending more towards bad than good. The strawberry cheesecake was the same as the last time, good to taste, but hard and not creamy and soft (however, I've been reliably informed that they have now changed the cream cheese they use for the cheesecakes, and so it's supposed to be better now), the hazelnut brûlée had a nice crust, but what lay beneath was nowhere near the custard-like texture that a brûlée is supposed to have. The vanilla pannacotta was just waaaay too plain and insipid, and I'd have liked to see a little less gelatin used so that it is a little more 'creamy' when spooned out. The saviour of the night was the triple layered chocolate mousse, rich and chocolaty and not disappointing us any further.

Strawberry cheesecake

Vanilla pannacotta

Triple layered chocolate mousse

Hazelnut brulee

Food: Good. Need to work a little on the desserts and this place can be a winner.
$$$: Slightly expensive. Approx Rs 1000 per head for a full meal.
Service: Good
Verdict: Can visit for a select few dishes.

Chamomile, #4031, 1^st Floor, Above Bombay Store, Next to Domlur Flyover, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore. Phone: 42156000, 42167000