TGIF

It'd been a loooooooooong time since we visited TGIF, and what better day to go than on a Friday! We'd initially planned on going to some place where we could have a meal with 500 bucks (totally, for all 3 of us), but eventually ended up spending 1200 bucks each!!! I hope this spell doesn't continue too long or I'll be broke soon. Since we got there during the happy hours, we would get a drink free for every drink ordered, so we ordered a mojito and a blue something (which was basically vodka).

Mojito

Blue Something (Vodka)

P being a veggie, there weren't too many options available, and very few seemed interesting, and so he ordered a plate of loaded potato skins. These weren't as good as the ones we had at Woodstok - these had only cheese in them.

Loaded Potato Skins

I ordered a Jack Daniel's Tower, comprising of shrimps, ribs, and chicken with the JD sauce and it was superb. Apologies for the quality of the snap, but if you've been to TGIF, you'd know that the lighting there is weird and not very conducive for taking snaps unless you have a flash, and I didn't want to make everyone around aware that I'm taking pics with my phone

Jack Daniel's Tower (shrimps, ribs, chicken)

P then ordered a South-West Potato something, which was potato wafers with jalapeno, cheese and a couple of other things tossed in to make it tasty. This was far better than the potato skins. This option was from the happy hours menu, which we'd completely missed looking at while placing the initial orders.

South-West Potato something

For the main course, I noticed that there was a new burger on the menu, South-West burger, that was a beef patty with jalapeno, cheese, and tomatoes. It tasted OK - I guess I'm picky now coz I refer the burgers at Thulp simply because of the fact that they constructed perfectly. Here, the patty was dry, and it had lettuce below it, so it wasn't on the lower half of the bun, and the worst part was the bun was started crumbling half-way through the burger.

South-West Burger

P & VP shared a cheese dish whose name I can't remember now. It seemed pretty good.

Cottage Cheese something

VP got conned - when I say conned, I mean a waiter came up and goaded him into having a tequila shot. That cost us 400 bucks! For that tiny amount...geez man.

Tequila shot

Once we were done with the meal, we sat outside TGIF to allow things to settle in our stomach,s and we were joined by a rather nice looking and well mannered dog. She sat by our sides, wanted to be petted, and even knew how to shake hands with us.

The dog outside TGIF

TGIF on Wednesday

Two of us were recovering from a slight illness - me from a fever and a sore throat and Mr VP from an upset stomach. Well, ok, let's add one for Mr P as well - he was recovering from working a lot unnecessarily. VP had a presentation at work on Tuesday but it didn't go through, and on Wednesday all of us were yearning for a break, and so TGIF it was.

We got there during the 'happy hours', so buy one-get one drink free time, but since they didn't have anything 'hot', I was a bit peeved (didn't want my sore throat to flare up again). But what the hell, we were there to enjoy, and so that's what we did. We had a lemonade and a summer cyclist - mixture of strawberry and orange juice, and since it was happy hours, we got one extra of each.

To nibble on something while we were planning the movies to watch during the coming weekend, we ordered a plate of grilled pita dippers, with hummus and salsa.


Angels & Demons it was, but with the governments new rule for theatres to show movies only at certain fixed times had us in a bit of a bother - none of the usual multiplexes that we go to would be showing the movie :( [eventually we went to watch it at Rex on Brigade Road]. Mr P and I also had a bowl of soup, broccoli cheese, which wasn't the best I've had, it was just eh.

For the mains, I had a nice fat juicy strip steak, and it was juicy. 12 ounces of red meat, and it was only once the order came that I remembered that I'm supposed to be off beef - my 2 cents towards helping in the fight against global warming. :( I'll need to remember from now on.

VP had a half rack of ribs with the Jack Daniels sauce, which came with a side order of onion rings. And surprisingly, this was the first time he finished everything he ordered! I mean he actually finished everything, and I didn't have to polish his food off lest it were wasted.

Mr P ordered something called a Mediterranean veg stack.

For desserts, we ordered the mini desserts, four mousse like desserts in glasses slightly bigger than shot glasses. After much debating as to who will have which flavour, I can say with some authority that none of them were good. Try to avoid these if you go there, order something else, or go out to Corner House next door and have a nice ice cream there.

Chilis Grill and Bar

Chilis is in Bangalore! Well, actually, it's been here for a couple of months now. So Friday night (2 weeks ago), since mom and bro are out of town, and I wasn't in the mood to cook dinner (for once), P and VP accompanied me to Chilis. As usual, I got there first and had to wait as VP went over to P's place to pick him up (off late, P's been acting a lil cranky and fussy about going out - kinda like when women are on the pill!).

The one thing we instantly agreed was that this place was another TGIF - with the kind of drinks and food available, but where it would score is with the number and variety of veg dishes. However, overall, I think TGIF still ranks above this place as being more memorable...for what reason, I'm able to put my finger on it right now, but take my word for it.

P and I ordered a cream of mushroom since it was a cold, rainy night outside, while VP, who had a tummy bug, just had a glass of orange juice. The soup was nice - hot, thick, creamy, with a hint of pepper.

Cream of Mushroom

For starters, we ordered the Texan veg roll and a plate of nachos (which came at the end of the meal - confusion on a Friday night I guess). The veg rolls were amazing - not just the way they looked when served, but they tasted great too, and the dip along with it was super as well. As for the nachos, they were ok...nothing mind blowing - you know, the usual nachos, crispy chips covered with cheese with a piece of jalapeno pepper on it.

Texan Veg Rolls

For the main course, I ordered a chicken fajita, which came on a hot plate. It was nice, although considering the cold weather outside (and that it had a Mexican sounding name), I wanted it to be a little spicier.

Chicken Fajita

Mr P ordered a veg quesadilla with mushrooms, and although the only other place I've had a quesadilla was at Shanghai Salsa, I can say that the quesadillas here were at least as good if not better.

Veg Mushroom Quesadilla

Mr VP ordered the honey fried crispy chicken, and soon after eating one piece, wasn't in a mood to continue - not because the chicken tasted badly, but he just wasn't up to eating.

Honey fried chicken

And so the evening passed, with us discussing the upcoming marriage of a classmate of ours, and about all those married, and those in the queue. I'm sure you've all heard, or even imagined a scenario where it's raining outside, and a small group of friends (3 in our case) discuss, gossip and bitch about classmates and acquaintances from the past over drinks or food. Many of you would probably have already indulged in such activities. And if you're wondering what happened to the chicken that Mr VP couldn't eat, don't worry, I didn't let it go to waste, I had it parceled and took it back home.

Food: Pretty good; vegetarians can feel happy as there's more veg here than non-veg.
$$$: Expensive, a la TGIF
Service: Good, prompt
Verdict: Veggies can frequent this place if they like TGIF sans the non-veg. Drinks are almost the same here as in a TGIF. Non-veggies can stick to TGIF.
Extra Info: It's just after Total Mall on the old Airport Road. They have Valet parking.

Chili's Grill & bar, Phoenix Idiom, Above Papa John's Pizza, Old Airport road, Bangalore.

TGIF

Finally I get to go to the famed TGIF, and it didn't matter at all that I happened to be there on a Monday. And surprisingly enough, there was a pretty decent sized crowd even for a Monday evening. Ms BakeAcake had asked us to be there for her birthday dinner (her birthday was on the 31^st), and as usual I was there first, and soon was joined by Ms WeightConscious and her boyfriend...well, let's just call him Saucy :) Soon everyone but Mr P were there, and so we dove in for what seemed to be an interesting night ahead.

Now the interiors of TGIF are more or less similar to another restaurant here called Indi Joe, with an almost retro American look and feel inside, and the loud music and the look of the bar gives you the impression that they're also trying to make it look and feel like a pub where the patrons would have to speak in higher decibels to be heard over the music being played.

Since the happy hours were still going on and we would get a free drink with every ordered drink, we started off with orders for a White Russian,

an ultimate Long Island Ice Tea,

and a Blue Martini.

Since Mr P said he'd be late, we started off with our appetizers. A plate of chicken wings was ordered

along with a plate of Fried Mac & Cheese.

And since I'm still on my quest to make a list of the ten best burgers available in Bangalore, I ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger.

Everything was good, from the drinks to the food ordered to the speed at which our food and drinks were served to us. My ultimate Long Island Ice Tea was served in a glass the size of a cauldron, and it's the most potent Long Island Ice tea I've ever had. I mean this baby was mean! Not even halfway through my drink I could feel the room starting to spin a little, and standing up was something I did not want to even think of. However, of the three drinks ordered, the martini was the strongest, but since it didn't measure to even half the quantity of the Ice tea, it was a no contest. We later ordered a Manhattan, which is a Jack Daniel's whiskey with Vermouth and Angostura bitters with ice, and a Pina Colada.

For dinner, I continued on the burger trail (which turned out to be a mistake). I ordered a Jack Daniel's burger, which has a 7 ounce patty (and I said mistake because it turned out to be the exact same as the Bacon Cheeseburger, only difference being this one was served with the JD sauce and the patty was bigger. Sigh!),

Mr VP and Ms BakeAcake ordered a Jack Daniel's Chicken which they were going to share,

Saucy ordered a Sirloin steak,

and Ms WeightConscious ordered a broken noodles pasta (penne) with tomatoes, basil, olives, mushrooms and cheese.

Well, everything was good, and I don't think anyone was disappointed (except for me a tad). Since both my burgers were more or less the same, and the bacon cheeseburger had only 2 strips of bacon, unlike the bacon burger I had at Millers 46 during Mr P's birthday, I felt the guy making the burger got it wrong. It was good, but since there was so little bacon, and the JD burger was a larger replica of the bacon burger, I was a lil disappointed. What's more, the bacon was really salty! I mean, maybe if it was eaten with the bun and the patty and all the stuffing it would have been ok, but I love to take a bite of my bacon before I tuck into it and this thing was salty to the core, like it came out of the dead sea or something.

That apart, the other dishes were fabulous and the JD sauce was simply phenomenal. The service was quick and we never felt like we were let down on any front, and I'm willing to let the burger incident pass (I may still have some of the alcohol swimming inside my head). This place is a little heavy on your wallet, but if you enjoy American comfort food and booze, then once in a while, it certainly is worth it.

Food: Pretty good
$$$: Expensive
Service: Decent, prompt
Verdict: If you like American food, and alcohol, pay a visit once a couple of months or so
Extra Info: Happy hours are till 2015 hrs - buy a drink and get another glass of the same one free

TGIF, Carlton Towers, Old Airport Road, Bangalore. Phone: 25210570, 25210571