Ali Baba Cafe

The Gourmet Group had decided on visiting Ali Baba Cafe this past weekend (April 10), and so that's where we went.

Some of the furniture (below), and above is the entrance when viewed from the inside.

Although I've covered Ali Baba before, there were a lot of things that we had that I'd not had before. The doogh, which is a yogurt and soda drink is very good and refreshing for the hot days we have.

Doogh

Another drink we had was the Tausha, which was a cucumber based drink which was also pretty darn good. This didn't have fizz, but I immediately knew why they say 'as cool as a cucumber'.

Tausha

The third drink was a mint+lime drink. Again, another winner.

Mint+lime

For starters, we had an Ali Baba jumbo platter (non-veg), and also a couple of veg dishes, one of which was the Kadang Fry, which was slices of sweet potato that were batter fried. This is a very typical coastal dish.

Kadang fry

The hummus was superb, garlicky and the olive oil used made the hummus taste good.

Hummus

The other veg dish was the Bhendi Fry, which was fried lady's finger (okra).

Bhendi fry

For the main course, we had decided to have the weekend special biryani, called Maqboos. So we had the chicken and mutton biryani, dajaj maqboos and laham maqboos. In the laham maqboos, the laham (mutton) was a bit stringy, but I liked the dajaj (chicken). Along with there, we also had some roti with keema, and some vermicelli dish mixed with mutton, which I liked, but some of the others thought would have been better with something a little more firm instead of the vermicelli./

Keema + roti

Dajaj Maqboos

For dessert, we had a kunafa, which was made from semolina, dried fruits and had a base made of cheese.

Kunafa

Qahwa with dates

This was nice, but a little hard to cut with the spoons. Overall, a wonderful meal, and even though we had a record number showing up, this was quite a pleasant meal.

BM Review: Ruh

This week I visited a restaurant called Ruh on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) to review it for The Bangalore Mirror. The review can be read here.

The restaurant serves Mediterranean and Indian food. We stuck to the Mediterranean section. My guests were Vrata Venet (who was also one of my guests at C'est la vie), and a couple of his friends: Eric Vicario, a Spaniard, and Olivia Godeluck, a French national, both living in Bangalore, who've started a company called Karavel Consulting for Spanish and French SME companies that wish to start businesses here.

The pictorial tour, along with some additional info is here:

The al-Harira soup, which had shredded lamb with cinnamon, lemon, and a touch of honey, was superb.

al-Harira soup

Sangria, which had peaches in it, was liked by Eric and Olivia.

Sangria

Vrata had a glass of one of the Indian red wine varieties.

Red wine

Patatas Bravas, or spicy potatoes, served with a nice salsa dip.

Patatas Bravas

The evergreen hummus, along with pita bread and pita chips.

Hummus

We ordered a Spanish omelet, but what came out, according to Eric, wasn't a Spanish omelet. "It's a nice nouveau dish, but the real deal".

Spanish Omelet

The spinach croquettes weren't as big as Eric thought they'd be, and certainly didn't look very appealing, and they were pretty fair when it came to taste.

Spinach Croquettes (yes, I know, they don't look too appealing)

The non-vegetarian mezze platter had hummus, baba ghanoush, tabouleh, pita chips, little samosas called samosi, kibbeh, little buns filled with minced meat, and chicken.

Non-veg mezze platter

The vegetarian moussaka was nice, with the vegetables cooked nicely and seasoned well. Vrata and Olivia thought they were a little aggressive with the pepper, but that didn't spoil the dish and it was still very good.

Veg moussaka

The seafood paella was a disappointment of sorts - not in terms of taste, but authenticity. What was served to us wasn't a paella, but a risotto! As a risotto is was pretty good (although I'm not sure cheese goes well with seafood), but a paella it certainly wasn't.

Seafood Paella (turned out more like a risotto)

The albondigas, or Spanish meatballs, were served with a spicy tomato sauce, and were served on a bed of rice. For the Indian palate, this tasted good, but the guests thought it was a little too spicy for their liking.

Albondigas, or Spanish meatballs, in spicy tomato sauce

The tiramisu could have used a little more sprinkling of coffee powder on the top, but otherwise it was good - mascarpone and Marsalla were both present.

Tiramisu

The baklava, a thin pastry made of sheets of phyllo dough, filled with nuts and honey, was nice, although it did feel a little dry, but not adversely.

Baklava

**Note from the writer (me)**: A couple of friends went to Ruh on Valentine's Day, and from what I heard, there were several people at Ruh on that day, more than what they could handle, and so the service suffered, and so did the food. This review was a based on experiences 5 days before V-Day.

Food: Very good, especially the Lebanese, Arabian, and Moroccan. Spanish needs a little work, but it's still good.
$$$: Around Rs. 500-700 per head without drinks.
Service: Good.
Verdict: Definite must visit.
Extra Info: The ambiance is wonderful. Although I don't have pictures of the restaurant here, I'll be sure to get them during my next visit. The restaurant is located on the Outer Ring Road (ORR), very close to the Sarjapur Road-ORR junction. If coming from Sarjapur Road, turn onto the ORR, and once you see the service road, get onto it and go ahead till you cross a petrol bunk. It's a little ahead after that.

Ruh, 912 & 913, 4^th Floor Terrace, Ganapa Towers, Outer Ring Road, Bellandur Village, Varthur Hobli, Bangalore. Phone:42022727/37, 9845175777

BM Review: Ta'am

Totally forgot about this review that I'd done for Bangalore Mirror on the 31st of July. It can be read here. I gave the place a 2, because of the not very nice food, neither in terms of authenticity nor taste. And I think this is my shortest post so far :)

Food: OK, nothing great.
$$$: Not expensive, our bill for what we ate came to around 950 (for four people).
Service: Nothing special - decent I guess.
Verdict: You can skip this place.

Ta'am, 8^th Main, 4^th Block, Adjacent to Exide showroom, Kormangala, Bangalore. Phone: 41169898, 41469595

The full review is here:

The website for Ta’am gives the definition of the word ta’am as ‘taste’ in the Hebrew language, and goes on to say, “...that summarises our desire to provide tasty food to our patrons!!” Never underestimate the power of a well-designed website and well-crafted sentences to mislead you. Or maybe I’m a dunce to have thought I’d be transported to the bustling streets of Lebanon (when there are no bombs going off) to savour Arab street food in the company of my guests and like-minded gourmands — Ravi D’Abreo, his brother Ashish D’Abreo, and Mohammad Ziad, partners at the creative firm Origami. The three have spent a lot of time in West Asia, with Ziad running the operations from Dubai, and so have had the opportunity to sample first-hand dishes like falafels, hummus and pita bread.

Ta’am is your friendly neighbourhood falafel joint, which started initially only with a vegetarian menu, but in its new avatar, a couple of chicken items have come in as well. Promoted by Anil Elassery, who spent a significant amount of time in Israel, Ta’am tries to bring to Bangaloreans something which isn’t the usual Italian-Continental fare. Falafels, by the way, seem to have taken Israel by storm, the way curry did in m e r r y ol’ Engl a n d . Originally made from fava beans (yes, the ones that Hannibal Lecter loves!), falafels took birth in Egypt. Over time, the dish migrated north into the Arab world, where chickpeas replaced the fava beans. Mashed with onion, garlic, coriander, salt and pepper, the mixture is made into small, slightly flattened balls and fried, resulting in a falafel.

With a mixture of warm and Spartan, yet comforting and contemporary décor and seating arrangements, Ta’am is nestled in a quiet part of Koramangala, off the main road. What would endear you for certain are the colours used inside — fresh g r e e n a n d yellow a n d pastels of other shades. We started off with mocktails and fruit juices on an unusually warm July night. The drinks, written on a white board next to a salad counter (something we agreed to skip), were quite okay.

With a limited menu — three dishes of pita bread stuffed with either falafels or chicken (along with pickles, cabbage, tomato, etc), and four platters (veg and non-veg) consisting of hummus, falafels, chicken and pita — we started off with the initial three. The pita with barbecued chicken was a complete let down. The chicken seemed old, cold and didn’t have an iota of the smoky, barbecued taste to it at all. What’s worse, it was overcooked, making it lose all its juices and leaving it chewy and dry. Guys, the chicken is dead — there’s no need to kill it again! The pita with the kababs in it was only slightly better, with the chicken having a mildly spicy taste to it. The falafel, though, was the best among the three, and I don’t mean best among the worst. It was actually good. According to my guests, it came pretty close to the real deal, with only the tahini (sesame paste) dip being a little too watery.

Although disappointed, we thought the hummus-pita combo could act as a saving grace for Ta’am (and our stomachs — this was our dinner). We ordered pita bread and hummus with baba ghanoush, an Arabian dish made from mashed aubergines (brinjals) with various seasonings. Typically, a baba ghanoush has a smoky taste to it, as it’s broiled over an open flame. The one we ordered fell flat — no smoky taste, no taste of any seasoning. And sadly, the hummus was no better, with it neither having the texture nor the colour one associates with hummus, made from mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic and salt, with the tahini giving it a creamy white look. The consensus was that there wasn’t enough tahini used, and overall, the hummus with the baba ghanoush didn’t seem anywhere close to what you'd get on the streets of the Arab world.

If you’re a debutant to West Asian street food, then I guess this could pass the muster, and, in fact, even make a nice snack. But having been exposed to the real deal, it was sad that apart from the falafels, nothing else came close to replicating the magic. So if you’re around Koramangala, looking for a quick snack, apart from a regular sandwich, Ta’am could be an alternative to be considered.

Alibaba Cafe

Mr VP and I went out for lunch to Alibaba Cafe in Frazer town on Saturday, the same place I'd first visited with my brother. Mr P was supposed to join us but he had a lot of work to finish and so was at office on a Saturday - that guy's becoming a deranged workaholic!

Since my last visit here (which also happened to be my first), I'd told Mr VP about the place, and he's visited the place twice after that, making this his third visit in 3 weeks. Surprisingly, he was ready to have lamb dishes as well, hearing which I was thrilled, coz Mr VP has an unusual 'syndrome' where the teeth on the left side of the lower jaw 'hurt' every time he eats lamb. Yes, weird, I know. We started off with a Moroccan tea pot,
and I tell you the tea these guys make is simply the best in Bangalore. It's not your regular tea powder and milk chai, and just like the Iranian tea I had during my last visit, this one was great. In fact, in terms of flavour, this one scores over the Iranian tea.

The menu is divided into three sections, detailing the cuisines of three different regions: Bhatkal (coastal Karnataka, above Mangalore), Arabian, and Persian. We ordered a chicken appetiser from the Arabian section called shish taouk, which is actually a Turkish shish kebab. The Persian equivalent is the jujeh kebab, which is what I had when I visited the last time.
Since Mr VP agreed to try lamb, we went in for a Persian lamb starter called kebab koobideh,
a Persian (Iranian) kabab made from ground lamb and put on a skewer. Although it tasted good, paying Rs. 165 for two kababs left me a little miffed, especially after the Rs 4 kababs I had in Delhi :)

For our main course, we wanted to have biryani, and so the weekend special dijaj machboos, or chicken biryani (half plate) was ordered.
The guy who took our orderd (I'm guessing he's also part of the management, and certainly not the wait staff) asked us not to order any side dish with the biryani as the taste of the biryani would be lost. Who were we to argue with him, and I'm glad we took his advice, because the biryani tasted heavenly. Not pungent, yet tasty, not greasy, yet smooth. It was great.

Sadly, just as the last time, they didn't have all the items in the dessert section, and so we settled for a shaufa pana pudding, amde from dil leaves and eggs. And just like the last time, it was very good :)

Service:Good - at least they were able to suggest good stuff
$$$:Usual Bangalore cost of around 300-500 per head (depending on size of the group & appetite)
Food:Superb!
Verdict:Worth a visit, wherever you stay in Bangalore
Extra info: 5% service charge is added to the bill

Alibaba Cafe, # 69, 1^st Floor, M M Road, Frazer Town, Bangalore. Phone: 40917163

Alibaba Cafe

Saturday evening was when Mr P, VP, my brother (let's call him Spook) and I were to go out to watch Angels & Demons. The afternoon was going to be a bore and so I took my bro out for lunch, since it was the last two days of his vacation before the start of college. We went to this place called Alibaba Cafe and Restaurant in Frazer Town.

I'd heard a lot about this place, and was itching to go there. I'd also read that the tea served here was supposed to be superb, so I ordered an Irani Tea, and true to what I'd heard, this tea was simply fantastic. The aromas emanating from the glass were truly refreshing, and although it didn't require any sugar (because it wasn't bitter like regular tea without sugar), I plonked in a cube, which still didn't alter the taste too much and I still had a wonderful cuppa tea.
My bro had something called a Saudi Champagne - a mixture of apple juice, lemon juice and soda. For starters, since there were just two of us, and my brother hasn't got half the appetite I have, we just ordered a special kabab platter called the Bakhtiyari kabab, which was a mixture of mutton and chicken from two other kabab dishes - joojeh kabab (chicken) and chebeh kabab (mutton). The chicken was succulent, while the mutton was rich in flavour.

The menu is divided into 3 sections: Arabian, Persian, and Bhatkal (coastal Karnataka, North Canara dist.). For our main course, we ordered from the Arabian section, a chicken dish called gulgul.

Spook had a Kerala Paratha and a kuboos, the traditional Arab bread you usually have hummus with.

I ordered a couple of gawa polis, traditional Bhatkal parathas made from wheat.

For dessert, I went traditional again, and ordered something called a shaufa pana, a pudding made from dil leaves and egg. Although I was in a mood to experiment, I really didn't expect the dessert to be as tasty as it turned out to be. It was simply amazing. It kind of had the effect that a good mouth freshener has at the end of a meal. I think this is one of the best Indian desserts I've had in a long, long time, and it may just be one of the best I've ever had. Simply amazing.

This place isn't too heavy on the wallet either - well, ok, I guess that's a relative thing, but the two of us ate whatever was mentioned above for Rs. 541, which included a 5% service charge, but I had no problem leaving another 5% because I was thoroughly impressed with the food.

Alibaba Cafe & Restaurant, No. 69, 1^st Floor, MM Road, Frazer Town, Bangalore. Phone: 40917163.