Biryani Pundits

Biryani Pundits is a restaurant that has come up in the same spot in Koramangala that once housed Sonakshi Sharma's (another restaurant). When you hear the name 'Biryani Pundits', you're bound to think of a joint where you'll be spoiled for choice with copious varieties of biryanis. Au contrare, one look at the menu, and you'll notice that the biryani constitutes a very small percentage of the total number of items on the menu. So much for 'it's all in a name!'. Located in Koramangala, a little after Umerkot, Biryani Pundits has colour-coded seating only on the first floor and can seat around 30 people or so. The ground floor, by the looks of things, is mainly the wait-for-your-take-away spot. The food on offer ranges from kulchas to iddiappams, from naans to idlis, and perhaps almost everything in between.

With a menu as diverse as the one they have here, it took 5 of us dissect it and put every section to the test (or in this case, taste). So after scanning through the pages, we thought of starting with the lamb head meat fry, but were told that it isn't available...on a Saturday night! Of all the days in the week, you'd expect restaurants to stock up on what's on the menu for the weekend, but that wasn't the case here. So a lamb liver fry, a chicken 65, a paneer chilli, chicken tikka, and chicken and lamb kottu paratha made up our starters.

Lamb liver fry

Chicken tikka

The paneer chilli was about the most atrocious excuse for paneer I've EVER had. Really, it was that bad. A coating of corn flour gave it an almost bullet proof-like jacket that our teeth found hard to penetrate at first, but we did make inroads, eventually. The chicken 65 was probably the best dish of the evening, being soft, juicy, and well flavoured. While I can't say with authority that I've ever tasted an authentic chicken 65 before, this one at least tasted good, so full marks. The chicken tikkas were the usual fare and there wasn't anything memorable about it. The kottu parathas were decent, although a couple of folks believed that the salt wasn't mixed properly as they got mouthfuls of more salt than what they'd bargained for.

Kottu paratha
For the mains, we had to try the Pundits special biryani. Along with that we wanted to have the iddiappams, which we were told weren't available. And the guy taking our orders gave us some extra info here: "Not available coz they smell bad!!!" Like we wanted to know that. Thanks, next time also tell which buddy of yours in the kitchen is digging his nose, and who's got their pinky waxing the insides of their ear! And that pretty much summed up the service in general - uninterested, just passing through the motions. This was exemplified by them bringing all the food at once and plonking it on the table, only to realise that there wasn't any space left, which then made them try to make space by removing plates that still have food on them!

So we went with the special dosa, egg appam, lamb biryani along with the Pundits special, a chicken pepper curry and a lamb curry. The special biryani was anything but special. There was hardly any difference between it and the lamb biryani except the meat. Both tasted below average. The special dosa, again, proved hard to decipher what made it special, because any of the Shanti Sagars will server you a paper masala dosa in the shape of the an inverted cone. The curries were just OK, but the biryanis, as mentioned, were below average, and so the overall dinner experience was one I'd like to forget soon.

Special dosa
Egg appam
Lamb biryani
Chicken pepper curry

The biryanis were supposed to be served with raita, brinjal curry, and a dessert. They never came. So we asked. And they asked back, "Do you want them?" I honestly started looking around to see if there was a hidden camera, a la candid camera show where we were the scapegoats. Alas, that wasn't to be. This was happening for real.

I don't know what kind of punditry got the owners to conceptualise this sort of an operation or what the philosophy was behind then name and the menu, but good luck to them is all I can say. I wish I could rate this place 1.5 stars, but I guess 2 should convey the message. If it runs for more than a year, they should consider themselves fortunate. Or they can just thank their stars that there are sufficient people who appreciate bad food. Whatever.

Food: You've gotta be kidding me!
$$$: Affordable - approximately Rs 300-350 for two.
Service: Uninterested
Verdict: Visit if you're a bachelor with no particular interest in good food because you're primary concern is to save up on your hard earned money.

Biryani Pundits, #1018, 80 ft Road, Near Wipro Park Signal (after Natural's), 1^st Block, Koramangla, Bangalore. Phone: 8880050001

The little joys in Hyderabad - 2

So part 2 of the Hyderabad diaries is here.

Beyond Coffee: Beyond Coffee is a nice, cozy cafe in the Jubilee Hills are, just before the road to Hitech City. It has an open air seating area amidst grass and a tiled shaded area, usually where those who huff and puff sit, and an indoor section as well. All I'd heard about this place was the the New York cheesecake was simply divine, and so that's all I'd set my sights (and taste buds) on. And true to the reputation, the cheesecake came up a winner. Easily the best I've had my whole life (hands down, by miles).

Shadab: Shadab is an old hotel in the old city part of Hyderabad. Although most people say that the biryani at places like Paradise and Bawarchi are the main show piece in Hyderabad, the real stuff is to be had in the old city area. And so I braved the heat, and walked a total of 3.5 km in the blazing sun (after visiting Salar Jung museum and the Char Minar), and even though my feet (see photo below) did look like a piece of barbecued meat at the end, the biryani and the falooda at Shadab was worth the walk. Totally. I kid you not. And until then I didn't even like faloodas, but since Ms Quiche told me the faloodas here were a specialty, I stood up, did a jig to shuffle my stomach contents (by then filled with a full bowl of the special mutton biryani, meant for two people) and make room for the falooda, and downed the thing. I was good to walk another 10 km if needed (as it turned out I had to walk another 2.5 km before I got an auto as none of the autos in the area were willing to come to where I had to go to).

Heard of sun-dried tomatoes? How 'bout sun-burnt feet?

Some random shots of gelato:






















Once upon a time: This is one of the restaurants at the Green Park hotel where I was staying. Essentially they serve Indian food, with a smattering of Chinese as well. We had ordered some snacks from the bar menu - garlic grilled prawns, chicken wings and egg pakodas. The prawns were straight out of the freezer where they'd been chilling for a month or so - rubbery to the point where they could've been used to patch the puncture in your car tyre. The wings we magically transformed into drums of heaven (see photo), and yet the waiter insisted that these were indeed chicken wings. "Drums of heaven will be having more yellow colour, Sir". Somehow, adding a 'Sir' at the end seemed to add authority and authenticity to what he said. I wasn't in a mood to argue anymore; anyone who's eaten out more than once would've schooled him about the faux pas. The saving grace was the rogan josh, which was nice and tender. Thank goodness for that, for I'd imagined him bringing me lamb chops or something, trying to pass it off as rogan josh by telling me "chops will be having no gravy, Sir". Can't leave out the 'Sir'.

Garlic grilled prawns

Drums of heaven, which the waiter insisted were chicken wings

Egg pakodas

Rogan josh

Kibbeh: Kibbeh is an Arab dish, somewhat like a kabab, but comprising of broken wheat mixed with minced meat and fried. One of the many forms of kibbeh are croquettes. Kibbeh, here, happens to be a Lebanese lounge bar in Hyderabad. I visited Kibbeh on the night when RCB were playing the Rajasthan Royals in their own backyard (Warne's last home game) and immediately settled in with Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential and a mug of beer. And to keep my taste buds happy, I ordered a meat sambousek, a Lebanese dish from which we get the word (and the dish) samosa. Sambousek is essentially the same (shapes vary depending on the stuffing), and it came with a feta dip. The sambousek was nice, and although 4 (or 5? don't remember now) pieces were quite filling, I wasn't going to stop at just one dish.

Sambousek

So after the second beer, I decided to go for a very common (boring?) Turkish dish - the chicken shish taouk, which is essentially chicken grilled on skewer (shish = skewer, taouk = chicken). The chicken was soft and succulent, and was nicely flavoured with garlic and yogurt. This came with two dips - feta and hummus. Feta, ok, I can understand, but why hummus? Anyway, I didn't care. RCB were knocking the stuffings outta the Rajasthan team and I was enjoying some nice food.

Chicken shish taouk

Thai Express: On my last night in Hyderabad, I visited Thai Express, a lovely joint in the Banjara Hills area (Road Number 2 I think) that, needless to say, serves Thai food. Although I went here twice, I ended up eating the same things both times because these were recommended by a Ms Quiche, and when you're alone, there's only so much you can eat. And since I love a good Tom kha ga soup, that's what I started off with. The combination of coconut milk, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves and some spices can get me to just about do anything you like. What can I say, I'm a self confessed Tom kha-holic, this was as good a Tom kha as I've had before.


Next, I decided to have the Thai meat pancakes, delicates pancakes stuffed with mince meat. This came with a sweet-ish sauce filled with chilli flakes. The combination of the sweet and chilli along with the texture and the taste of the pancake is hard to describe, but rest assured it was quite terrific. Damn! Bangalore sure needs a good Thai joint, and fast! Too bad Shiok closed down, coz that was the only good Thai place in the city. Any future restaurateurs, if you're planning to open a restaurant, there's a huuuuuggeeee market for Thai food in Bangalore, so please go Thai. And my frustration was compounded while writing this because I realised the snap I'd taken wasn't the best, as the lighting inside (at night) isn't very camera-minus-flash friendly.

And finally, the last dish I had was another hot favourite at Thai Express - the soft shelled crab. Except, I didn't have it at the restaurant as it was late and I had to get back to the hotel I was staying at (no vehicle you see, was at the mercy of the local auto drivers). So I had it parceled and had it back at the hotel room. And it was yummy. Served with a multitude of sauces, ranging from the sour of soy to the heat from chilli, the sauces only enhance the taste of a wonderfully done dish.

Soft-shelled crab

The little joys in Hyderabad - 1

I'm in Hyderabad currently. Got here on the 30^th of April, and I'm here for two weeks. Sadly, this isn't a visit on holiday - I'm here on work, and so although Hyderabad would be a fabulous place to spend eating, my posts will be very limited as the only times I get to step out will be during the weekend, and that certainly won't be enough to sample even a fraction of what Hyderabad has to offer. Nonetheless, the few places that I did visit shall be dutifully written about, but not as a review, but more as a sort of 'FYI' post.

Ruci and Idoni: Ms Quiche and Ms BakeAnything took me to this place that was a super market that also had a cafe on the top floor (somewhere in Banjara Hills). So for breakfast you have the option of selecting various items from a check-list and eventually you're served up the same, and you can see whatever I'd selected.

Close-up of the Danish

While the ladies opted for a croissant, I opted for the Danish, and I was pretty damn glad I did. I mean, just look at the photo and that should say it all. Picture's worth a thousand words, right? :)

Ten Downing Street: TDS as it's popularly known as to the locals, this watering hole has seen many a party, and from what I'm told, it's a popular handout with the crowd from Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and the students at ISB. For Bangaloreans, to get an idea of TDS, all you need to do is step into Tavern at the Inn in The Museum Inn on Museum Road, and Tavern surely scores over TDS when it comes to the food, and the service (not my opinion alone, but my two friends who've been in Hyd now for a while and were formerly in Bangalore for quite a few years were of the same opinion). I guess for ambiance we'll need to flip a coin coz Tavern is quite a place during an EPL game, while TDS I'm told is quite the place to be during karaoke night.

Random food eaten here and there

Drums of heaven

Seekh kabab

Paya

Haleem with fried onions

Drums of heaven - OK, seekh kabab - nice, paya - crap, haleem - nice

Shots so random I won't even classify them :)

































ISB: Umm, yes, Indian School of Business. Saturday saw me visit the ISB campus with a couple of friends from school. Inside, we came across as a couple of stalls, one selling momos and the other selling juice blends of several kinds. While I wasn't able to take a picture of the drinks we had (watermelon and ginger), I did get snaps of the momos, and they were quite nice. Rs 20 for a plate of 5 (or was it 40? don't remember now), but well worth the money.

After snacking on the momos, we headed to the cafe where two of us had grilled chicken sandwiches, while another had a pasta. All the dishes there were priced at sub-hundred and many were sub-fifty, which made my eyes do back flips inside the sockets - I never get to see such prices in Bangalore (damn! should've taken a pic of the menu). Food was tasty, didn't cost anything I'm used to paying, and for those interested, apparently the chole batture is one of the hottest selling items there.

Another post will follow shortly (by the weekend) - cheesecakes, biryanis, and more! Stay tuned.

Kund

Kund is a small north India/Punjabi restaurant in Indiranagar, adjacent to Domino's Pizza, and virtually a stone's throw away from my office. Given this, it's a little strange that in the past 5 years I've worked at the current company, I've visited Kund only twice before (and both times were before I started this blog). Kund is owned by the father of Chef Manjeet Singh (the owner of Herbs n Spices in Indiranagar 80 feet road). It's a tiny joint, with 5-6 six-seater tables and an equal number of 2 seater tables.

The menu has several options for vegetarians (the usual gobi and mushroom and half a zillion paneer options), but for non-vegetarians, it's almost like hitting pay dirt. What's heartening to see is that they have several lamb dishes on the menu. Since this was one of the few and rare occasions where the number of vegetarians outnumbered the non-vegetarians (I went with some freinds from office) comprehensively (in a group with whom I've dined), the non-veg dishes are minimal.

The vegetarians started off with usual - paneer tikkas with green mint chutney. Along with this, they also ordered a veg seekh kabab, which all the vegans seemed to like a lot, but left a lot to be desired with my palate. Also, a good number of these guys are poor eaters really, and one of 'em is allergic to mushrooms - talk about narrowing your options - vegetarian and allergic some of the veg stuff!

Us non-PETA folk settled for tangdi kababs and gosht mazedar kabab. I got a real kick out of the name. The tangdi kababs were drumsticks marinated in a chili, ginger & garlic paste, cumin, and fenugreek. These were nice and hot and the meat just slipped off the bone. The lamb kababs were marinated in cashew nut paste amongst other spices, making it rich and creamy. The lamb itself was boneless and was extremely tender. We ordered seconds of this.

Tangadi kabab

Paneer tikka

Gosht mazedar kabab

For our main coin course, my fellow non-veggie and I ordered a gosht lababdar. I didn't read what exactly this had, and really didn't care as long as there was gravy, no bones, and tender meat. And this was exactly that. Hurray! We also ordered a mutton biryani, which came in a copper pot and was nicely cooked. I've had better biryanis elsewhere, but this was not bad, and the quantity was more than enough for the two of us after having 2 kulchas each.

The PETA folk had some paneer dish and a dal along with kulchas, and to mop up the excess dal, they had a jeera rice. I guess it was good since they didn't complain and everything was polished off - the hallmark of hungry diners and/or tasty food.

Paneer something and Dal something

My plate with my food

Mutton biryani

Food: Good
$$$: Not too expensive. 8 of us (6 veg, 2 non-veg) ate and the bill was a touch under 2000, which was around 250 per head...well worth it!
Service: Decent
Verdict: Must visit if in the area and if you want to have north Indian/Punjabi food.

Kund, #303, Ashok Terrace, Next to Domino's Pizza, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore. Phone: 25281416

Mani's Dum Biryani

I was supposed to visit this place and review it for Bangalore Mirror. So along with my guests, Manu Prasad and Nikhil, I visited the place last evening. We parked our bottoms on the chairs, and take a look around, and suddenly Manu points to the notice board - horror, oh horror! "Priya Bala has reviewed this place for Bangalore Times" said Manu. "Dye-am" I thought to myself. I should have been a little more thorough with my research of the place. For those of you who don't know, we make it a point to try not to review places reviewed by Bangalore Times.

I was crestfallen - that's one more place down the drain in terms of officially reviewing it for the paper. Nevertheless, we got down to business - eating. On the notice board, we saw a few 'specials' of the day, and so decided to order one of them, the crispy fried wings. Along with that, we placed an order for a chili chicken and a plate of chicken lollipops.

While waiting for our orders to arrive, we were involved in animated conversations about Twitter, the recent Sashi Tharoor + IPL incident, and a lot more. Turns out Manu and Nikhil and regulars Twitter users (since a message from Twitter is a twee, is a Twitter user called a twit?) and were filling me on the details about what happens in the Twitter world.

The chili chicken came first, and was very good, although, I did feel it ought to have been a little more spicy, given the fact that it's called 'chili' chicken, but maybe it's just me being fussy, you decide. The chicken was nicely cooked, and we liked it. Nice start.

Chili Chicken

The crispy fried wings turned out to be a standard fair, and it would have been better if there would've been a little more 'meat' in these wings. Taste wise though, it was good, and you can notice a little bit of their masala sprinkled on the plate that added to the taste.

Crispy Fried Chicken Wings

The lollipops were much like the wings when it came to taste, but luckily had a bit more meat in 'em. Given the location and quantity served, I think the prices charged are reasonable here.

Chicken Lollipop

Finally, we got to the main course, and decided to have the 'half' biryanis, and so two chicken biryanis and a mutton biryani were ordered and devoured in no time. The rice was cooked superbly, and even a look at the length of the grains in the snap below won't make you fully realise how long they were (similar to the ones we had at Saffron), and from what I've heard, you need a really high level of skill to get them that way. As far as the taste goes, I know where I'm going to be packing biryani from the next time :)

Mutton Dum Biryani

To wind things up, we ordered a 'matka' kulfi each. The menu also has mishti dahi, and we wanted to try that but it wasn't available on that day. Too bad, maybe some other time.

Food:Very good
$$$: Not expensive. Our meal, including 3 'matka' kulfis, came to around 570 (3 people).
Service: They take your orders, and bring them to your table(s).
Verdict: Must visit if in the area, or if in the mood for cheap and amazing biryanis.

Mani's Dum Biryani, Jyothi Nivas College Road, Above Cuppa, Koramangala, Bangalore.

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.