Rogue Elephant...redux

Actually, threedux (this is the third time I'm going there, and haven't written about second time). A bright, sunny afternoon, and Mr VP and I headed out to Rogue Elephant, and just as before, we learnt something new from the owner Anand there. Although we reached well past noon, he greeted us with a "Good morning!", and when Mr VP responded "Good Afternoon", he replied, "Oh, but it's never afternoon until the customer has eaten lunch!". I'll need to remember that line.

We started off with what we've almost always had, a lime juice, the fig salad and the just like crab meat, same as what we had when we went there the first time. However, for the main course, I decided to go veg and tried the Moroccon vegetable stew with cous cous.


Mr VP ordered the King fish medallions with a Putanesca sauce. And then, Anand gave us an instance of how when he was working at a hotel in London, and was manning the trolley while serving a roast chicken, he moved up to the table of the lady who had ordered it and began carving the chicken and asked her "Would the lady like some stuffing?". ROTFLOL. 'Whack', the head chef apparently slapped him across his head and said, "You idiot, you never ask a lady if she wants some stuffing!".


Once the main course was done, as usual Mr VP seemed full and so I decided to have the strawberry pannacotta for dessert. This tasted good, and since I love strawberries, this was doubly good.


A nice, fat belly, and back I headed to work, and back to planning the office team trip we had planned for (more about it in the other blog as soon as I get down from the high of that trip).

Rogue Elephant, 119, Ambara Complex, Annasamy Mudaliar Road, Ulsoor Lake, Adjacent to Foto Flash, Bangalore.

The Rogue Elephant

Mr P's away to the US on work, and so it was only Mr VP and I who set off to this place called The Rogue Elephant. I don't know why it's called that, and sadly, I couldn't ask the owner why it's called so. But tucked away behind no.119 next to FotoFlash near the Ulsoor lake is a quaint and quiet little place with just 6 tables and a whole lot of plants with a quintessential backyard look and feel, serving Italian/European cuisine. Thankfully there aren't too many who know of this place as yet and so Mr VP and I were able to get a table as soon as we walked in. The menu is little limited, but I can assure you that every item on it is awesome!

The owner was a nice gentleman who took our orders and explained about the dishes while taking the orders and while serving them. We started off with customary lime juices

and the soup of the day, which was a cream of tomato,

and it was perfect - not too thick, not too thin, and not too sweet. Along with it, we had the special salad of the day - a savoury pannacotta with caramelised figs in a balsamic vinaigrette reduction,

which was a first for me in terms of taste, and it was quite light yet delightful to taste. Also as part of the appetizers was a 'just like crab meat' with a garlic mayonnaise.

This was the first time I had even heard of this, and it's actually fish that is used to replicate crab meat, and just for the effect, a crab claw was added. The garlic mayo perfectly complimented the dish.

For the main course, we had another special, seer fish medallions in a mildly spicy Putanesca sauce

and a herb roasted chicken with a mild lemony sauce

along with mash and beans. Both the dishes were good and even at the end of the meal, I certainly didn't feel heavy, which usually is the case after you eat a north-Indian meal.

We finally rounded up lunch with a sweet peach pannacotta for dessert,

and I have to say that I think pannacotta is my new favourite in the dessert section. A point to note is that this place is open only from 12 to 5 and closes after that, so lunch is the only option here.

Wonderful location in the backyard, away from the traffic and noise, great food and atmosphere and conversations with friends...sigh.

Food: Very good.
$$$: Moderately expensive (around 400 or more per head)
Service: Decent, prompt
Verdict: A must visit if you love conti food.
Extra Info: Come to FotoFlash and look out for the Ambara board. Enter the compound, and go to the back of the building through the garden.

The Rogue Elephant, No 119, Annaswamy Mudaliar Rd, Ambara Complex, Ulsoor Lake, Aga Abbas Ali Road, Ulsoor, Bangalore