Caesar's

Friday night saw P, VP and I make a sudden decision to go watch the new Bruce Willis movie Surrogates @ Fame Lido. After the movie, we were wondering where to head for dinner and started walking along M G Road, coming up with and scratching off options. We came up with Caesar's, and since none of us had been there, we decided to walk it down.

Entering Caesar's was like stepping into a era of Bangalore that existed when I was growing up as a kid. The paint, the setup inside, even the smell for that matter seemed to be screaming 'old Bangalore'.

We settled in and ordered a round of jaljeera. Three big glasses arrived, and along with it we also ordered a round of simple onion rings. The rings were oily (well, duh!) and the two clowns with me made me eat most of them - I tell you, these guys won't let me reap the benefits of all the exercising I'm doing (I run for 30 minutes every evening).

Jaljeera

P is a big fan of soups, and one of the soups caught his eye - tomato egg drop soup. Sounded interesting, and he asked me if I was willing to split a soup with me, which I was, so a split soup it was. The soup was actually nice, and although watery (P for some reason thought it would be creamy), he liked it too.

Tomato egg drop soup

Onion rings

While downing the rings and our soup, we were engaged in an prolonged discussion about the pros and cons of arranged marriage versus a love marriage, and everything that most of today's about-to-be-married folks seem to have taken for granted, especially stuff about the expectations from marriage - it's not the same as it was when our parents got married, that's for sure.

Garlic bread

After a wait for nearly half an hour, our mains arrived. VP ordered a Chicken ala Kiev, a crumb fried chicken dish that was filled with butter, served on a bed of mashed potatoes. And typical of VP, he never finishes a meal, and invariably it's me who mops up what he's left, but my steak was a little too filling, and so I wasn't able to finish his meal.

Chicken ala Kiev

My steak ala Caesar's was a superb combo of beef and chicken, and although I try to avoid beef nowadays, what with the global warming and stuff (in case you're wondering what's eating beef got to do with global warming, well, the cows that are in farms where they are raised for their meat are the no.1 source of methane, and I've verified it as well). In this case I made an exception, and now I can't think of why I chose to do so. In any case, my steak was good. Nice cut of beef, and the chicken was good as well.

Steak ala Caesar's

P didn't seem to have any complaints about his shashlik, and as usual, mopped it up quietly.

Veg shashlik

I was too full to eat dessert, and so the guys ordered a hot chocolate fudge from which I had a couple of spoons before paying the bill.

Hot chocolate fudge

Next weekend is deepavali, or diwali, as it's known in the north. I'm off to Mangalore, and hopefully I'll be able to indulge in some culinary adventures there. But before that, there's a whole week in Bangalore, so hopefully there's something more to come.

Food: Good
$$$: Slightly expensive; the bill came to about 1680 with tax.
Service: Good, but also a little slow. Also, they don't rush you & give you all the time you need.
Verdict: Worth a visit once in a while just to get the good, clean 'smell' of old Bangalore. Oh, and like I said, the food's not too bad :)

Caesar's, 9/2, Mahalakshmi Chambers, M G Road, Bangalore. Phone: 25584144

Spiga

Spiga is back! Almost opposite the older location, above the Giovanni showroom at the corner of St Mark's Road and Vittal Mallya Road, Spiga seems to be drawing all its old faithful back into its realm, and also seems to be pulling in new recruits.

VP and I reached Spiga around 1:15 and had to wait until 1:55 to get a table. P called and said he'd join us a little late. Once we were seated, our waiter got a basket of 3 slices of garlic bread, and here's the kicker - all three were of varying sizes, like the three bears in the Goldilocks story. There was a papa garlic bread (long), a mama garlic bread (medium), and a baby garlic bread (short). We waited for a few minutes, hoping that we'd be given plates, but that didn't seem to be the case. Hungry, we dug into the bread. Finally, we motioned to the waiter to get us some plates, and he got us plates.

When the starter arrived, it did seem a little disappointing, given the standards we'd come to expect form Spiga. The oregano chicken skewers didn't come with the skewers (OK, I may be getting a little ahead of myself, but I thought at least wooden skewers!). Instead, although you could make out the holes in the chicken where the skewers passed through, they came with tooth-picks! Now that, for some reason, was very putting off.

Oregano Chicken Skewers

And what's the deal with the naan-like bread by the side? They sure as hell don't seem to be the kind you can scoop the chicken pieces with (the pieces are way too large, and there isn't any gravy to mop up). The chicken tasted nice, like any other malai kabab that I've had at any of the numerous tandoori food places in the city.

For the main course (by which time Mr P had joined us), I ordered a classic steak sandwich. My previous visit to Spiga at the old location saw me having something very common - some kind of pasta, while the persons seated at the table next to ours were having a very beautiful looking sandwich, so I was craving for something like that. My sandwich tasted good, with just the right amount of mayo added to it and although the lettuce was whole, cutting the sandwich helped combat the difficulty in eating a large leaf of lettuce. However, when they say steak sandwich and serve you a filling of shredded chicken slivers, to say it's kinda disappointing would be the understatement of the century.

Classic Steak Sandwich

VP ordered a bacon-wrapped fish, served with penne. He had a severe headache, and so that gave him an excellent excuse to eat slowly, but I guess he liked the dish coz he almost ate the entire thing on his own.

Bacon wrapped Fish with Penne

P ordered a simple Thai red curry (vegetarian) and all too quickly polished it off as neatly as the rice seemed to be polished.

Thai Red Curry

We were pretty full (VP and I had visited Egg Factory for a snack while waiting to get seats in Spiga, so we were full), and so settled for one blueberry cheesecake. The cake was nice, and was different from most other cheesecakes you get elsewhere (which are almost like a slightly more hardened mousse).

Blueberry Cheese Cake

I don't think I'm heading towards Spiga again in a hurry. The music was way too loud, and it being a Sunday, so were the people. the service was eh, and the only silver lining was that the food didn't disappoint. Thankfully, with me, that's the most important criteria, you know, kinda like why men go to watch an Anna Kournikova match...not for her tennis, or like when women go to watch a John Abraham movie...for his looks of course, not his acting skills (in his defense, have you ever seen a mannequin 'act' anywhere?), but the fact that there was this charm and aura around Spiga made me expect a lot more from it.

Food: Good
$$$: Around 400-500 per head; may reduce if group size is bigger
Service: Eh!
Verdict: I liked the old Spiga better - in terms of food, service, ambiance, and best of all, it didn't have mind-numbingly loud music playing all the time.
Extra Info: The music is very loud, and people speak at the top of their lungs and act as if they own the place, so if it's a pleasant environ you're looking for, certainly not on weekends.

Spiga, above Giovanni, Corner of St Mark's Road & Vittal Mallya Road, St Mark's Road, Bangalore. Phone: 42110469 , 42110470

Caperberry

Finally, we visit Caperberry. We'd heard so much about this place and its use of molecular gastronomy clubbed with fine dining that we were almost compelled to pay this place a visit. And what a visit it was. Our only grouse with the place was that the fine dining section was separated from the lounge area by a half wall and the music from the lounge area was just not suited for fine dining. For three guys in their mid-20s, that may not have been an issue, but I'm just giving the others a heads up.

First up, we knew this place was a touch bit expensive (ok, a lot more expensive) than most other places we've been so far. So when we saw a 4 and 6 course meal, we almost readily jumped for that option. The vegetarian 4 course meal is priced at Rs 1400 and the 6 course at Rs 1800. The non veg 4 course is priced at Rs 1500 and the 6 course at Rs 2000. Mr p went for the 4 course veg meal and Mr VP went for the 4 course non-veg meal while I went all out with the 6 course non-veg (too bad there wasn't a 10 course combine of veg and non-veg :) ).

The traditional, complimentary bread basket with herbed butter was nice and they keep bringing them as and when you finish it, and even in between courses. We were worried that VP would continue eating only this and end up wasting his food, but luckily that wasn't the case.

Mr P and I decided to have something to drink. I was driving back, so no alcohol for me and so we settled for a couple of mocktails - a Snapper, consisting of lemon, lychee, ginger and soda for me and
a Pine Coco, having pineapple, coconut and cream for Mr P it was.

Our first indications of the fine dining concept came with the waiter placing an amuse bouche in front of us - this one being a melon popsicle - which we suspected was the fruit dipped in liquid nitrogen (yes, they use it for some of their dishes) or frozen and then served. Whatever method it was, the end result was pleasant.

The non-veg course had a seafood appetizer, with (from left to right) scallop, prawn and squid served with a salad. I usually have a thing against the large jumbo prawns, but this one actually tasted good although my other grouse is that they have a strong smell and this one was no different. But overall, great way to start off a meal.
The veg course consisted of some kind of cheesy cutlets with a gazpacho, which Mr P said tasted nice. The salad seemed to same and must have been only as a garnish.
The second course followed, with Mr P getting a green pea soup with cheese, which was terrific. It reminded me a recipe I had watched Nigella Lawson use to prepare a cheesy green pea soup with mozzarella.
The second course of the non-veg menu was a duo of gazpacho - classic( r) and melon(l). A gazpacho is a cold vegetable soup from the southern part of Spain, and is traditionally tomato based.

Before the main courses arrived, we were given another amuse bouche, this time a citrus fruit crostini. At this point in time, we were wondering, and praying that the rest of the meal would be as good if not better than the appetizers, because only then would we feel we'd have gotten complete value for money.

The veg main course was a trio of mushroom - shitake at the top of the pic, then some kind of mushroom that seemed to have been stuffed with some kind of cream or cheese, and the last being a type of quiche or puff pastry with mushrooms. Mr P doesn't like shitake mushrooms, and these were particularly strong and the seasoning was a little on the saltier side, but the other two were really good.
Since I had the 6 course meal, I had two more dishes, and one among those was Baked Salmon on a bed of cous-cous and mushrooms with a sauce made from orange juice and ligtly seasoned.
A melon sorbet, served as another palate cleanser/amuse bouche before my other main course.
The other non-veg main course (which is what Mr VP was served as well as part of the 4 course meal) was a duck sous vide, with foie gras on pear and with a pear and cherry sauce. Mr VP didn't like the taste of duck, and I too prefer chicken, but I didn't think duck meat tasted 'bad'. But I was pretty excited to eat foie gras, considered a delicacy and on the do eat list of almost all food lovers. I didn't find it too bad, but I won't go onto describe how it felt or tasted...I'll leave that to you.
I was given an extra dessert (of which I didn't take a pic), which was mahon, brie and pear with olives. For the last course, we selected three separate desserts, making sure we had one type of cryo dessert (dessert chilled with liquid nitrogen). The first was a trio of custards (l-r): chocolate, blueberry pannacotta, and crème brûlée with Spanish flan around it. I loved the blueberry pannacotta, while P & VP liked the crème brûlée best, while all three of us weren't all that impressed by the chocolate one.
The second one of the desserts was a tiramisu, but instead of using coffee powder, this one had green tea powder, along with a garnish of faux caviar. I love tiramisu, and this one with the innovative use of green tea powder nailed it - it was fabulous.
The last dish was one of the cryo dishes, which came with dark chocolate and strawberry
And then came the trolley with liquid nitrogen, all gaseous and looking like it was straight out of a sci-fi flick.
The waiter squeezed out some foam like thing onto a spoon, and dropped it into the liquid nitrogen, and then fished it out and it looked...
...like this! The photo doesn't do justice but it looks way better in real, with 'smoke' coming out of it, giving you the impression that it's hot, but once it enters your mouth, it starts to 'pop'. The only possible drawback is that if it's too cold, your tongue kinda gets numb for a while, but that apart, the experience is fantastic.

Go to Caperberry with an open mind and only if you have the intention to go in for fine dining, and you will be blown away. I'm glad I went there, and the three of us have decided that we'd be back, but maybe not too soon :)

Food: Fabulous
$$$: Expensive
Service: Very good
Verdict: Fine dining at its best in Bangalore. Truly international. If you want to experience western fine dining, visit Caperberry once. The rates may seem exorbitant, but then again, you won't get this kind of food or experience anywhere else in Bangalore.
Extra Info: Caperberry is located within the Tanishq building on Dickenson road, adjacent to Manipal Centre, at the corner of Dickenson Road and M G Road. Valet parking is available.

Caperberry, 48/1 Ground Floor, The Estate (same building as Tanishq), Dickenson Road, Bangalore. Phone: 25594567

Copper Chimney

After a tumultuous 3 days from Wednesday night to early Saturday morning, Mr VP and I decided to go out for lunch to Copper Chimney, a Mughlai restaurant on the 5^th floor of Bangalore Central. Inevitably, we got around to talking about the attacks in Mumbai, and about the government is never pro-active but always reactive towards incidents. But that's for the other blog, Shetty's Take, not here. But trust me, even writing this seems like a Herculean effort right now, and I don't think this will be the best piece penned down by me (or typed out, whatever).

As soon as we entered the place, I liked it. Nothing spectacular, but just the fact that the bar looked nice, and the furniture looked strong, and everything around us was spic and span made me feel good about this place. And the fact that they allowed the two of us to sit at a table for 6 was even better!

We always wanted to try out the biryani at this place, and so decided to go easy with the rest of the food. We started off with a chicken soup, which wasn't a creamy variety and tasted pretty good. It wasn't too thick or too thin, and that made Mr VP happy, since he doesn't like creamy soups, or ones that are too watery or too thick.

We followed up the soup with a plate of achari murgh tikka, which was perfect - just the right amount of spiciness to whet the appetite and prepare us for the biryani.

The dum biryani was something very different. For one, it's fragrance was wonderful. What's more, it wasn't too sticky or greasy, and after eating it we didn't feel unnecessarily full, as usually most places add a bit (quite a bit) of soda to rice items and that tends to fill you up pretty fast. Although not too full, we decided to skip the breads and go for dessert, although I'd heard that the taftan, a kind of naan bread, was supposed to be wonderful here.

For dessert, I ordered something called a Muzaffar, which was something like a rabdi, with some crispy thingies sprinkled on top (that they could have skipped, because it didn't feel too good in the mouth). Otherwise, this was a very nice dish and I quite liked the taste.

Mr VP ordered a malai firni, and I kept eying his dish until finally he said "I can't finish it" and I gobbled it up with glee. It was really good, and the first time I'd had it.


I think I'm going to visit this place again sometime, although it would be in more pleasant times (hopefully).

Food: Good (one of the better north Indian dining places)
$$$: Moderately expensive
Service: Decent
Verdict: Visit if in the vicinity

Copper Chimney, Bangalore Central, near Mayo Hall, Bangalore. Phone: 66111800, 66111900