BM Review: Aioli

In the month of December, VP had told me that there's a new place called Aioli that's opened up close to where he lives, and a few days when he was home alone, he'd visited the place for dinner and absolutely loved the place. So one day when I had journeyed to his place (trust me, when you travel from BTM layout to that halli of his called Kamanahalli, that IS a journey!), we went to Aioli for lunch, and I liked the place myself and thought it was a fit case for a review. So the review given here will be a combined review of sorts - dishes from both visits will be under the spotlight.

The first time we went there, and since it was just the two of us, we ordered a plate of chicken wings, and for the main course he had the prawns with rosemary dunked in olive oil served in a terracotta dish while I had the Moroccan lamb chops. For desserts, we had a pot of happiness (made from hung yogurt), and grilled pineapples with chocolate sauce.

The chicken wings tasted really nice, and the smoky taste from grilling them over a charcoal fire was superb. However, the usual levels of spiciness that of these wings was enough to get my nose running, so you'd do well to tell them to serve them to you a notch or two lower with respect to spiciness - 'medium spicy' as we so eloquently say in Bangalore (probably India).

Chicken wings

For the mains, VP decided to go in for the prawns with rosemary in olive oil. Olive oil is the only oil VP can have without his stomach going for a toss. Now the thing with rosemary is that it's one of those herbs that either you like it or you don't, and if you do happen to like it, then it's very easy to start disliking it. Too little of it and you'll wonder what the big deal if, and too much of it overwhelms the dish to the point where you'll wanna push the plate away and rinse your mouth with water or something. So the time when Prash had visited alone, I think they'd got the amount of rosemary right coz he loved the dish, but his time around, he said it was 'OK', and both of us felt the rosemary was a touch higher than what we'd have liked. Also, I'm not sure, but some of the prawns didn't seem the best in terms of taste, although I couldn't be certain if this can directly be attributed to the rosemary, or something in the prawns themselves.

I had the Moroccan lamb chops. Though the snap isn't the best I could've taken as it doesn't show sufficient amount of flesh on the chops, suffice to say that they tasted good - well flavoured with herbs, and accompanied by some herbed rice. You can ask for pita bread, fries, or rice for the carbs, although the herbed rice was more Indian-esque than Moroccan, but it served its purpose well.

Grilled prawns with rosemary in olive oil

Moroccan lamb chops

For dessert, the pot of happiness made from hung yogurt seemed a good one, and along with that we decided to have a plate of grilled pineapples with chocolate sauce. The pot of happiness was nice, but a lil too sweet for my liking, while the grilled pineapples were quite good, save for the tutti-frutti that's added to the top.

Grilled pineapple with chocolate sauce

Pot of happiness

The review that I wrote for the Bangalore Mirror can be read here. During the review, we started off with a plate of chicken wings, and this time around, I made sure I asked them to make a little less spicy, and it turned out to be a good thing. Along with the wings, we also ordered a plate of hot dogs with salsa rossa (and later we ordered another plate of the same). The hot dogs came on skewers with a few grilled veggies - the standard lot of peppers, onions, tomatoes, and the likes. These turned out to be quite a hit at the table, hence the repeat order. The final starter was a baba ghanoush, a creamy, flavourful mush of brinjal served with one of the softest baked breads I've ever eaten. Order this dish just for the sake of the bread that's served with it - bliss!

Baba ghanoush

Hot dogs with salsa rossa

With the starters out of the way, we worked our way through the menu for the mains. We ordered the Moroccan lamb chops (again), the Jamaican jerk chicken, two fish preparations - sear fish in lime aioli, and another one with a red-chili marinade, and a vegetarian dish comprising of stuffed peppers and tomatoes.

The lamb chops were just as good as they were the first time I came - well cooked, sufficient meat, well flavoured, and a good number of chops. The jerk chicken tasted good and was nicely cooked, although I thought the jerk flavouring could've used a little more of the Scotch bonnet pepper (a key ingredient in jerk seasoning) - or whatever pepper they were using in their jerk seasoning. The stuffed peppers was just plain insipid and boring, and I don't think we got to see,hear, taste or smell any of it after it came to the table.

Jamaican jerk chicken

Stuffed peppers and tomatoes

The two fish dishes were instant hits and were the highlights of the meal that evening (in the main course). The fish were fresh, the marinades perfect, the cooking done just right and the taste was quite superb. A point to note was that the red marinade didn't seem to be very Mediterranean, although I could be wrong since I don't remember everything that went into it. Midway through the meal I realised I wouldn't be satisfied with what I'd eaten (quantity - I have a deep stomach) and so I ordered a Turkish doner as well. Click the link to see what it actually is, and for the lazy, it's very similar to the Arab shawarma, where meat is sliced off a vertical spit and filled into a bread pocket/made into a roll. This was nice, but could've be better in terms of adding a mayo-based sauce or something since the meat was getting drier by the minute.

Sear fish with lime aioli

Sear fish with red marinade

Turkish doner

For dessert, we had three dishes, of which, sadly, only one was good, while the other two were, quite frankly, bad. So let's start with the bad - the chocolate somethings, made from powdered chocolate and set in the shape of hearts. Taste and texture wise, this just didn't do the trick for any of us. The other dish that could've been good but ended up being not so great was the crème brûlée. The top wasn't fired crisp, while although the inside did try to make up for it, it was falling short of the mark in terms of texture. The one saviour for the desserts was the panna cotta, which was neither too sweet nor too hard and did manage to salvage a little for us after the meal.

Panna cotta

Hazelnut creme brulee

Chocolate something

All in all, a very nice place, good concept, and although it actually isn't a near smoke house, the grill house part of it does make it seem a viable option for a good meal once in a while.

Food: Very good
$$$: Rs 500 - 600 per head for a full meal
Service: Good, but could use a few more hands on weekends
Verdict: Must visit if in the area

Aioli Bbq and Grill Smoke house, #409, 1^st Floor, 5^th Main, 2^nd Block, Kalyannagar, HRBR Layout, Bangalore. Phone: 42984259

100 Feet

Apart from P and VP, there's another buddy who spends most of his time in the US, and we were fortunate enough to have him over the weekend (he's here to renew his visa). He's pretty witty at times, so let's call him NitWit. So we met him for lunch on Saturday afternoon at 100 Feet Boutique Restaurant, before moving on to ThePilot's house. ThePilot, while being a valid license holder, doesn't fly, and in keeping with Bangalore's traditions, works for an IT company that's into storage. Yeehah!

While Ms WeightConsious, who along with Saucy were to drop by, we started off with something to drink. NitWit stuck to his Heineken, while P had some wine, and I had a drink with ginger, lime and grenadine in it. I don't remember the menu of the past, but I must say that they have some very boring and insipid starters (maybe it's for this very reason that I haven't visited this place for more than 2 years now). Since P is veg, we asked for a plate of potato cheese kibbe and some crostini della casa, while NitWit's eyes fell upon the chicken tzatziki. And if you've noticed, whenever there's soup, P usually has one, and I usually split with him, and so a potato and leek soup it was.

Now, kibbe (or kibbeh) is a croquette from the Arab world, usually stuffed with rice and meat. Since ours was potato and cheese, it was expected that we'd be served with a dip that may be a little on the spicy side. However, tomato sauce is what we got, and although the kibbe was decent, I think it would have been a lot better with a little more heat. The crostinis were very good, and the toppings of olives, capers, onions, tomatoes, on some good bread covered in mozzarella made it quite good indeed. The chicken tzatziki was just yogurt marinated chicken, grilled and served along with a salad and the tzatziki, a yogurt dip having cucumbers, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil and at times, lemon juice as well. Our tzatziki was more yogurt and cucumber, almost no garlic and certainly no pepper, olive oil, lemon juice. The soup was quite simply brilliant compared to the rest.

Potato and leek soup

Potato and cheese kibbe

Crostini della casa

Chicken tzatziki

Just as we were finishing the starters, Ms WeightConcious and Saucy walk in, and they weren't in a mood for starters, and so we moved on to the main course. Pastas seemed to be the meal of the day, as there were three pasta dishes ordered. P had a farfalle boscaiola that came with a sauce called Woodcutter's sauce - made up of mushrooms. Ms WeightConcious, who wanted to only have penne with white sauce, eventually settled for a penne riviera, which had a few veggies and, well, the white sauce. I asked for a spaghetti bolognese. All three pasta dishes were quite good, and there wasn't too much talking while we ate - usually a good indicator that the food is good.

Farfalle boscaiola

Penne riviera

Spaghetti bolognese

NitWit ordered a chicken princess, a grilled piece of chicken with a mushroom sauce, while Saucy ordered a chicken mascarpone, a breast of chicken stuffed with mascarpone cheese.

Chicken princess...cluck, cluck, pakaaak!

Chicken mascarpone

I'm not sure if it's a sign that I'm getting old(er) or if it's the weather in Bangalore, but I seem to be getting full a lot faster these days. The only silver lining - I wasn't the only one at the table who felt full. We ordered a couple of apple & berry pies - more apple than berry I must add, but still pretty tasty along with the little scoop of ice cream - and started planning for the evening at ThePilot's house.

Apple & berry pie

I must say that the quality of the food at 100 Feet has certainly gone down a bit - food is probably one of those fickle things in life that tends to change with time, and not necessarily for the better. The menu and the dishes on it haven't changed much in a while, and to me, that's a sign of a 'chalta-hai' attitude. Don't get me wrong - it's still quite nice, but it doesn't seem to have anything new done to it (from a food point of view) and the prices aren't getting cheaper, so what does 100 Feet have to draw me towards it - like say a Thulp or an Egg Factory?

Food: Decent, but not inspiring anymore.
$$$: Slightly on the higher side. Maybe around Rs. 500-700 per person.
Service: Good
Verdict: Can visit if you haven't, or if you're in the area, but whether you'll come back again and again and would continue to do so is something only you can answer.

100 Feet Boutique Restaurant, 777/1, opp. New Horizon School, Near Satyapaul, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore. Phone: 25277752

Greek Food Festival @ Olive Beach

On Thursday night, I was invited by my friend, whom we shall call BikerMan, to Olive Beach for a tasting of Greek food. Olive Beach, which is located on Wood Street, parallel to Castle Street (off Brigade Road), and typically serves Mediterranean cuisine. The restaurant is planning on having a Greek food festival from the 17^th to the 23^rd of this month and so wanted to invite a few members of the press and a few other people. BikerMan happened to be one of them, and he asked me if I'd be interested in tagging along. I didn't need to be asked twice.

We got there and were greeted by Radhika Misra, in charge of the media information (PR). She and BikerMan knew each other from BikerMan's days at The Hindu. I also happened to meet a 'colleague' from the Bangalore Mirror (BM from now on) , and as you'd have noticed, I used colleague in inverted quotes, simply because I'm not an employee of BM. We were later joined a few others people who were to join us, and the Chef at Olive Beach, Chef Manu Chandra also joined us and we began discussing, well, food of course!

As if the Greek pantheon isn't filled with enough gods and goddesses, there is a stunning young Greek lady who'd flown down to Bangalore (a family friend of sorts of the Chef). Alexandra Lola Koutoudi, known as Lola, was inspired to visit India and work with Chef Manu to bring out some absolutely delectable and authentic dishes of Greek origin. Although I wasn't able to take pictures (would have been great with my new 50mm prime lens, but such is life) since we dined in a separate section of the restaurant with candles providing illumination, I had a great time and actually didn't mind missing out on the snaps. Ok, maybe I missed taking pics a little, but just a little.

So here's a summary of what we had:

We started of with what looked like a Mezze platter - pita bread served along with a host dips. The more memorable ones in that platter were the Patzarosalata, which was a dip made by pureeing beet root. I think this was a universal favourite at the table because our experiences with beet root thus far have been quite limited to chunky cubes, or at times scraped shavings, but never in a pureed form. The other interesting dips (leaving aside the hummus and that tzatziki) were the Kafteri, a mildly spicy dip made from Feta cheese (Greek cuisine seems to have some kind of overloaded fetish when it comes to Feta!), the Syko (don't go by the name, or the pronunciation), which was like a fig preserve, and the Melitzanosalata, which is made from brinjals and very similar to Baba Ghanoush. There was a dip made from fish roe whose name I can't quite recollect now, but that was superb and creamy and would have to rate only below the beet dip. Lastly, there was the Skordalia, which was made from almonds, again pureed into a nice creamy consistency.

Once the platter had completed its journey across our palates, we were then served the chicken and lamb Souvlakis, which were meats grilled on skewers. For those who were challenged when it came to eating animals, there was Kolokythokefte (fried zucchini balls) and Spanakopita (rolls of phyllo dough with spinach inside). Needless to say, I loved the grilled meats, while BikerMan was still raving about the beet root dip.

Onto the soups and salads (the order in which the Greek dishes are served is probably enough to make you think it's all Greek and Latin...certainly was to me), and we were given a small coffee cup filled what I could only describe as 'rava', with some cheese-like thing on top, and guess what what cheese... that's right, Feta! So it turned out that the 'soup' in the cup is called Tarhana, and is made from wholemeal wheat (like Semolina) mixed with sheep's milk. Sheep's milk (and for that matter goat's milk) has a very, well, unique, for lack of a better word, taste to it that would take getting used to. I didn't mind it, but I saw a lot of faces where expressions dramatically changed! A photo would have said what I can't explain here.

There were two salads served - the Horiatiki, and the Karpouzosalata. The Karpouzosalata was a watermelon salad with ruccola and guess what cheese..Feta! with an Ouzo vinaigrette. The Ouzo gave the required zing to the salad, and I wonder how it would be to have some it neat :)

For the main course, the beautiful lady had for us a Gemista, which was tomatoes stuffed with rice and pine nuts served with yogurt and dill sauce. And then there was the Moussaka (in a pure veg form and with minced lamb), and I was thoroughly overjoyed that they had the lamb option because thus far, I've only heard about the Moussaka that is made with minced lamb, but everywhere I've been that serves a Moussaka, it's been in the veg form. Suffice to say, this was what made my day (night).

Two other dishes that were served were the Giouvetsi, succulent thighs of chicken served with orzo pasta in a tomato cumin sauce. This was a nicely flavoured dish, one that adhered to the old adage of keeping it minimal and simple. The other dish was the Psari Plaki, which was fish served in a cherry tomato and capers sauce. I'm a sucker for capers with sea food, especially fish, so I really loved the fact that not only was the fish cooked perfectly, the sauce complimented the fish superbly.

By this time, I was ready to move my belt up a notch, when desserts were brought out. The Galaktoboureko, which was a semolina and egg custard encased in phyllo, had a wonderful aroma to it, but I guess I couldn't appreciate the taste that much because I was ready to drop dead with the amount of food inside me. Another surprising dish was a halva with almonds. I thought this was Chef Manu giving us something a little more Indian, so that we don't feel lost amidst all the Greek that was around us. But no, apparently the Amygdalo (the name of the sweet) is a very Greek dish, and I was left wondering if Alexander's invasion had anything to do with the introduction of this sweet to India. Remember, what the north Indians call halva isn't exactly what we in the south associate with.

So catch the Greek Food Festival @ Olive Beach from today, the 17^th of May until the 23^rd.

Olive Beach, 16, Wood Stret, Ashok Nagar, Off Brigade Road, Bangalore. Phone: 41128400

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

Secret Garden Cafe

Secret Garden Cafe! Finally, I got to go here. Previous attempts at trying to locate the place have ended up with me beginning to feel like the fox that didn't get the grapes. Trying to get directions to this place was like trying to get the nuclear secrets out of the Army! No one would give you proper directions - like they wanted to keep this place a secret. I finally went there for lunch along with the food group (previously to Hae Kum Gang and Millers 46). This will be a pictorial review with just a few lines in between.

The menu

The salads were nice, and although there weren't any particular stand outs, we liked all 3 that we had.

Ham, mozzarella, fig, almond salad

Pear, cacciota cheese, fennel, walnut salad

Prawn + avocado cocktail salad

The main course: Although many people loved the Sri Lankan creamy curry with iddiappams, I liked the baked crab meat dish, as it's not easy to get crab meat cooked right. The lamb lasagna and canneloni with mushrooms and chicken were pretty good too. The chicken fillet was the least favourite - not because it tasted bad or anything (some found it too salty), but because compared to the other dishes, this looked blah!

Canneloni with chicken and mushroom

Minced lamb lasagna

Baked crab meat

Chicken fillet with sun-dried tomato pesto

Fish fillet with basil pesto

The menu, redux

Fish fillet with wine + dill sauce

Fettucine with prawns and bacon

Thai red curry

Sri Lankan creamy curry with bitter gourd salad and iddiappam

Desserts: A majority wanted the maple + butter crunch thingy (I must say it did sound fascinating, especially the fact that it was home-made ice cream), and it did taste good actually (even though I'm not a big fan o butterscotch-type flavours). I liked the Hedwig's cake with ice cream while all of us agreed the honey cake + cream was, well, flat and boring.

Hedwig's chocolate cake + ice cream

Brazilian nut (?) + honey cake + cream

Home made maple + nut butter crunch ice cream

After that we went to Fresco's for coffee, and along with the coffee they give you a stick with dark chocolate at the end. We weren't sure if we were to just eat it, or stir the coffee with it. Here, I've got a shot of the chocolate just dropping off the stick into my coffee. Coffee didn't taste all that great with the dark chocolate in it, but I like the snap below.



Food: Quite good
$$$: Slightly on the higher side (approx. 500 per head at the very least).
Service:Decent.
Verdict: Go there for the food and the ambiance, especially the ambiance.
Extra Info: It's on the road parallel to Cunningham road (see map link). There is NO turning from Cunningham road, so come on Queen's road and take the last right turn before the Indian Express signal.

Secret Garden Cafe, 7/1, Edward Road, Bangalore. Phone: 41131365