Toit

So Bangalore got its first micro brewery, but before you go all gaga googoo over it, they still haven't started brewing their magical elixirs as yet - on the lookout for a brew master (those interested and know a thing or two, please go apply and join so we can get the party started). And since this place is so close to work, it made it all the more interesting that we pay it a visit...and soon!

Toit derives its name from the Irish pronunciation of the word 'tight', usually used whenever a hot member of the fairer sex meanders within visual range of horny male members. "Ooh, she's tight!" would be the expression, and with the Irish twist and twang from their accent, tight gets pronounced as 'toit'. And so the idea was born. Toit is spread over a large area - over three floors, with sufficient seating, and types of seatings available.

When it comes to the food and drinks, there's quite a bit on offer here. You can see the menu here. The soup we had the first time, the mushroom and barley soup was nice, and the use of barley was a first for me in a soup. Mr. P polished it off without too many complaints, and the texture too wasn't course and grainy, but just right.

Mushroom & barley soup

Toit also serves wood-fire oven thin crust pizzas (this wood fire thing is catching on pretty fast). The simple Margherita was quite a delight, except for the fact that a little flour was present at the bottom of the crust, sticking to the fingers after each slice, requiring us to 'dust' our hands to get it off. That apart, we thought is tasted quite nice. However, when Ms BakeAnything and Ms Quiche visited Toit, they said the sauce on the Margherita was just wrong, and it spoilt the taste for them, so I guess maybe this is one of those things that are right sometimes and not at other times.

Another angle of the Margherita pizza

The BBQ chicken pizza was simply superb. The chicken was cooked very well, and the juicy morsels that they were along with the BBQ sauce and the cheese felt divine. The veggie attack pizza was also good, with a good selection of toppings doing the job, although I suspect anything that has sauce and cheese on it with something that's bread-based or the likes would automatically taste good if the basic setup is there :)

BBQ chicken pizza

Veggie attack pizza

The blue cheese and fettuccine pasta was quite filling and has a very, very strong odour/smell to it, so unless you're someone who has had blue cheese before and like it, I'd suggest you stay clear of this on unless you don't mind experimenting.

Blue cheese and fettuccine

The Swedish meatballs (combo of beef and pork) was a slightly weird dish. This too came with a strong smell/odour - I'm guessing those Swedes have remnants of their Norse heritage, and so don't mind a few things that reek a bit. Taste wise, they were ok, but I thought it was a little difficult to discern the taste of the pork from the beef. And also, come on, don't serve it with just sauce! Some creativity for a dip would've been nice.

Swedish meatballs (beef & pork)

When I heard the words 'Mexican bhel', I didn't know whether to be excited happy or excited scared. However, whatever 'fear' I may have had was unfounded coz it turned out to be a real winner. The dressing for this salad-esque dish was something like a 1000 island dressing, and this had quite a zing to it.

Mexican bhel

Fruit punch

Long Island iced tea

Some of the other starters that we had were the bbq baby corn. This was ok, nothing great, but having vegetarians in the group does make you have to order some of the dishes that may otherwise be just blah. The chicken wings, on the other hand, were quite superb. Juicy, meaty, well cooked, well flavoured...what more dya want?

BBQ baby corn

Chicken wings

As I mentioned before, some of the vegetarian dishes were quite insipid, and the potato wedges were a prime example of this. Bland, and without any real flavour besides that of the potato, this was something we could've done without. On the other hand though, the cottage cheese fingers was a good option to go with, especially since the cottage cheese (paneer) was quite fresh and soft.

Potato wedges

Fried cottage cheese

After some spiritual upliftment, if you do get as far as the main course, then probably everything would taste good or everything would taste bad depending on the levels of spirituality attained. I had a chicken burger, and it the kind you'd get at most cafes, where the patty seemed to be one of those that're already made and then fried. Not really the kind I like.

Chicken burger

That's a blurred out image of me, caught unawares when a friend took a picture with the flash on - talk of a deer caught in headlights!

Dazed

The veg macarena and the moussaka were also nicely done, if you like dishes that have tonnes of cheese in them or those that are baked - I was a little high on spiritual content, and so didn't really care what was what, and what tasted how, but I think I liked the moussaka over ther macarena (although I like dancing and the Los Del Rios and all that, the moussaka was better).

Veg macarena

Moussaka

On to the desserts, and once again, those who weren't high went to enjoy the kahlua mousse, the Toit special (dark layered chocolate cake), and a crème brûlée. I liked the Toit special the most, while the others chose the mousse. The crème brûlée tasted good, but I've had better (which isn't saying that it was bad).

Kahlua mousse

Toit special

Crème brûlée

Food: The drinks aren't too expensive; waiting for the micro-brewery to get started; bar & finger food is very good, rest is decent.
$$$: Not very expensive, considering you'll be spending on drinks as well. only food, for two, could work out to around 1200 or so (if you eat well).
Service: Very good
Verdict: Must visit


Toit, #298, 100 Feet Road, Namma Metro Pillar 62, Indiranagar, Bangalore. Phone: 25201460

BM Review: Asean

Another review for Bangalore Mirror, this time featuring Asean on Castle Street, off Brigade road. Read the review here. My 2 cents (should we rephrase it to "my 2 paise"?) of extra info is at the end, after the snaps. Since I'm not too sure if I can publish the review written for the paper here, I've only provided a link, and it isn't too long, so do read it to 'know' how the place is. And since I was doing an official review, I had to actually critique the place and couldn't ignore stuff that I'd have otherwise not given too much thought about during the course of a normal visit.

Below are snaps of what we ate. No P and VP this time - I went global! My guests were Chung Gien, his older brother Chung Wah, and their friend David Leong, all third generation Chinese (actual Chinese), born and brought up in Bangalore.

L-R: Chung Wah, David Leong, Chung Gien

Chicken laksa

Ikan Asam-Fish with tamarind sauce

Crispy spinach prawns

Kambling Bali-Balinese lamb with sprouts

Chicken satay

Kambling Mekuah-Sliced lamb

Thai prawn red curry

Opor Ayam-Chicken

Spicy Saigon veg noodles

Rum 'n' raisin mousse flan

Sticky date and walnut cake
Service: Not bad, but the wait staff could be more proficient with the items on the menu
$$$: Not as expensive as an Aromas of China or Mainland China, but not as low as a Chung's. Our meal cost us Rs. 1920, which I thought was decent (4 people plus the photographer, who after relentless insistence from my side, complied and had a soup and a lime soda - he wasn't planning to eat anything otherwise!)
Food:I won't go so far as to say it's totally authentic, especially after the disappointment with the satay (read the review to know more about what I'm talking about), but the taste of the food is good, but again, not so much that you'll remember the meal specifically again with a smile on your face (except the desserts - that you'll remember for sure). Don't go entirely on the review I wrote because there I had to critique the place with a fine toothed comb.
Verdict: Worth a visit at least once, and then you make up your mind if you like it or not.
Extra Info: The street it's on, Castle St., is a one way, and you can't enter from Brigade road, so you'll have to enter the next street, Wood street, and then take a left and enter Castle St. Parking on Castle St. may be an issue, so try finding parking elsewhere and walk it up.

Asean, No. 45, Castle Street, Ashok Nagar, Off Brigade Road, Bangalore. Phone: 41126381

The full review is here:

Ever visited a place, or read a book, or eaten a dish, which you wanted to be good because of the little you’d heard about it? Nestled in Castle Street off Brigade Road, Asean is one such place that you want to like, and want to be good. Maybe it’s the charm of the old colonial named streets from the Raj era - I don’t know, but I immediately began wanting this place to be good.

My visit to Asean was with Chung Gien, his older brother Chung Wah, and their friend David Leong, all third generation Chinese (yes, Chinese Chinese, not from the north-east), born and brought up in Bangalore. And before your mind runs away with these names, this isn’t a review of a John Woo action flick; it’s still a restaurant review. The Chungs have the distinction of belonging to the family that opened Bangalore’s second Chinese restaurant, Nanking, on Vittal Mallya road (no connection to the one in Sigma Mall). The older Chung - Chung Wah, and David, foodies in every sense, had toured Malaysia with the sole intention of indulging themselves in Malay and south-east Asian street food, and the experience was sure to come in handy here, since Asean dishes out Chinese and south-east Asian food.

A serene, 71 year old Jimmy Palkhivala, owner of Asean, greets you as you enter the quaint and moderately picturesque restaurant. Settling into our cushioned seats amidst light music wafting around, we started off with a chicken laksa, a thick, slightly spicy, traditional Malay noodle soup, which tasted good and set the tone for the evening (or so we hoped). Hoping to get a sample of the entire region, we ordered a variety of dishes - Javanese chicken satay, ikan asam (Malaysian dish of fish with a tamarind sauce), kambling bali (Balinese lamb) and crispy spinach prawns (from the Chinese section of the menu). While the ikan asam stole the show with the tamarind sauce nicely complimenting the perfectly cooked fish, the kambling bali came in second with the lamb cooked with the right amount of spices, mixed with herbs and sprouts making for an interesting combination.

The satay was a big disappointment - it wasn't chicken skewered and cooked on an open flame; it seemed like the chicken was deep-fried and then skewered and served with the peanut sauce, the traditional accompaniment for satay. Lacking any discernable flavour, the chicken’s taste was masked completely when eaten with the peanut sauce. The crispy, spinach prawn had some kind of "eerie red colouring", to quote David, and the prawns didn't have any great taste to speak of, with the sweet, crispy spinach being the only thing that was good.

Our main course was slightly better. We ordered an opor ayam - Malaysian chicken with chilly and coriander, a kambling mekuah - thin slices of lamb in a flavourful gravy, and a Thai prawn red curry, along with steamed white rice and a spicy Saigon noodles. Our waiter specifically recommended the Saigon noodles, saying it would go well with the Thai red curry. Sadly, there wasn’t anything great about the noodles-curry combo, and even the Thai curry wasn't anything to rave about. Strangely, we also found pieces of mushroom and baby corn in it, and they certainly don’t gel well with prawns. The chicken and lamb dishes though, were good, and I loved the combination of the opor ayam (chicken) with the steamed rice.

Desserts are probably the crown jewel of Asean. The rum 'n' raisin flavoured mousse and the sticky date walnut cake were simply fabulous – FA-BU-LOUS. The unique flavor of the mousse was refreshing and the date and walnuts blended perfectly with a wonderfully textured cake. The desserts are made in-house by Mr. Palkhivala’s wife and son. Sigh! If only the same kind of attention and love that went into the desserts would go into the food.

All things considered, there wasn't anything 'bad' or 'terrible', but it didn't seem as if there was sufficient attention to detail (fear of the devil perhaps?), although, going by the dishes on the menu - they weren’t masquerading Indianised Chinese food as SE Asian food - you'd have thought otherwise. So no points for guessing the reasoning behind the caption for this review, because there's a lot of potential that I see, which sadly hasn't been tapped, or for reasons unknown, has been neglected.

Toscano

When I read a couple of reviews for this place, I thought this place would be give places like Bangalore Bistro and Sunny's a run for their money. But alas! This wasn't to be. At least, not yet. I went to this place on Saturday with a friend of mine and I've learnt a lesson: don't order dishes other than pasta here (for the main course), the quantity may dampen your spirits! But if you're the kind who doesn't mind a few things out of place, and can melt with the settings here, which are like any European cafe on the curb, with the cobbled curbs and chairs and tables lined up around the side walk, this place is a wonderful spot to be at.




Sadly, when we got there, we weren't attended to. We waited a full 2 or more minutes, standing and scanning the place for empty seats, before asking a waiter if we could occupy a table that was empty. Ok, weekend, they were a bit busy, but if you wanna be the best, act like the best. The complementary bread and dip was very fresh and was perfect. I ordered the mixed salad, while my friend had the soup of the day (spinach & garlic). While the soup was good (nothing special, but it tasted good), the mixed salad left me with mixed feelings. It was a little too green for my liking (I know, salad, but what the heck), and when the menu said it had goat cheese, I thought there would be more than just one 1 inch piece (see the top of the snap below left - the little whitish piece on top is the goat cheese, and that's all there was)! But no, that's all there was.

This place has a Rs 325 buffet that allows you to choose a started and a main course, and a Rs 400 buffet that allows you to select a starter, a main course and a dessert. We chose the latter. For main course, I had the roasted tenderloin,

while my friend had the chef's special pepper steak.

Now, I've watched a lot of Top Chef on AXN and know fine dining food portions when I see it. Although the dishes tasted very good (the tenderloin was tender and juicy and tasted amazing, while the pepper steak was, at best, quite good) the portions served were so small, my face shrunk to the size of the piece of meat served. I was disappointed that the tenderloin I ordered was the size of an ice hockey puck (give or take a little), and the steak my friend ordered looked a little deflated. We were forced to order another dish, which we shared. We ordered a pasta, a tagliatelle with chicken, mushrooms, olives and asparagus.

This not only had quality, it had quantity too. Hurray!!! Hence, order pasta if you want to be 'full', while those happy with a light lunch can settle for the non pasta dishes. Another slightly dissappointing thing was that the waiter never came on his own to fill our glasses with water; we had to specifically call him. Again, maybe 'coz the place was crowded and they were busy, but come on, that can't be an excuse.

Onto the desserts, and the mango pannacotta that I had was heavenly,

while the chocolate kahlua mousse my friend had was fabulous.

Both the desserts had fabulous presentations and we were almost heartbroken to put our forks into the dish and spoil their looks. Again, they tasted great. The pannacotta's mango flavour with the strawberry (my favourite combo) below was terrific, and the mousse had a slight 'kick' to it.

All in all, a nice birthday lunch with my friend Her Highness Energy (her initials are NRG, hence Energy, and it was her birthday, not mine).

Food: Nice
$$$: Moderately expensive, around 400-500 per head
Service: Decent
Verdict: I'd like the portions to have been a little bigger, especially the meat dishes. Pastas were decently sized. Presentation topped the charts.

Toscano, The Collection - UB City, Level II, Concord Block, 24, Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore. Phone: 41738800