Merry ol' London - gastronomic memoirs of a travelophile

It has been almost forever since I last visited this hitherto blank page, where once I used to visit it every 10 days. A lot of food has passed between my lips, and many a drink has splashed into the pit of my stomach since November, and sadly, not a single one of those adventures has found its way onto these pages here. Well, I think it's about time that changed.

November end (2012), I flew to London on work, to help launch Zomato in London. Post that, the last 10 days of January 2013 I flew to Doha (Qatar) - again to help launch Zomato in Doha, and in early February I was in Colombo - same reason. March set in, and I was in Manila. In between all these trips, I was in Delhi. Right now, I'm back in Bangalore, and will be here for a short while before I probably head out someplace again. Since we're gearing up for the IPL T20, I think I'll first put up a highlights package - just to set the mood, and dish out the detailed posts in the following days.

I'll start off with merry ol' London, and work my way through the winter onto the other cities and the other gastronomical delights that came up before me. Hopefully this little preview will be enough to whet your appetite for the details that will follow soon.

BM Review: Matteo Coffea

Last weekend I had visited Matteo Coffea (notice the spelling) on Church Street as part of a review for The Bangalore Mirror. The review can be read here.

If you’ve lived in Bangalore through the early 90’s, then Mac Fast Food, or Macs, would’ve been in your lexicon of Bangalore vocab for fast food in a classy environ. This time around, the Sterling’s Mac group brings to Bangalore a coffee shop, albeit with a difference – and a profound one at that if you ask me. Educating the patrons about coffee and tea, and serving food that’s miles ahead of that served in other ‘coffee’ shops at very affordable rates, Matteo Coffea guarantees you more than just a hot beverage.

Matteo is the Latin name for Mathew, and the cafe is owned by the Sterling Mac group’s John Mathew, and is located at the very spot that housed Mac Fast Food on the ever crowded Church Street. The family had moved their business to Qatar in the late 90’s, and have now come back and started Matteo Coffe, with Mr. Mathew’s son Mac in charge of this outlet.

Apart from the usual fare of puffs and croissants, some of the delightful snacks are the cinnamon rolls and the Danish pastries. The ‘shekeratos’, or milk shakes were nice and refreshing (applicable for any season). Sandwiches and pastas constitute the core. 3 of us had the spaghetti Bolognaise and the penne in cream sauce with shrimps, which were pretty good, and the portions served were huge. The veg grilled sandwich was good as well, and those of you belonging to that elitist minority we call ‘vegetarians’, you needn’t worry about choice – there are several options. The Caesar salad with grilled chicken was nice, but was missing a lot of the Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice dressing – necessary to give it its zing.

Espresso Shekerato

Iced Latte

Black & White Shekerato

Caramel Shekerato

Veg grilled sandwich

Another angle

Caesar salad with grilled chicken

Penne in cream sauce with shrimps

Spaghetti Bolognaise

One for each – a fruit tart, apple pie with ice cream, a strawberry cheesecake, a Tiramisu, and a chocolate pie. The fruit tart and the apple pie were quite good, while the tiramisu, in all its splendour, seemed to have a little too much gelatin making the mascarpone a little stiff. The chocolate pie seemed to have the texture of a mousse on the inside, something that didn’t seem right. Maybe ‘pie’ wasn’t the best choice of words to describe it.

Tiramisu

Chocolate Pie

Apple pie with ice cream

Fruit tart

Strawberry cheesecake

Food: Nice
$$$: Not too expensive. This meal cost us a tickle over 1800.
Service: Relaxed (what did you expect?)
Verdict: Don't visit specifically for lunch, but if you're in the area around lunch time, then drop by. If not, just visit for some good coffee and while you're at it, grab a bite or two - that'll make it worth it.

Matteo Coffea, #2, Church Street, Bangalore. Phone: 43336000

Big Chill, New Delhi

My Last night in Delhi, and Neo, his brother Morpheus(?), and a couple of other friends of the fairer sex, both daughters of army officers (Neo himself is the son of an army officer), went out to this place called Big chill, in an area called Khan Market which supposedly has one of the highest property rates in Asia or some jazz like that...basically the real estate value is super high. So after driving from his house to the Khan Market area, we got to the restaurant only to be told we'd have to wait a while to get a table. So we pranced around the place, deciding if we should go to a different restaurant, when suddenly, Neo's phone buzzed - it was the restaurant and they had seats for us. Cool.

Big Chill reminded me of TGIF and Chili's combined together - from the way the decor is inside to the options in the menu (minus the booze), and specifically the prices - boy, one thing's for certain, we can get the same food they serve there for lesser here in Bangalore. In any case, this wasn't Bangalore, it was Delhi, so no comparing. We started with a round of milk shakes and iced teas, and shortly after that, we went in for the main course.

I had a chicken in red wine, served with fetuccine.
I must say this is one of the better chicken dishes I've had, especially since you usually eat pasta with some kind of cheesy sauce (unless you're eating spaghetti with meat sauce). One of the ladies had already had her dinner, and so she settled for a smoked chicken salad which came with sun-dried tomatoes.
It was the first time I popped just sun-dried tomato into my mouth, and along with the vinaigrette, it had a pleasant tangy taste.

Neo went in for a chicken pepper stake,
and going by the speed he got done with it, it's safe to say that he liked what he ate and didn't have anything to complain about.

Morpheus decided to skip dinner (he'd just got betrothed and I guess the realisation of it was hitting home), while the other lady in the group decided to have a fish peri-peri, which was fish in a mustard sauce.
All of agreed that the fish tasted a little too tangy for what could have been a wonderful dish.

For desserts, a Bailey's tiramisu was ordered by the peri-peri girl, and just the one spoon I took was enough to make my eyes nearly pop out - I wasn't prepared for it to be as strong as it was, so driving after eating this could be dicey.
Neo had a blueberry cheesecake, and polished it off neatly.
As for dear old me, I settled for a simple chocolate mousse, which turned out to be a little too choclatey, but when you're in the zone, these minor things usually don't matter.

For the wallet factor, well, let's put it this way - the chicken in red wine with fetuccine was almost 400 bucks, and at the end of the meal, since we split, we all paid around 500-600 each, which was slightly on the higher side, since we only had 3 main courses, a salad, 3 desserts and 5 shakes (the shakes were around the 200 mark). Let's face, I can get similar and equally good if not better food at Bangalore Bistro for less, and the service wasn't all that great either, so although the food tasted good, the price wasn't entirely justifiable.


Big Chill, 68A, Khan Market, New Delhi

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

Via Milano

Finally I got to go to this place that I've heard so much about, and it turned out to be as good as it was was made out to be if not better. As far as comparisons go, I think this place edges out Fiorano as a better venue for Italian food (I haven't been to I.T.alia, and since Little Italy is pure veg, Via Milano scores over the place hands down, even in terms of ambience, service and decor). The place is really nice and the furniture is perfect for an evening of pure Italian magic, with nice dark wooden furniture and white sofas, which is where Mr VP, Ms WeightConcious, Mr Saucy and I were seated. Every staff member here is cheerful and even if they're pretending, it's a pretty convincing act.

Once you're seated, they place a bread basket on your table and along with 3 dips: mayonnaise, basil pesto (obviously with olive oil) and diced tomatoes (usually found on a bruschetta). Along with this came 3 test tubes filled with olive oil, something, and balsamic vinegar.

When it came to ordering the drinks, it was again a case of my mind randomly deciding not to have alcohol tonight, although in past there have been instance when I've had a drink and driven back (like when we went to TGIF). Mr VP too wasn't having any booze, so we were the teetotalers tonight, while Ms WeightConcious and Mr Saucy were going to be the tipplers. The only wine available that night for drinking (glass, not the entire bottle) was a South African red wine, Two Ocean Pinotage, and that's what Ms WeightConcious had.

Whenever I have a cocktail or a mocktail, especially one I've never tried before, I always hope and secretly pray that it's never too fancy looking, or too feminine looking, but almost always I've ended up with something that exactly matched the criteria I'm avoiding, and this time was no different when my order, a Tahitian Breeze arrived.

Mr VP stuck to his tried and tested drink of a Virgin Mary (right) while Mr Saucy had a Christoffel Beer (left).

For appetisers, we ordered a Smoked Chicken salad, and I think there was more salad than smoked chicken in it, but I guess that's how things usually are when you attach the word salad to anything else. It tasted good, and the dressing was apt.

The other appetiser we had was something that sounded really funky, was a let down when it came, and the taste was, well I'll get to that, hang on. It was called platter of Parma Ham with Melon, and I expected different cuts of ham, but it turned out to be just one type, but it tasted, although I don't know what the melon was supposed to do - it neither enhanced the taste of the ham, nor did it complement it. The ham tasted good on it's own.

For our main course, I wanted one of the dishes to be a pizza and everyone agreed. Ms WeightConcious ordered a beef lasagna, and this was different in the sense that the meat inside wasn't the usual minced type, but thin slices of beef that were cooked perfectly and slid in between layers of lasagna sheets. The secret sauce drizzled around it was fantastic.

Mr VP wasn't sure what to order, and so I randomly looked into the pasta section and with the help of our friendly waiter, selected a chicken tortelloni, which came in a white sauce.

The pizza ordered was a Prosciutto E Annanas, which was Prosciutto and pineapples with mozzarella cheese. The thin crust was yummy, and I dare say it was better than the pizzas I've had at Little Italy, which until now were the best I've had in Bangalore.

Mr Saucy ordered a Lamb loin, and the presentation of the dish was probably the best of the lot. Again, as with the lasagna, the secret sauce around it was excellent.

We were pretty darn full by the time we finished the last morsels of our main course, and so decided to settle for only two desserts. I ordered a Lemon Meringue with strawberries, and I think this was the best I've had among desserts in quite a while. The tangy lemony twang was perfect and the lil sprig of lemon grass on top was pretty creative (but then again, I think it's an obvious addendum).

Mr Saucy ordered a tiramisu, and according to him, this one was one of the better ones he's had. I like the tiramisu too, but then again, I haven't yet had one that's tasted bad :)

After a dinner that was quite obviously one of the best I've I had, and where conversations moved from arranged marriages and love marriages to the problems faced today and the decisions that we need to take, we finally headed home. I know it won't be too soon before I come back to Via Milano again, but I can't wait for the second visit, and hopefully it'll be soon.

Food: Vary good.
$$$: Expensive.
Service: Pretty good.
Verdict: If you love Italian, this place should be on your list.

Via Milano, Asha Plaza, Above Reebok showroom, 80 Ft Road-100 Ft Road junction, Adjacent to Sony World, Koramangala 4^th block, Bangalore. Phone: 41309997, 41309994