Ali Baba Cafe

The Gourmet Group had decided on visiting Ali Baba Cafe this past weekend (April 10), and so that's where we went.

Some of the furniture (below), and above is the entrance when viewed from the inside.

Although I've covered Ali Baba before, there were a lot of things that we had that I'd not had before. The doogh, which is a yogurt and soda drink is very good and refreshing for the hot days we have.

Doogh

Another drink we had was the Tausha, which was a cucumber based drink which was also pretty darn good. This didn't have fizz, but I immediately knew why they say 'as cool as a cucumber'.

Tausha

The third drink was a mint+lime drink. Again, another winner.

Mint+lime

For starters, we had an Ali Baba jumbo platter (non-veg), and also a couple of veg dishes, one of which was the Kadang Fry, which was slices of sweet potato that were batter fried. This is a very typical coastal dish.

Kadang fry

The hummus was superb, garlicky and the olive oil used made the hummus taste good.

Hummus

The other veg dish was the Bhendi Fry, which was fried lady's finger (okra).

Bhendi fry

For the main course, we had decided to have the weekend special biryani, called Maqboos. So we had the chicken and mutton biryani, dajaj maqboos and laham maqboos. In the laham maqboos, the laham (mutton) was a bit stringy, but I liked the dajaj (chicken). Along with there, we also had some roti with keema, and some vermicelli dish mixed with mutton, which I liked, but some of the others thought would have been better with something a little more firm instead of the vermicelli./

Keema + roti

Dajaj Maqboos

For dessert, we had a kunafa, which was made from semolina, dried fruits and had a base made of cheese.

Kunafa

Qahwa with dates

This was nice, but a little hard to cut with the spoons. Overall, a wonderful meal, and even though we had a record number showing up, this was quite a pleasant meal.

BM Review: Khazana

A couple of weeks back, I finally got to go to this little hole in the wall called Khazana near Johnson Market in Richmond Town. This was part of a review for the Bangalore Mirror, and the review can be read here. This place is renowned for its beef biryanis, and suffice to say, it lives up to the reputation that has been built. Apart from that, there are a few other choice beef dishes - phal (chops), keema, button kabab, and seekh kabab.

The keema was superb with the different breads they have on offer - wheat paratha, Ceylon paratha, Kerala paratha, and Irani roti.

The breads with the goodies

The chicken kalimirch is nothing but pepper chicken, but with a slight twist. It was really good and well flavoured, and chicken itself was tender and well seasoned. The phal, or chops, were also extremely well cooked and the meat was just dropping off the bone

Chicken kabab

The chicken kababs were dusted in flour and then fried. These were pretty good as well.

Button kabab

My favourite - the 'button' kabab (I guess they couldn't come up with a slightly more suggestive name), were bite-sized pieces of beef that were marinated in chili powder and (according to someone from the paper 'loads of food colouring'). This is the perfect thing to have while watching a cricket match on TV.

Beef biryani

And finally, their masterpiece, the beef biryani. Awesome - perfectly flavoured, meat cooked flawlessly to the point where it melts in your mouth, and at the end, you leave satisfied.

In fact, the beef biryani is called 'regular biryani', while the chicken biryani is called 'chicken biryani', and the chicken biryani is the most expensive item on their menu - Rs 70!

To emphasise how this is a value-for-money place, let me list out the things we ate:
3 biryanis (2 beef, 1 chicken), 2 plates chops, 7 rotis (the ones mentioned above), 2 plates button kabab, 1 chicken kabab, 1 chicken kalimirch, 1 keema - all this for Rs. 507!

Food: Amazing
$$$: Very, very cheap! 4 of us had been there and the bill came up to 507! Go figure.
Service: They take your order pretty soon and the food comes faster than water!
Verdict:If you aren't the fussy kind who'd crib about ambience, and decor, and what not, and you eat beef, then you HAVE to visit this place. If not, you're missing out on some of the best beef biryani and beef items in Bangalore.
Extra Info: This place is very close to Fanoos (near Johnson Market). Keeping Fanoos to your right, go down the street, take the first left you get (after all the butcher shops), walk up ahead and turn right and you'll see Khazana on your left.

Khazana Food Paradise, #16, Aga Abdulla Street, Richmond Town, Bangalore

Malabar

Last evening, we decided to meet as there were a few pending 'gifts' to be given. VP's birthday gift was to be given, and I had decided that I'd also give P something for his birthday (since he was gracious enough to celebrate an anti-birthday) sometime back. SO i bought a couple of Ts online from this site called infibeam.com from where I'd earlier purchased a few really nice T-shirts. And so we decided to meet up, where else, but in Indiranagar at Gloria Jean's Coffee which now officially is our coffee adda, and I hardly ever have coffee!). P said he'd be a lil late - some last minute thing at work, and VP, although he left office at 6:20, at 7:45 he was still stuck somewhere on Old Madras Road (which according to me is the worst road in Bangalore). So when I called him, we made a quick change in plans and decided to meet up at a Chinese place next to Coffee Day (called Wang's) on the Jeevan Bhima Nagar main road. Once we got there, we saw two other restaurants there - Malabar, and Biryanis. And we decided on Malabar.

Since VP and I were the first ones there, and VP was dying of hunger, we decided to start off with something, and we ordered a couple of plates of seer fish fry (I wanted to have mussels, but they weren't available, and I didn't fancy even asking for prawns at this place), so seer fish it was.

Seer Fish Fry

With the fish out of the way, and still no sign of P, decided to order a plate of kababs (full plate with 6 pieces, and half plate with 3 pieces - no points of guessing what we opted for).

Chicken Kabab

We were nibbling on these for a while and discussing options for hosting a website (whether to go with GoDaddy or iPages for a domain), and just when we were done, in walked P. With no time to waste, we got down to ordering. 3 plates of appams (each plate having 2), a chicken stew, a veg stew, and a plate of gobi manchurian as there weren't too many other veg dishes available for P.

Chicken Stew

I know the chicken stew has chicken, but they could have added a couple of veggies as well just to give it some substance, but at the prices they were charging, you'd have to be a madman to complain. The manchurian was nice - spicy and with MSG in it, the appams actually tasted better with that.

Appams

Gobi Manchurian

Veg Stew

Food: Decent - don't complain at these prices.
Service: Decent
$$$: Cheap - all of the above, plus 6 bottles of aerated drinks cost us Rs. 455
Verdict: Can visit if in the area and aren't in the mood to spend too much. Skip starters and head directly for the main course. Order Kerala paratha and some chicken gravy - that's the best.

Malabar, Jeevan Bhima Nagar Main Road, Next to Coffee Day and Wang's, Bangalore

Momo Hut

Monday night, Mr P decided to celebrate his anti birthday. Wait, I'll explain what that means, don't get all 'Wha..? ' on me now. September 22 is his birthday, and March 22 is 6 months after, so he wanted to do this. His idea, not mine. So an anti birthday is one where the anti birthday boy doesn't bring gifts while the invitees foot the bill. VP and I were in early (big surprise coz usually VP is almost always late). So instead of waiting at Barista (the proposed waiting place), VP and I first headed next door to Tunday Kababi as VP was extremely hungry. Sorry, no pictures of what we had there, but the Tunday special was simply amazing (there's a legend that the original one, made from beef, was made for a king who had no teeth, so you can imagin how soft it must have been).

In any case, after eating, the rest of the gang arrived - the rest being the anti-birthday boy P, and Ms WeightConscious. After some iced teas, we had initially planned to go to Rolls united, but then decided to go some place where we could walk to as VP didn't have enough fuel and wanted to fill up first. And that's when we remembered that there's a place called Momo hut opposite Desmond's (in Koramangala itself, on the street parallel to the JNC street).

VP and I were quite full after out little adventure at Tunday's, so a plate of chicken momos (steamed) and a plate of Shaptra with Tingmo is what we ordered respectively, although knowing VP, I knew I'd have to finish off what he leaves for "the poor hungry people on the street". Shaptra is a spicy dish having peppers and onions with chicken, beef, or veggies. It's usually had with the Tingmo, which is a hand made Tibetan bun. If you look closely at the picture below, you'll notice that the top of the bun isn't dark brown like commercially available buns. I later found out that it's steamed.

Shaptra with the Tibetan bun called Tingmo

The Shaptra along with the Tingmo was really nice (I've had this before when I visited a Taste of Tibet in Langford town near St Joseph's college). The gravy wasn't super spicy as I had expected, and the Tingmo was a nice accompaniment to mop up the gravy.

Picture of just the Shaptra

As expected, VP had a couple of pieces of the momos and then said he was full, and mumbled about how the momos looked yellow and not white and what not. Now I know why I never lose weight - I end up eating whatever VP orders as well!

Chicken momos (steamed)

P & WeightConscious had the veg chowmein and both agreed it was good. P also had a bowl of egg soup. One thing to remember is that Tibetan food doesn't make use of MSG or ajinomoto like the Chinese restaurants do, and for heavens sake, don't ask them for Chinese food or make any references to China when you're at a Tibetan restaurant. I know I've used a tag 'Chinese' for this post, but that is purely for convenience, and not meant to be offensive.

Veg Chowmein

Food: Nice
$$$: Cheap
Service: Prompt
Verdict: Can visit if you're in the area and want to avoid Chinese joints serving food with MSG.

Momo Hut, 4th B Cross, opposite Desmond's and Daily Bread, Koromangala 5th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore. Phone: 40927500

BM Review: Medici

Last week I visited a new restaurant in Indiranagar to review it for Bangalore Mirror. It's called Medici. The moment I heard the name, I thought of my visit to C'est La Vie, where my guest Vrata had mentioned the history about why forks are placed face down on the table. So I knew there was a French and Italian connection here, and this guess was vindicated when I visited the restaurant. The full review can be read here.

Some of the snaps I took of the food are here.

Olive Oil + Balsamic Vinegar Jar

Beef Carpaccio

Roast Duck Salad

Wild Mushroom Soup

French Onion Soup

Chicken Parmigiana

Tortellini

Tournedo

Duo de Poisson

Bouillabaisse

Prawn Risotto

Tiramisu

Crepe Suzette

The crepe with the brandy on fire

Food: Very good
$$$: Around 500 - 700 per head without drinks
Service: Good
Verdict: Must visit
Extra info: The restaurant is located a little after the Hyundai showroom on 100 feet road. If you're coming from Koramangala, as soon as you come down the flyover, go past Barbeque Nation and then keep looking out on your left for Maharaja Furniture.

Medici, #1206, 2^nd Floor, Mannan Arcade, Above Maharaja Furniture, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore. Phone: 42350674/75/76

Chowka

Last week, some of the guys from my floor at work with whom I regularly have lunch decided to go out for lunch. So we'd planned to go to Italia on 100 Feet Road (the old Little Italy). However, on D-Day, we decided to abandon the plan of Italia since some of the guys weren't too keen on Italian i.e. bland food. And so a little exercise of finding out where to go ensued. Finally, we zeroed in on Chowka in Tippasandra, a place that served Rajasthani food.

I was all excited as I'd never had Rajasthani food before. So we got there and ordered the thalis. I'm not sure, but one of my friends said that you get only thalis here, so no point asking for a menu (and it seemed like everyone was having a thali). When in Rome, be a Roman. Thalis it was then.

They started off with dal baati, a kind of vada served a kind of dal. Once that was done, they came and served a multitude of vegetable side dishes that were great. Rajma, bhindi, masala aaloo, aaloo chaat, kadi and a sweet.

Dal baati

The entire thali...well, almost entire

Not real people

I didn't have dinner that night. I was happy, and full.

Chowka, #64, Muniyappa Complex, HAL 3rd Stage, New Tippasandra, Tippasandra Main Road, Bangalore. Phone: 40971000

Kinara

On Feb 17, I finished 5 years at the place where I work (GXS). Well, unofficially I finished 5 years - I say unofficially because on Feb 17, 2005, I had joined as an intern, along with 19 others from various colleges, all of us in our final semester of engineering. Now that only 7 of us remain from the original 20, we went out to celebrate, and since we're in different teams, getting a suitable date when everyone are free and could come was getting a bit tiresome and so finally since Kinara was right next door, we decided to go there.

The restaurant looks nice - it's got a nice ambiance and the interiors are cool. They've also got a couple of coconut trees within the premises as you're not allowed to cut them for construction.

Onto the food. Instead of going a la carte (which is what I'd have preferred), I was outvoted 6-1 that we go for the buffet. The buffet is Rs. 199/- + taxes, and is served at the table itself - no need to get your butt off the chair (for the food at least). And so the buffet it was. They started off with a shorba for the non-vegetarians and a pea or spinach soup (don't remember) for the vegetarians. Oh, the menu changes everyday for the buffet, so don't go there hoping you'll get the same stuff we had. There was way too much pepper in the shorba - not a very pleasant start.

Chicken shorba

Some of the veg starters: Aaloo something and veg cutlets

Aaloo and veg cutlets

The achari paneer tikka was OK - the spices were good, the paneer by itself wasn't the best I've had.

Achari paneer tikka

I don't have any other pictures worth putting here - as you can imagine, I wasn't very thrilled with the food. The non-veg starters were also OK, but nothing special, and I don't even remember what they were.

For the main course, there were two chicken dishes - one a keema and the other a chicken tikka masala. Now CTM may be something that was given birth to in the UK with Campbell's tomato soup and what not, but this was not a CTM. Don't get me wrong - it's not that it tasted bad, but just that it wasn't tasting like a CTM.

The vegetarians had some palak dish and something else, and the rice item was a veg pulav, which was actually nice. For dessert, they gave us butter scotch ice cream with a gulab jamun. Ugh! Butterscotch and ... forget it. The food served for the buffet was average, nice, but there was nothing special, and although we didn't try the good stuff (a la carte), I'm not going back there in a hurry.

Food: Average to nice
Service: Decent
$$$: Sufficient quantity for what they charged, but expected better quality.
Verdict: Avoid buffet if possible and try the a la carte (and then let me know).
Extra Info: This place is located at one end of 100 Feet Road, after KFC and Domino's Pizza, adjacent to one of my office buildings (GXS).

Kinara, #305, 100 Feet Road, after Domino's Pizza and next to GXS, Bangalore. Phone: 43494349, 9900002118.