CAFE THULP

Location : 80 feet Road, Indiranagar


Im back to blogging after EONS :-) Thanks to Baby A :-)
An evening out only with the hubby. Baby A was too small back then to take him for a dinner outing.
Dining out was a welcome break back then.

The ambience is very simple but funked up. Cool, casual is the right way to describe this place.
What caught my attention was the menu. Whoever came up with it is supremely creative. Every dish has a funky name with a detailed explanation of what the dish would contain.

I ordered "The Clucky Luciano"  which basically is Chicken Parmigiana served on spaghetti, with bread, sauce and mozarrela. Also accompanied by potato mash and veg salad. Yumm!!
True to its name, the chicken was the HERO of the dish and i loved it.

Chicken Parmigiana

The hubby ordered "Road Hog" which basically meant Pork Ribs served with Sauce, Mashed potatos and steamed Bakchoys. I did taste it and can safely say it was good.

Pork Ribs

We also ordered Coke for me and Beer for H to wash down all the food.

Most importantly, this place is known to have insanely good burgers. I will be definitely going back to try the burgers :-)

Stopping by here to update my second visit to Cafe Thulp :-)
Yes, i did try the burger and i found it ok. Nothing wrong with the burger, its just my insane "never-say-die" craving for the KFC Zinger. The hubby had iddiappam with pork which was mediocre.
I have to give a special mention to the starter that we tried. It was simply yummilicious.
Crispy potato skins with a chicken and cheese filling. Wow. Yumm!

Average Meal for 2 : 700
Ambience : 7/10
Food : 8/10
Value for Money :  8/10

Anjappar

Location : 100 feet Road, Koramangala, Bangalore



Have been to this place for lunch with my family. Weekend..peak lunch time....but I was amazed with the speed and quality of service. We tried the naatu kozhi biriyani, chicken dum biriyani, veg meals, non veg meals, Kerala parota, grilled (fried) chicken. Everything was good. The meals came with pappu , rasam , buttermilk, kheer, paapad and the usual accompanyments. There was a fried gobi that came as part of the veg meal and a delicious chicken cutlet as part of the non veg meal. The Biriyanis were great too.

Naatu Kozhi Biriyani

Vegetarian Meal

Non-Vegetarian Meal

Grilled/Fried Chicken

I remember visiting Anjappar koramangala many years back with friends and I still remember the yummy dosa chicken combination that I had back then. A must visit for chettinad food fans. 
Ambience is normal but clean.Service is good. Definite value for money.

Average Meal for 2 : 700

Ambience : 6/10

Food : 8/10

Value for Money : 8/10

The Oriental Kitchen

Location : 80 feet Road, Koramangala, Bangalore

Dined here with a friend some time back. Food is good. Great location. Ambience is simple but pleasant. 
Vegetarian buffet was priced at Rs.450 and Non-Vegetarian buffet was priced at Rs.550 when we went.

Though it was a buffet, we never had to leave our seats. All food was served! Yes, all the buffet items were served at our table. The staff is courteous and patient. We were the first ones to arrive , but slowly the place started filling up.

Going into specifics, the non-veg buffet started off with a Chicken Youyang soup. It was delicious. It was followed by 2 salads. Starters included chicken dim-sum, deep fried fish in pepper garlic, fried chicken wonton and chicken wings in chilli garlic. I enjoyed the dim-sum. The fish starter was excellent.

Then we gorged on some Seafood noodles and chicken fried rice, both of which, tasted good. I also had steamed rice with Thai curry. Thai curry was yum! 

They have a good number of desserts too. Mousse, ice-cream, fresh cut fruits, fruit custard, red bean pancake.

If you love Chinese food, this is a must try. Not too heavy on the pocket and yet a delectable experience :-)

Average Meal for 2 : 1100

Ambience : 6/10

Food : 8/10

Value for Money : 8/10

Bheema's

Location : Church Street, Bangalore

Have been to this place couple of times. Went over the weekend again for lunch. The place was brimming and packed. Probably the only place in the vicinity where you can have meals. Lot of family crowd.

Ambience wise nothing much to talk about at all. Same king of seating that we see at Nagarjuna /Nandini.

I had biriyani which was good. Also tasted "Kakkinad chicken" semi gravy . Have tasted the meals as well in this place. Andhra meals is a personal favourite and i never tire of it.

Food is good (not excellent, not bad either). 

Service, is definitely not the best. Maybe because of the crowd. This time around, everything was fine till the guy who was cleaning the table dropped dirty water on me. I don't understand the hurry to clean up after we are done eating! Give us 2 minutes to breathe! The result of which was that i paid ZERO tips.

Average meal for 2 : 500
Ambience : 5
Food : 6
Value for money : 7

Absolute Barbeques

Location : Marathahalli, Near Innovative Multiplex, Bangalore

New barbeque joint in town....watch out BBQ Nation!!

The hubby discovered this place and we decided to visit at the earliest opportunity. We booked a day in advance for lunch, Christmas lunch to be precise :-) It is advisable to book in advance at AB's but i did see them making adjustments for people who arrived without a booking.

The entrance is right outside the lift and is always swarming with people waiting for their turn to get seated. But once you get in, the ambience is good with a neat and clean look. Since it was Christmas day, the place was decorated beautifully keeping the festivity in mind. Since we booked in for the 12:00 pm slot, the restaurant was just filling up and not too crowded.

The concept is completely borrowed from Barbeque Nation, but i think they are doing a good job nevertheless. What with Barbeque Nation raising its buffet prices, ABs has come as a respite to most people.

After seating ourselves, we ordered fresh lime soda which was part of the complementary drinks menu. While the waiters were setting up the bbq on our table, we set off to the "Wish Grill" counter. Here there are two sub counters, one for veggies and the other for non vegetarians. At these counters, we can select our choice of exotic meats or exotic vegetables to be grilled and served at our table. We also have an option of choosing the sauces to go along with these. There is  a huge tawa shaped grill that is used here. Just choose and leave :-) The hubby doesnt even look at vegetables when we eat out and so he naturally opted for the exotic meats which included shark, octopus, emu, rabbit. I opted for the veggies which included broccoli, raddish,corn, cabbage etc 

Wish grill counter

Veg assortment

Once we picked our assortment, we went back to our table where our bbq was ready. The starters included mutton sheekh, peri peri chicken, honey mustard fish, thai prawns, paneer tikka, veg sheekh kabab, grilled pineapple, cheesy potato, jalapeno stuffed mushroom and dahi ke sholay. The jalapeno stuffed mushroom and dahi ke sholay were unique and tasty.

                           Meanwhile our wish grill assortment arrived and dug into it too. 

They also have a good spread of main course but im unsure how many people would really have the space to tuck into any of the main course dishes. The main course fare included soup, chicken dum biriyani, mutton curry, chicken curry, fish curry , crab curry in non vegatarian. Vegetarian fare included paneer, salan, matar, veg dum biriyani, achari aloo, plain rice.

Once we were done with main course, we set off for the dessert counter. Desserts included gulab jamoon, souffles, phirnee, pastry, honey puff, cake and ice-cream. The dessert counter deserves a special mention since one waiter i this stall mixes ice-creams for you as per your wish and includes brownie/cake, nuts, sauce into the ice-cream as per your wish :-) Meanwhile the waiters broke into a dance which again reminded me of BBQ Nation.

How can i forget the roulette wheel which was part of the Christmas celebrations. Of course i played and guess what, i won!
An apron and a free lunch coupon :-) :-)

I strongly recommend this place .Hoping they keep the good food and great service going!

Average meal for 2 : 1400
Ambience : 7/10
Food : 8/10

Value for Money : 9/10

Byblos

Location : Indiranagar, Bangalore

Visited this place when my brother -in-law had come down with family from Singapore, fresh with memories from a trip to the middle east :-) . I must say the place is worth a second visit. 

We tasted a variety of dishes. 
The Babaghanouj. This is eaten as a starter is some places, while it is used as a side dish in some other places. Beautiful smoked eggplants blended with onion, tomato. We ate this with pita bread. And yes, the waiters kept the pita coming promptly.
We also ordered two types of hummus. One classic and one with meat. The lamb hummus was delicious.
To go with these, we had a Shish Taouk Platter and Akkawi Cheese.
The akkawi cheese is Lebanese white cheese which was served on bread. The shish taouk platter had a pita wrap more like chicken shawarma. This came with fries.
We also had kebabs which came with garlic mayo and fries. The kebabs were succulent.

Coming to desserts! I have faint memories of having tasted Baklawa in Dubai and having brought boxes of them back home. I loved the baklawa served here too. Looked and tasted rich. Another lip smacking dessert is the Umali. True to its name, it is the queen of puddings :-) It was served in a mug. Milk, cream and nuts galore. It was not too sweet which made it all the more heavenly.

I will go back for the food. I do want to recommend that the place should be done up more in terms of ambience. Its neat, its good, but its not what you expect when you walk into a lebanese joint.

If you are bored of the usual lunch fare, and want a change, and a good one at that - i strongly recommend this place.

Average meal for 2 : 1500
Ambience : 6/10
Food : 8/10
Value for Money : 8/10

PS : WIll update pictures soon!

Gabbar's Kitchen

Location : Thubbarahalli, Whitefield, Bangalore

Quite a small place but something about it struck me. Very modestly arranged and decorated.Bollywood themed. The walls have framed reminders of famous Bollywood dialogues. The table mats are dedicated to the villains of Bollywood! I personally loved the idea.

Missi roti, chicken goli mirch and a sumptuous plate of Chicken Achari! The chicken achaari took me by surprise because of the generous size of the portions :-) The chicken was well cooked and the missi roti was my first ever :-) A very small place.  This place will definitely evolve .Prices of all dishes range from 100 to 300. A bit highly priced for a new and small place.
A special note about the service - Excellent!
While dining at the place i noticed a lot of calls being answered continuously for home delivery continuously. 

Average price for 2 : Rs. 500

Ambience : 4/10

Food : 6/10

Value for money : 6/10

Chutney Chang

Location : Museum Road, Bangalore

Im certain most people have visited this "paisa vasool" place. I have been here 3 times for lunch.
Once with my husband. Once with the extended family and another time with my team.
The place has 2 floors which are replicas of each other. There is an enclosed area which i prefer due to its distance from the buffet table.

The spread is as good as 2 buffets - a veg and a non-veg spread
There is a live chaat counter OR a live dimsum counter. I haven't seen the live grill counter on any of my visits here.The chutney assortment served on the table is a very good accompaniment  for the starters. You can start your meal with either a veg soup or a non-veg soup.There are 4 veg starters, 4 non-veg starters, at least 10 salads and desserts (if not more). Apart from this there are the main course dishes. Humongous is the word!

Ambience wise the place is actually good, but the heavy crowds can put you off.
Heavily packed at all times, his place requires a reservation to be made at least a week in advance!
Definitely worth a try.

Buffet price : Approx 500 (varies on weekends)
Ambience : 7/10
Food : 8/10
Value for money : 9/10

La Franza

Location : Anjuna, Goa

La Franza is located very close to the flea market in Anjuna and just 10 minutes from the Anjuna beach. It serves Seafood, Indian, British, Chinese, Coastal, Continental, European. Dimly lit like most restaurants in the place. They have a rooftop and ground floor verandah, both opening out a view to the road. 
On the ground floor, they have a tv inside and a pool table outside. To use the pool table you would need to shell out ₹ 30 per game .

We ordered a beef steak and a chicken steak.  Both were yummilicious. We chose to have it with fries and vegetables though there was option of mashed potato with it.We ordered a beef steak and a chicken steak.  Both were yummilicious. We chose to have it with fries and vegetables though there was option of mashed potato with it. The meat was tender and looked like the meat from a whole chicken.

We had a long an relaxed dinner.  Good food, great view, soft music turned out to be a great experience finally.

The service is very friendly and cordial. This was the only place we ate at "twice" while in Anjuna :-)

Average meal for 2 : ₹ 750
Ambience : 6/10
Food : 7/10
Value for Money : 7/10

Kobe Sizzlers

Location :
                  CMH Road, Indiranagar , Bangalore
                  Garuda Mall, Magrath Road, Bangalore
                  5th block, Koramangala, Bangalore
                 

Yes, i have visited Kobe's at all these locations. My favourite sizzler joint.
The most amazing chicken sizzlers/steaks available here.

 Sizzling chicken with pepper sauce. Served with vegetables and fries.

 Chicken satellite (my favourite) . Boneless chicken, mushrrom and cream. Served with vegetables and fries. You can opt for fries or mashed potato.

And not to forget a glass of fresh lime soda to go with these absolutely delectable dishes.
I also recommend the sizzling brownie to finish your meal here.

Average meal for 2: ₹ 1000
Ambience : 6/10
Food : 8/10
Value for Money : 7/10

Cheers Coorg

Location : 80 feet Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore

Visited the place with my husband on Christmas for lunch. My hubby had been eyeing the place for quite some time!

We opted for the buffet. Before i get to the food, the ambience for me was simply superb. Wow is the word. If i ever think of opening my own restaurant it would be on similar lines :-) The menu was refreshingly different. But i was disappointed with the number of items on the spread. Very less!

I enjoyed the kadamputtu (rice balls) and akki roti with chicken curry. The rice balls were my first ever! The akki roti is different from the traditional ones that we get in Bangalore. They are puffed up and the texture is very thin.They resemble the Kerala Pathiris. The ghee rice tasted a little different. It was plain rice minus veggies. And the fact that the chicken curry was watery didnt help much either. Pepper chicken fry was yumm. The pandi curry had very strong flavours. The pork in the curry was soft when compared to the pork fry.

The spread also consisted of Mollagu bajji and a potato side dish.Then came the dessert. There was akki payasam and cocounut souffle and litchi souffle!For some reason, after we took a serving of the coconut souffle it was replaced by the litchi souffle. But i enjoyed both. Being a mallu i have tasted some lip smacking varieties of rice payasams and this one came nowhere close to the ones i have tasted. Was extremely watery. But i completely enjoyed the souffles. The cocunut souffle seemed a very innovative idea to me.
To sum it up, i would say the place is worth a visit. And yes, i simply loved the way they have done up the place. :-)

Meal (buffet) : ₹ 399 all inclusive
Ambience : 8/10
Food : 6/10
Value for Money : 5/10

Luna's Tibetan Restaurant

Location : Anjuna Flea Market Road  ,Goa
Just got back from an awesome vacation to Goa. The hubby and i being foodies, we tried out different cuisines that were available there. Our last night in Goa, we had dinner at this small Tibetan restaurant called Luna's. Nothing fancy about it. A huge tree near the seating area that was decorated and some paper lamp shades which are typical of the place. The place was buzzing with foreigners who seemed to be regulars at Luna's.
We ordered Chicken Sha-bagleb, Chicken Momos and Seafood Chopsuey.

The Sha-Bagleb  was served with salad (predominantly raddish). Crisp outside, yummy chicken filling. Was unlike anything i had tasted before.

The steamed Chicken Momos tasted just fine.

The Seafood Chop Suey was great. Combination of crispy noodles and mushy veggies. Topped with seafood ranging from prawns to kalamari. Kalamari is nothing but squid derived from calamaro which is Italian for squid. I have always eaten squid in the shape of circular rings. The reason for this is, when the body of the squid is cleaned it remains a tube shaped cavity which on cutting turns out to be circular rings.

Average meal for 2 : ₹ 600
Ambience : 5/10
Food : 8/10
Value for Money : 7/10