B CAFE SHANGRI LA VASANTH NAGAR

. B CAFÉ AT SHANGRI LA After wanting to visit this place for the past decade, I finally got to have the much talked about buffet lunch at B café in Shangri La – Near to Mount Carmel College in Vasanthnagar. Buffet reviews are the toughest to write for me because usually it has so many items and one cannot taste them all in one visit and it also keeps changing. What works today may not appeal to me tomorrow and so on. So I’m keeping this review short and yet trying to cover as much as one person can eat. Mood: Peace and quiet. Variety of food. Place: B Café - Shangri La Ambience: What I wanted...no crowd, good spacious seating and can eat in peace. Service: Good. Not great. Food: This is for vegetarian food only. Totally spoilt for choice. Salads and Starters: Good. Everything was fresh. Some unusual stuff like quinoa and some vegetables salad and not your usual cutlets and pakodas kinds. Chinese: Vegetable Chowmein and mixed exotic vegetables in schezwan sauce. This was good. Italian: Except for cheese balls and brinjal rolls and the Risotto, nothing really great. Nothing stood out. Some vegetables were undercooked and chewy, especially the Baby corn. North Indian: Did not go for this because it is quite common and easy to prepare but nothing on display that made me long to try something. Usual staples of rice, rasam, curd rice papads pickles etc was available. Desserts: Really good. I ate about a dozen. What really was mind blowing was the coconut kiwi pudding. A good mix of chocolaty and other desserts too. Lots of live counters and DIY options so you can customize any cuisine to your liking. Even Salads had a make your own salad options. Would have liked a chaat counter. Prices: What is expected in any high end hotel so go loaded. I also feel it caters more to the guests staying in Shangri La or maybe the day I went wasn’t my day! What appealed to me most were the ambience and the desserts. What wasn’t satisfactory was the overall food – despite having such a huge variety to choose from. I preferred the buffet lunches from other outlets I have had. Less items but tastier. Would I go again: No. One time visit only. Would I recommend to others: Yes, worth visiting once maybe with a small group of friends so more varieties to try from the vast menu. Overall Ratings: 3/5. 1-No! No! No! 2-Just about average 3- Good. Can give it a try 4-Great!! 5-Yes! Yes! Yes! And I’ll tell all about it. Details: Lobby Level, Shangri-La, 56-6B, Palace Rd, Abshot Layout, Vasanth Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001

THE BRAHMIN'S KHANAVALI - TAKEAWAY NEAR ST.MARKS ROAD

Right in the heart of the city, in Devatha Plaza opposite Bishop Cotton Boys School is, this place, THE BRAHMINS KHANAVALI located. It was a pleasant surprise to hear of this because these kind of places, the really good ones, one needs to go to south Bangalore. This place is small with limited seating capacity. There is no way one can have a leisurely lunch and sit around chatting. Come - eat - go is more like it. I've been here twice and it was jam packed both times, which goes to show how good the food is. A variety of lunches are on offer here ranging from mudde oota to chapathi meals to akki roti meals to jolada roti to rice baths. Here's a breakdown of the takeaway meals I had, because there was no way I could sit there and eat. First visit: I had chapathi meals which contained 2 chapathis, Rice, Sambar, Peanut Chutney podi, Lobia beans curry – very good, Cabbage playa – nice and an onion slice You know that it is all freshly prepared and no colors added. Taste was very homely and flavorful. I like the lobia beans/kaalu curry the best. 2nd visit I went for the akki roti plate...this is different from akki roti meals. This one is without the rice and sambar. So there is 2 Akki rotis..which was kinda cold. I like them fresh and piping hot. Took some time to reach Indiranagar though so that could be the reason. Lobia beans curry again which was just as tasty Cabbage palya again Chutney podi and the onion slice I also ordered chilli bajji with this...these were fat and doughy. I did want the famous ennegai palya but they dint have it that day so in terms of curries it was a repeat of the previous takeaway. It seems the curry varieties do change. I ordered extra Chapathis too. Overall, these make for wholesome meals and I wish something like this was in Indiranagar near my place. Was it mind blowing? Taste wise probably not. I have had really great food especially sambar and Chapathis and ennegai curry from Uttara Karnataka outlets in other areas but definitely good, tasty food. Are they worth visiting - definitely – for clean, healthy food.. Would I go again - definitely whenever the cravings hit. Would I recommend it to others - yes...though it is better to get takeaway. Huge minus is the one way road making it tough to go in a roundabout way to reach there. One look at the crowd makes me feel they need to expand to a bigger place and probably have more outlets. Service is really good despite the owner being under tremendous pressure. He is always juggling customer needs and does it amicably. Most welcoming but he does need an assistant methinks. Prices are very reasonable. Check it out if you are around the area and crave North Karnataka food. Overall rating 4/5 1-No! No! No! 2-Just about average 3- Good. Can give it a try 4-Great!! 5-Yes! Yes! Yes! And I’ll tell all about it. Details: St Mark's Rd, Shanthala Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001. From 11.30 am to 4.30 pm

TUK TUK THAI KORAMANGALA

I always like all vegetarian restaurants, especially those which burst myths that there aren’t many options for vegetarian food, especially international cuisine. Tuk Tuk Thai has been on my “to visit” list for a long time. I was torn between going to the JP Nagar place and Koramangala branch but decided on Koramangala because it is closer. Menu offers an excellent variety of soups, salads, dimsums, appetizers rice and noodles to name a few. Ambience: cozy and good seats. What I had as soon as I was seated: Complimentary: Green tea and cucumber carrot sticks with a spicy dip. Tea was so soothing! Chi Chow Dimsum: This has a filling of corn peanuts and water chestnuts. It had some thick black doughy covering. I like the regular white ones. Filling was very light and fluffy. Thai chilli basil noodles: Mixed noodles stir fried with vegetables, kafir lime, garlic, green pepper corn and basil. Good portion size. The vegetables beans and Broccoli could have been cooked further. Beans were quite raw - ish. Otherwise, the dish was piping hot and filling. Dessert was Apple Berry compote: This was awesome...fried apples with Berry jam and ice cream. I thoroughly enjoyed this. They could have more dessert options. Service was Top notch...the moment I mentioned about the beans being a bit undercooked..I was offered a replacement, a complimentary dessert which I had to decline because I was already on the Apple Berry compote, a discount...all of which I refused. I was assured of the best food and services next time around. I got the Som Tom papaya salad as takeaway for dinner, which was spicy, sweet and tangy all in one and which had crushed peanuts in it. This was easy to finish and light on the stomach. Despite the little blip on the beans, I'd still rate them 5/5 and I'd go back for round two because the overall food and service was really good. Overall rating 5/5 Rating for reviews: 1-No! No! No! 2-Just about average 3- Good. Can give it a try 4-Great!! 5-Yes! Yes! Yes! And I’ll tell all about it. Details: 17th Main Rd, KHB Colony, 5th Block, Koramangala, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560095.

SUBZ - JAYANAGAR

I have stopped going for buffet lunches off late because while there is a variety on offer, most times food is usually cold despite the heating facilities underneath the dishes so I love my food piping hot! Subz located in Jayanagar was on the list, however, for two reasons. I love me an all vegetarian buffet. I like the area. I heard lots of good things about the place. Once I was done with the lunch here I have zero regrets. It's total value for money. Skipped the soup which to be served at the table. Starters were a mix of Chinese and Indian which was good. Loved the salads. Especially crispy noodles salad. They had a chaat and paratha live counters. I had dahi churmur chaat which was great. North Indian fare mostly...paneer gravies, aloo mirch curry ..I found this unique, jeera rice, steamed rice and rasam, curd rice. The kathal biryani wasn't great. Weird taste. That apart, I liked all the curries that went with jeera rice. Dal was good too. I skipped the pasta, chinese noodles and gravy though that is usually my go to cuisine but off late been indulging a lot of it. Desserts were good with angur jamoons, 4 types of ice cream, mini cakes, custard jelebi cut fruits etc. Whatever is on display wasn't OTT yet almost everything was well made and could relish all items. Music could have been softer. Service was quick and efficient though it was mostly self service. I do wish they had a few south Indian snacks as well. I'm glad my first review for the year went well. I'm definitely going back on different days. Highly recommend to give this buffet lunch a try, even if you have to go your way out in coming to the area. Overall rating 4/5 Ratings for reviews 1-No! No! No! 2-Just about average 3- Good. Can give it a try 4-Great!! 5-Yes! Yes! Yes! And I’ll tell all about it. Details: Cosmopolitan Club, Ground Floor, 22nd Cross Rd, Jayanagar 3rd Block, Jayanagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560011 Timings: 12 to 3.30 PM and & 7 to 11 pm

BUDDHA BOWL AT KHMER KITCHER JP NAGAR

This is a review of just a dish, a much talked about dish nevertheless, the vegetable Buddha Bowl from Khmer Kitchen. I heard a lot about this from my friends and reviews online and being a fan of one pot meals and Buddha bowls in specific, I decided to give this a try. You'll need this when you want something warm, comforting, and just about had it with life. It comes with sliced tofu and noodles floating in a gravy and oodles of vegetables...broccoli, mushrooms, pokchoy, spring onions corn kernels, all well dunked...the noodles have a different feel and taste to it, thin and goes down well. It's a lot to finish at one shot and a meal in itself. I had to get half of it as takeaway. It was just as delicious when heated up for dinner. I finished this with their dessert of the day chocolate coconut panacotta...excellent presentation and light on the stomach. All I can say is, I stay in the other end of the city and went all the way just to eat this. It was well worth it. Atmosphere is cozy. Service really needs to be upped. I had to struggle to get their attention more than once. The place had a festive look with its Christmas decorations. Would I go again? Yes. Only if I'm in the area. Would I recommend to others? Yes, definitely do try this dish when you get a chance. Overall rating: 4/5 just for the Buddha bowl and dessert. I haven’t tried any of their other dishes. Ratings for reviews 1-No! No! No! 2-Just about average 3- Good. Can give it a try 4-Great!! 5-Yes! Yes! Yes! And I’ll tell all about it. Overall rating: 4/5 697, 15th Cross Rd, 2nd Phase, J. P. Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560078 11.30 am onwards

ELEMENT3 - INDIRANAGAR

OMG! I can't believe I stay only five minutes from Element3 and had never heard of this place till someone randomly mentioned it on FB. It’s right on Sri Krishna Temple road and few minutes’ walk from the metro station. Decided to lunch here and totally fell in love with this place...it's my ideal place with food that's vegetarian - Sattvik, no onion no garlic used. This place offers North Indian and Chinese cuisine mostly. Menu is vast..lots to choose from with juices and vegan ice creams too. Atmosphere is calm and pleasant with mantras playing in the background. This review is for two visits so here goes First visit I had Masala papad: Surprisingly great considering I’ve never had this without onions. Tandoori platter: Mind blowing! I loved them all. You get a bit of all the Tandoori items sheekh kababs, Gobi, baby corn, aloo.. very delicious and yet so light. Accompanied with green chutney. Sun-kissed twilight ice cream: I loved this. Dark cocoa with orange zest bits...very different. Ram Kichidi and Malai kofta as takeaway: Ram Kichidi was warm and comforting. Their signature dish Malai kofta had raisins in it of which I wasn't a fan. For my second visit I deliberately chose Chinese just to see how it is prepared without onion and garlic because this is one cuisine I’ve never eaten with onion and garlic. I had: Thai Cigars : Very different and melt in the mouth creamy filling and oh so addictive. It's easily going to be a regular order. Good old Hakka noodles : Again never tasted Hakka noodles without onions but honestly, it got a thumbs up from me. Belgium Speculos ice cream: Which is in simple words crushed biscuit ice cream another bowl scraping, lip smacking ice cream And a third visit where it was mostly takeaway but I again had Thai cigars and strawberry ice cream at the place while waiting for parcel Ram Kichidi and dahi kabab as takeaway. Ram Kichidi I found the dal a bit off this time, but it still tasted good. Strawberry ice cream was good, not wow. Dahi kabab made for a tasty snack. Staff is very attentive and polite. Prices are reasonable. I go on weekdays and tend to go alone so I don't find it very crowded. I'm so glad I finally found my adda. Plan to be a frequent visitor here. What could do with improvement: my only crib would be that for takeaways, especially left overs they really need to give a little something extra...sauces (green chutney especially) or the shredded cabbage etc. I got nothing. It is very low key packing. Some restaurants I have been to give sides in such a way one can replicate the restaurant eating experience at home. I do wish they'd introduce south Indian food too...not a crib but a wish. My benchmark for any place would be based on two questions Would I visit again? Definitely. Multiple times. Would I recommend to others? : It is a must visit place.. not just if in the area but go your way out and plan a visit. Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5. Ratings for reviews 1-No! No! No! 2-Just about average 3- Good. Can give it a try 4-Great!! 5-Yes! Yes! Yes! And I’ll tell all about it. Overall rating: 4/5 462, Shri Krishna Temple Rd, Indira Nagar 1st Stage, Stage 1, Indiranagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560038 11 am onwards.

2MOONS 1 MG MALL

Two moons is a high end hotel located in 1 mg mall Halasuru/mg road. My bestie and I visited this place twice and I am slowly falling in love with the place. Kind of cuisine available are Indian, Asian and continental. Nice plush spacious seating with a view of ulsoor lake, calm and quiet on weekdays and great service. I do like tables that aren’t set too close to each other and this has ample space between tables.. a huge plus point with me. Here's a quick breakdown of what we had...i am a vegetarian and my friend opted for non vegetarian dishes. First visit The usual sweet lime water which was refreshing. Chicken Caesar salad and chilli fish that my friend had and liked it I had raw papaya and mango salad and it tasted good but I've had better ones in other places. Assorted Bruschetta, it was good but not wow. Lotus Biscoff cheesecake which was delicious! Our second visit we had Thai chilli basil dumplings..really delicious. I like paper thin coverings over the thick doughy ones. My friend and i enjoyed this a lot! I stuck to ordering the good old hakka noodles which was tasty but not much to rave about Different Sauces served with everything were awesome and deserves a mention. My friend had grilled fish with lemon butter dill sauce and a salad by the side and she loved it! It's a meal in itself accompanied by beet and pumpkin mash. She thoroughly relished every bite. I ate a hazelnut dessert which was a cake and that was very good too. Special mention for the presentation of food...really well presented, very pleasing on the eyes and pic worthy This place is a tad expensive, especially desserts and for some real ordinary food so go loaded. Service is prompt and customizable. I like that this place one can go by themselves as I tend to do and enjoy a calm lunch or catch up with friends and chat undisturbed too. Lovely ambience. Really happy to have discovered this not too far from where I stay. Would I go again? A big fat YES! There’s lots on the menu I want to try out. Would I recommend to others? Yes! do check it out. Ratings for reviews 1-No! No! No! 2-Just about average 3- Good. Can give it a try 4-Great!! 5-Yes! Yes! Yes! And I’ll tell all about it. Overall rating: 4/5 1MG Mall, Trinity Circle, 5th floor, 1 MG Mall, Mahatma Gandhi Rd, Someshwarpura, Halasuru, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560008