First Impressions - Hyderabad House

Its not easy to get Haleem except for places that specialise in Hyderabadi/Nizami cuisine. So when I saw a Hyderabad House in front of Forum, I was thrilled. I used to visit the one in Versova in Mumbai but it closed down some time back.

First shock: Haleem is served only on sunday. Nothing available except for Biryani.
Second shock: "But Sir, you ordered chicken Biryani!"
Third Shock: Mutton Biryani was nothing like Hyderabadi biryani!!

In all, first impression is the last impression.

Rating: AVOIDABLE

First Impressions - Magnolia

I love chinese food but somehow the only chinese place that I've frequented in Bangalore is Rice Bowl on the Lavel road. These days I come to Bangalore quite frequently but stay near domlur/Indiranagar thus ruling out rice bowl completely. So, its been time to experiment with places in Kormangala.

Tried Yo China but its way crowded for any entry. Minimum wait time: 30 mins. Too noisy and hence not worth the wait or another visit. Visited another place near 6th block. Nice decor which reminded a lot of rice bowl. Again long wait time but not as long as Yo China. Another time perhaps. Went over to Magnolia near Raheja residency and then visted again.

Magnolia is half km off the Kormangala main road (BDA road) into the road between nandini and Utsav. A nice quiet area compared to most of kormangala. Its a house converted into a restaurant and it shows. Still very tastefully done interiors and very polite subdued service. Consists of two floors each with two rooms. Ground floor is non-smoking service while the first floor has one smoking room. Being rooms, smokers are completely isolated compared to most other places. Seats can be uncomfortable for large people and lack of armrests is uncomfortable for any. Tables are placed far apart so one can actually hear the music which is a huge plus.

I usually like to evaluate a chinese place by the quality of soups and the rice. So far, I haven't tried the rice so I'll keep to the soup here. I've tried a clear soup and a thick soup. Both had the just the right aroma and the flavour. However, the thick soup is not really thick even by Bangalore standards, forget Mumbai places like Chopsticks (Nariman point). Still, the taste is just right.

Magnolia also serves Thai food. So, I ran my eye over the menu looking for kai (Thai for Chicken). Surprisingly, only one item. Then I realised that all the names are translated and the Thai dishes are with the prefix Thai. A first time for me definitely! I believe in the saying that a rose smells as sweet by any other name and so shall certainly try the Thai fare in near future.

I'll certainly come back for more to this place.

Inch

Inch is on the 100ft road in Indiranagar right next to Cafe Coffee day. I went in there for the first time as it was vacant compared to CCD and then just fell in love with the place.

It has a very interesting decor. One side had hanging seats with high tables while the other has low wide sofas with low tables. Beanbags for seating outside. They can put them inside too if you ask them to. Wooden floor. Plenty of space in between the seats. Comics lying around. I read an Archie there after a long time!

They have some good salads and pasta. Simple, light and tasty stuff. I'd recommend the Mocha frappe to go with just about everything.

Wish they had wi fi and I could stay for hours. My 1xRTT card is quite slow at its best and i yearn to get back to my hotel's broadband wi-fi. Still, a great place to hang around.

A definite for every of my Bangalore visits.

Rating: 4.5/5

Samrat

This one has been long time in pipeline!

Samrat is in backbay reclamation area near Churchgate. Its not as well known as its cousin Status which sees Nariman point flocking to it for lunch. But trust me its a lot better.

Its a medium sized place spread over two floors. One is struck by two things upon entry: most of the patrons are families taking a day out and that there are so many trophys declaring Samrat as the Best Veg restaurant in Bombay! It seems they have won for every year for a fairly long time!

Its a nice clean place with tables packed together and waiters in uniforms bustling about. A glance around will show that Thali is popular and indeed its tough to go wrong with the choice. I would also recommend the Masala Khicdi here. I'm split between the Thali and the Khicdi everytime I come here and just can't make a decision on the gastronomic criteria. So I take Khicdi when in hurry/when I need to stay light and Thali otherwise. My recommendation for these two should by no means take you away from trying other items on Menu. They're great too! Its just that I haven't been able to break myself away from the hold that these two items have over me! I have tried some others when we went in a group and I can tell you that the Tandoori paneer is the best I've had anywhere in the world. For dessert, the aamras is incomparable.

I'll dwell a bit on the thali as its the most attractive option here. Costs Rs 170 a head. The items are the same as any Gujrathi thali. But its vastly superior to any other in two aspects: taste and service. One can keep eating just one or two items and completely immerse oneself into them at the cost of others and still feel satiated. Item to item, samrat beats other gujrathi places hands down. When it comes to service, you feel you have come in a wedding. There may be people lined up and waiting to get in and you may be protesting that you're filled upto the mouth, the waiters would still implore you to have more! They actually run to get items you haven't tried lest you run away before they return! Other gurathi thali places like Aaram in Mahim also serve huge amount of food but this service is beyond anything I've ever seen.

I can go on and on about Samrat. I have already used more exclamation marks here than all my other posts combined and I can still add more. But suffice it to say that its MUST visit place in Mumbai. Its the benchmark for good quality food as far as I'm concerned.

Rating: 5/5

Guru da Dhaba

Most people, particularly non-vegeterians, find vegeterian food boring. Its usually paneer this, paneer that, paneer something else and so on and so forth. But it need not be. I'll attempt to review two great places for veg food in Mumbai in this and the next post. The first off is Guru da dhaba.

Guru da Dhaba is a small place in the Lokhandwala market, Andheri west. Just turn left after the McD at Lokhandwala and its the small place on your right. A dhaba in name and in looks. No AC. You share your table with others and food is plonked/slid on your table. Small kids run around with amazing energy serving all.

The menu is on the board in front. I suggest you ask for a glass of chaas while mulling over the menu. Its really the best chaas I've ever had. It worsened a bit in the past 4 yrs but still great. Everything is great so just go ahead and order. I usually favour the makhani rotis with dal/rajma and one subji. Rotis keep coming hot off the plate and no time I usually order for the second subji. Gobhi aloo, methi aloo, mushroom are my favorites here. I always think of trying other stuff but I relent to the urge of reliving past experiences. Some day, the law of marginal utility would play out and I'll move to other stuff. But it looks far right now!

I still remember my first time here. I got two shocks. First the realisation that I had eaten around 14 rotis! and second that the bill was around Rs 100!! Its no longer that cheap and the place has started to close down by 10.30 but its still great.

One can follow-up the great food here with Naturals ice-cream around the corner. A mix of tender coconut and malai tastes heavenly after guru da dhaba.

Rating = 5/5.

First Impressions - Juke Box

Juke Box is a small place in Kormangala that we used to frequent during the IIM B days. So when a friend from those days asked to meet up near Forum and was delayed in the traffic, I went looking for it. I was almost sure that this mark of the old Bangalore would be gone in the megapolis that Bangalore has become. So it was shock to see it in the same place with the same signature board. Hurried back and got my friend also at Jukebox.

Juke box serves continental food which is quite decent. Its particularly known for its sizzlers. Beer too is great.

I wouldn't rate it for the fear of my nostalgia coloring the judgement. But I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking out for a nice place to hang out with friends. Old Bangalore charm still works.

First Impressions - Moet's shack

I noticed Moet's shack in defence colony while on way to dinner to Little Italy last Friday. Returned with another friend the next day. I wanted a quiet place but gave in to the joy of exploration.

Shack offers Chinese and sea-food. We went for Chinese not being sure of sea food in Delhi. Again, the place was closely packed and noisy. Again I ordered Chardonnay hoping for a repeat of the last week. Alas, the wine was too cold. But any regret was short lived as food was served a lot faster than we expected. It was pretty good. But it did not delight. It merely met the standard of good chinese food in taste and in size of helpings. A place worth another visit but not the kind of place where one can vow people.

Rating: 3.5/4

First impressions - Flavours

Well to be honest it was not my first time at Flavours which a friend had described as the best Italian fare in Delhi. I was reminded of this place by a close friend when we met after a long time at Bangalore's Italia (The Park). So, I went back with a sense of nostalgia more than anything else.

Flavours is a small place just off the Ring road near Moolchand flyover. Its quite distinct in many ways. First up is the view upon entrance: one sees a medley of desserts. I was instantly reminded of incomparable cafe churchill at colaba. Anyways, the second noticeable feature is that all waitresses seem to be of noth eastern descent and dressed in jeans. Third, it was closely packed and noisy like a Mumbai restaurant!

I was weary so I quickly ordered a chicken dish - the name escapes me now. I also gave in to the temptation of having a glass of chardonnay. It turned out to be the best decision of the evening. The key to a good glass of chardonnay is serving it at the right temp and the people at Flavours know that well. It was smooth and just the right "flavour". I quickly finished my dish and asked for Kahlua. Again its difficult to find good kahlua. But this was first class.

Overall good food. Great wine and dessert. Noise is a turn off. Definitive second visit and more

Rating = 4/5

Kashmiri Stall, Dilli Haat

I love Rogan Josh; the most famous dish to come from Kashmir. Hence, I am always on the look out for a place that serves genuine kashmiri food. The only place that I frequent and which serves (I think!) genuine Kashmiri food is the kashmiri stall at Dilli Haat.

I gave them a visit about two weeks back for lunch. I ordered a mini Trami which is rice, achar, rogan josh, goshtaba and kabab served together. An easy way to sample the cross-section of kasmiri cuisine. The helpings are not very large but the amount of curry is huge. Which is good given that the two curries are very different. One can keep changing between the two and never tire of just trying curry! The meat for rogan josh could have been cooked better. The goshtaba was very nice. For the uninitiated, gostaba is a meat ball served in a curd based curry.

Overall the place suffers from a lack of conducive ambience. Service is poor. But then its only place I know that serves genuine kashmiri fare. I'll keep visiting until I can find a better place.

Rating = 3/5

Launching First Impressions

I've decided to modify my rule of reviewing a place only iff I've been there at least twice. Usually twice is also not sufficient to form an opinion but sounds better than being one of. But, now I'll also write my first impressions of the new places I visit. Reviews would continue but would now be deeper than just 2 visits.

Let's see how it works out.