Tai Tai

Ratings

Food : 8/10
Ambience : 6/10
Service : 6/10
Price: Rs. 1000

Description

Gautam Krishnakutty is one of Bangalores very few specialist chefs. During his time with Ebony (and the 13th Floor) he introduced us to the very delicious Thai Crispy Fried Beef – that still ranks very high on my list of favourite things to eat in the city – along with a host of other delicacies.

Tai Tai is his new restaurant and is probably one of the best places in the city for gourmet asian cuisine.

The restaurant is all about food. Which is not to say that the interiors are shabby or the service poor (not always at any rate). It’s just that there is almost no restaurant in the city that focuses so assiduously on the taste and presentation of the food. Each starter is a delightful explosion of flavours, bringing together uncommon ingredients in surprising new ways. Apart from staples like the curry rice dishes and perhaps the Khao Soi, every dish seems to have been uniquely crafted. Its a pity this city does not encourage chefs to explore their creativity rather than keep dishing out old favourites.

The service is not always top drawer, but the serving staff has been drawn from old haunts like the Black Cadillac – so old timers should get good service. The ambience is nice if a little over the top with heavy wicker chairs taking up much of the floor space. The cosy terrace is worth booking in advance for, and in case you need to wait for your table, the lounge bar one floor down is supposed to be good too.

This is not a cheap meal by any standards. A meal for 2 with wine will set you back over Rs. 2000. But if you want to experience new and novel cuisine and are willing to turn a blind eye to some less than perfect table service, this is a must do on your list.

Getting There:

Tai Tai is situated on the top two floors of Bombay Store on MG Road. Easy enough to find if you don’t know your way around the city – both Bombay Store and MG Road are landmarks in themselves. Basement valet parking is available at nights and in the afternoons. For reservations call 41121451.

Recommendations:

There is a great duck starter with small pancakes and sauce that is excellent as are any of the mushroom dishes. For the main course the steamed fillet of sea bass with green mangoes is worth a whistle.

Ideal For:

This is a foodies must-visit restaurant. Don’t bother dragging your grandma who just wants her rice and curds or any other fussy eater.

Kaati Zone

Ratings

Food 4/10
Ambience 4/10
Service 4/10
Price: Rs. 200

Description

India’s original non-vegetarian fast food has shrugged off its street roots and come into town with formica tabletops and tray service. In my view this is one transformation I would have rather not witnessed. Khati rolls are best eaten standing up and straight from the fire. Like its vegetarian equivalent – bhel puri – much of the fine flavours in a Khati roll are drawn from the cooking technique in unsavoury ways you’d rather not dwell upon overmuch. While there are hygenic benefits to the formica ambience, without the smell of a coal fire and tang of roughly cut onions, all you are left with is a fried chapatti rolled over some mutton curry.

I guess some people will patronize this place. It has been set up at a good location and should attract some of the unemployed youth who seem to populate the streets of Bangalore in the evenings these days. I have eaten cheaper Khati rolls though never sitting down at a formica table with teen pop blaring from the speakers – so I guess there is an economic reason behind the prices.

Before you ask – I have tried the take-away as well just to see how they manage to serve a roll that will, by its very nature, go soggy within minutes of preparation. The answer is not very well. The rolls were warm and moist (but in the perspiration kind of way) and the packaging was just to hard to unravel.

All in all this is probable a restaurant you might want to avoid.

Getting There:

Church Street is filled with eating places and woefeully lacking in suitable places to park. If you want to try your luck you are going to have to be prepared for a long walk. You can either get there by driving down from Brigade Road or up from Rest House Crescent. Or if you are walking from MG Road, head down towards Church Street at the Times of India building.

Recommendations

None really. If you have eaten Khati Rolls at Nizams on the back alleys of Calcutta, you really don’t want to be eating here. If you have only been so lucky as to sample the imported version in the BDA complex in Indiranagar – you will still be disappointed. If you have never eaten a Khati Roll before in your life – this is not where you want to go to try your first.

Ideal For:

Nothing. I can’t think of a reason why you might want to inflict this upon yourself.

Harima

Ratings

Food: 8/10
Ambience: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Price: Rs. 800

Description

You have to like Japanese food or at least be willing to experiment with it if you visit Harima. Here is a restaurant that knows exactly what it is about and is not shy of stating so. I am tired of restaurants that set out to cater to as wide a base of customers as possible. More often than not, in the process, these restaurants completely destroy the cuisine they are supposed to represent. Fusion food, Indian Chinese, Pan-Asian cuisine are all excuses, in my opinion for restaurants that are either trying too hard to please or just do not have the cullinary expertise to be able to do one genre and do it well.

This is why I find Harima so refreshing. Here is a restaurant run by Japanese owners and a Japanese chef that serves up authentic Japanese food. You are not likely to find a chicken fried rice at Harima – however, if you are interested in baby sardines cooked with steamed rice, this is the place. You will not find a sweet corn chicken soup here but the Miso Soup is the real deal. You can be sure your wasabi will be fresh and soft an that the sushi and sashimi will be succulent. Every now and then you can be sure will get to try out new items – both on the menu as well as off.

Bangalore has not exactly had an over-abundance of Japanese restaurants. The first I visited in the city was Dahlia. I can’t say that I was compelled to return. Since then the closest we got to good Japanese was as part of the pan-Asian menu of Zen at the Leela. Harima is different from its predecessors and for all the right reasons. Because it concentrates on one just cuisine, Harima can offer a huge menu of items that no other restaurant does – after over 20 meals there I still cannot say I have exhausted their menu. Because they have paid attention to the decor and the ambience, it is actually a pleasure to spend time over your meal.

Overall, Harima is an excellent way to spend and evening. The ambience is soothing. The food is excellent. The service is ubiquitous. There are few restaurants that the AnonymousFoodie will be glad to visit whenever it is suggested. This is one of them.

Getting There:

Harima is located on the 4th Floor of Devatha Plaza on Residency Road. For those who do not know where Devatha Plaza is (where have you been all your life?) you need to head down Residency Road from Richmond Circle past the Bangalore Club till you hit the first traffic light at the intersection of Residency Road and St. Marks Road. The building on your left is Devatha Plaza. If after these excellent directions you still get lost, call +91 80 4132 5757 and ask for directions.

Recommendations

The sushi and the sashimi is usually excellent unless you are squeamish about raw fish. The stewed pork is worth a try as is the wafu beef steak. I would also recommend the mayonaise coated prawns Ebimayo. If you have place at the end of your meal do try the home-made ice cream (either green tea or wasabi flavour).

The Only Place

Ratings

Food 6/10
Ambience 5/10
Service 5/10
Price: Rs. 400

Description

For many years The Only Place was truly eponymous. If you wanted to eat tasty good quality steaks there was no other place. Situated, as it was, at the confluence of Brigade Road and Residency Road, The Only Place served up a variety of steaks (including its much acclaimed Chateaubriand Supreme) like no other restaurant in the city. It was unmatched in its variety and in the cut of the meat it served. It was just as well known for its desserts, in particular the Apply Pie with cream or ice cream.

When Mota Arcade was built, The Only Place located itself in the front of the building and served its time tested recipe of fine meat cuts marinated and cooked to perfection to hordes of shoppers on Brigade Road. The restaurant was forced to close down due to labour problems but has recently resurrected itself on Museum Road in a lovely quaint setting that seems a lot more like the original restaurant on Brigade Road.

The menu is still the same. The restaurant still has the same focus. The cuts are just as tender. But the charm has gone and, maybe its just me, but the food tastes a little tired.

Getting There:

It’s on Museum Road towards the Madras Bank Road end right next to Raheja Chambers. Their telephone number is +91 80 3061 8989.

Recommendations

I would definitely recommend the Pepper Steak (if you like your steaks slightly spicy) or in the alternative the Chateaubriand (either regular or Supreme). And the Apple or Cherry Pie.

Koshy’s

Ratings

Food 6/10
Ambience 4/10
Service 5/10
Price: Rs. 300

Description

If there is a Bangalore City food landmark it is Koshy’s. Situated on St. Mark’s Road at the foot of St. Marks Cathedral, Koshy’s has been around for way longer than I can remember. This is a restaurant not constrained by cuisine or culinary brilliance. It is not your average snooty, high-brow restaurant. You will just as easily get a pepper steak as a Kerala prawn curry with rice and should you demand it, the chef will happily mix them both and serve it to you on the same plate.

This is an all day coffee shop that will serve you breakfast, lunch and dinner whenever you happen to land up. The waiters are as old as the place. Some of the diners are as well. No-one will hurry you out of the door – even if all you have done for the past 4 hours is dawdle over a cup of black coffee and endless cigarettes.

Every now and then, Prem Koshy will walk around the restaurant, stopping to chat with patrons old and new. If he is trying out a new dish and he recognises you as a foodie, chances are you will get to sample a slice.

This is not a foodie’s restaurant. There is nothing outstanding on the menu. The chefs are competent but by no means spectacular. The ambience is homely but to call it cosy would be going to far. For the newcomer this is hardly likely to be a restaurant of choice. But for its sizeable band of regulars, there is usually no other place they would rather go. For the rest, its a perfect way to observe Bangalore as it was.

Getting There:

Head down St Marks Road from the State Bank Circle towards MG Road. Koshy’s is on your left in a stand alone building immediately after the Bowring Petrol Bunk. You can call them at +91 80 2221 5030.

Recommendations

With Koshy’s this really depends on what you are feeling like on the day. I usually have either the fish or prawn curry with rice. I would not go so far as to recommend the steak but it is perhaps the only restaurant in Bangalore that still serves liver pate on toast. Oh yes and THIS is where you’ve got to go for Appams and Stew on Easter Sunday.