I love food. I also like to experiment. Following is a list of restaurants in and around M.G.Road(where I used to work once). This is a guide and not neccessarily a’list of best’ kind of review. You will find that most of what follows will be about atmosphere than food itself. Thats how I look at food - very holistically:-) - and in many cases atmosphere matters more to me than the food itself.
Koshy’s - One of the older establishments in the town, the restaurant was started in the 50s. Their site tells you that they were caterers to Presidents and Prime ministers. Which probably explains the pseude(as in upper middle class) crowd that it attracts. Thats what I like about the place. It makes your feel all sophisticated, sitting among middle aged women puffing away on a cigarette and downing mugs of beer while reading a novel. Koshy’s is the right place for you if you wish to spend a couple of hours at lunch. They don’t just encourage it, they actually expect you to do so. You first order will take at least 45 minutes to reach you. Incidentally this place provides a space for up and coming artists to display and sell their paintings. You never know, you could actually end up picking up a masterpiece.
I have tried only North Indian dishes here, and the dhaal and rotis was quite close to what I have hand in Punjab. Friends I know swear by the sandwiches.
Coconut grove - This is located on Church street and serves mallu food. The theme of the restaurant is green - from the decor, the potted plants to the kurta of the waiters. Seating is part indoors and part outdoors. The first time I ate here was on the day I landed in Bangalore after a transfer from Delhi. It was drizzling and a cold, wet breeze blew some of the rain onto the table we were seated on. Joy of having left Delhi and landing in this heaven made that day very special for me. And is it my imagination or did the beer really last longer when had in the rain.
Try the Kaigari kootu and Avial with appam. Incidentally the beer is almost always tepid.
Queens - Located on the church street, Queens serves authentic punju food. Strategic pricing and great taste ensured that this place was always crowded in the days that I knew it. Most customers had to be seated outside then. The have now redone the interiors to give it a rustic look and the restaurant itself is a wee bit more spacious. You still have to however wait in queue for your turn.
The food is uniformly good. Special mention - The Jal Jeera drink.
India coffee house - The India coffee house is located bang on the M.G.Road and occupies two floors. It is a typical India coffee house, from the’drink coffee’ ad to the turbaned waiters. The prices are as old as the restaurant itself - one wonders how they manage it. Attracts a rag tag bunch of intellectual looking have beens, foreign tourists, arty types and students on a budget.
Food is typical of the coffee house menu. Dosa, Toast etc. Of special mention - the fresh juices.
Kadambam - Located in the Manipal center off M.G.Road, this is the second outlet of the Jayanagar 4th block based Kadambam restaurant. Kadambam is an almost always busy, middle class restaurant serving an Iyengar menu. We used to land up there on weekends for breakfast and dinner. The food is homely, and is served in tradional banana leaves(placed on plates ofcourse).
Special mentions - Medu dosa with Avial, Thatte idly, Pongal. Incidentally you get’idly podi’ as accompaniment for Idlies and Dosas, something which is a rarity in Bangalore.
Hotel Brindavan - Located on M.G.Road, this hotel has a restaurant attached to it. We used to visit this place for dinner, before the evening show at Rex or other halls on M.G.Road. The place reminds one of the many Arya bhavans, Saravana bhavans and other bhavans in Tamil Nadu. Food is again very Tamilish, and the most attractive thing about this place is that the sambar is not the’red in colour loaded with jaggery sambar’ that you normally find in Bangalore.
Try any of the Dosas. Idlies are of the maligai poo(soft as jasmine flowers:-)) variety and the chutney is awesome. And yes - this place again provides you with Idly podi.
Hotel Eden - is located just behind Infantry road. It is a everything to everyone place. More of an evening out for the family than just a restaurant - two restaurants actually. One is the regular Rs.45 Andra meals type of restaurant which attracts a number of office goers during lunch hours. The other is the more elaborate and more expensive, open air restaurant with tables set in discreet greenery and real candles to light them. The play area for kids completes the set up here.
Check this place out for the ambience if not for the food.
RR restaurant - Located on Church street, RR is pretty famous for its unlimited Andhra meals. The place has been renovated. One landed up at this place when one knew that there would not be much work in the later part of the day. Get stuffed and follow it with a well earned siesta!
The Chancery - is located on Lavelle road. Would have never visited this place if not for the fact that we were put up there for our induction program. The hotel had been just set up, and the company had managed to wrangle a superb deal from them. I cannot recommend anything specific since we never got to choose what we ate. However everything we ate was awesome and we literally ate everything.
There are more, but I don’t remember their names. More food reviews to come!