Not seeing value for money in office canteen urged me and MK to look out for better non-vegetarian options, specifically B R I Y A N I. It so happend that MK's cook is on leave and MK is giving some rest to his loyal four storied lunch box :-)
Sometime back a foodie friend of mine mentioned about LAZEEZ Briyani in Koramangala and the situation was right to check the place. Authentic Lucknowi Briyani is what they are famous for, along with some amazing rolls.
When we arrived this afternoon the restaurant staff were having their lunch - tandoori roti and bhendi masala, I was tempted by the sight of it, had to bring my thoughts back to their authentic Lucknowi briyani, so we ordered for chicken briyani and chicken tikka. Their service is swift and our food arrived quickly, MK was very happy just at the sight of it.
Briyani was tasting awesome, the chicken in briyani was well cooked in its masala which was little sweet to taste - announced MK, while throughly enjoying each morsel of it. I too liked the taste of briyani and especially the boiled potato which came hidden inside the briyani rice.
Firni was ordered for dessert and it come in a small cup, too small for its price - but it melted in the mouth, it had a different taste.
Overall a good lunch in middle of the week to rejuvenate the stomach and spirit.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Eating Out at One of the Old and Authentic Restaurants
Eating Out: Bangaliana, Koramangala, Bangalore
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Today being a working day in-lieu of the holiday given on polling day, the strength at office was very weak and by 11.00 a.m. everyone at work were tierd of coming to office on a Saturday. Me and my companion had decided that we will meet up for lunch and I had thought of few places which I wanted to try for sometime. We met up near office, reconciled the eating preference and made a phone call to locate this place called as 'Bangaliana'which serves authentic bengali cuisine as my companion wanted to eat fish. Landed at the restaurant and the place is small with approximately about 8 tables and most of their patrons were either bengalis or from north eastern India. We sat down at a table and in 2 mintues we got our plate meals with rice and two gravys, we then had to read the menu of the day from a white board on the wall and order for fish (Boal Fish) and Aloo Bhaja. The meal was good, the fish gravy was also good, but my companion did not like the fish flesh, may be it is not fresh. I was eager to place the order for desserts and so ordered for Misti Doi and Rasagulla, but of them were just average. I had had better rosagulla's and misti doi in the past. Finally settled the bill and left the restaurant. We both did not like the place and food much, we rate it just average and nothing lost if you haven't had a meal here.
Eating Out: Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan and Sri Venkateswara Sweetmeat Stall, Balepet, Bangalore
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Another lazy Sunday, had plans to go to Manchinbele, got dropped as my companion had some work previous evening. My dad was hungry and wanted my inputs for breakfast, I asked him to be patient for 10 minutes and I quickly figured out this classic old time restaurant in Balepet and my dad become very energetic and happy to learn that we are going there for breakfast. We started at 9.15 a.m. and reached the place by 9.50 a.m. I was amazed at the large size of the dining hall and at this later hour for breakfast the place was crowded, luckily we got a table and settled down. The next 10 minutes were spent in absorbing the interiors of the place and noticing what other tables as to what they are ordering. When our waiter came to the table, we ordered for idli vada, in 5 minutes we got our food and the sambar was tooo good and so were the idli and vada, next we orderdered for masala dosa, the arrival of dosa was a delightful sight, as the waiter managed to carry eight masala dosa in one hand and other one was carrying chutney in a tray. The dosa was tasting good, i would prefer the same dosa with 200% less oil I did not enjoy the dosa, but dad was happy eating the crisp outside, soft inside dosa. We saw others eating a yellowish looking thing from small glasses with spoon, dad enquired with the waiter he mentioned that it it savige kheer and we asked him to get two for us. The savige thing was just average, my mom makes it better. So we finally asked for the bill and settled it at
Idli vada @ 24 rupees per plate
Masala Dosa @ 25 rupees per plate
Sevige Kheer @ 12 rupees per cup
What I liked about the Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan is that its been serving the same menu since 1926 from the same place and I can make out that many of their patrons have been having few breakfasts in a week for the last couple of decades, their set up is simple, very old ceiling fans, black granite table, wooden chairs and the locality is a wholesale business area.
We stepped out of the restaurant and in less than a minutes drive, dad spotted the most famous "Sri Venkateswara Sweetmeat Stall" and we stopped there to pick up the world famous Mysore Pak. I fondly remember the taste of this sweet, as I have been eating this from an young age onwards and it was more of a routine that whenever dad visited Balepet, Bangalore for business he will carry this sweet for home. The shop was small and bustling with a lot of activity, everyone was buy Mysore Pak for sure along with other sweets and mixture items. I ordered for 250 grams of mysore pak and 250 grams of Dumroat, As we left the shop me and dad took sample pieces of Mysore Pak and ate them, it was tasting heavenly after a filling breakfast. Sri Venkateswara Sweetmeat Stall, Balepet, Bangalore is been in business since 1950's and they sell on an average about 50 kilos of mysore pak a day and it seems they have celebrity clientele.
I learned about this wildly famous eateries from Banglore's Times of India Sunday column 'Whats Cooking' and thankful to dad who knew the locality and how to reach there from my residence. We reached home by 11.15 a.m. and I noticed that the place was 15 kilometers away from my residence and the first thing I did after reaching home was to eat few pieces of Mysore Pak and Dumroat and browsed the internet for a while, before I slept off around noon.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Today being a working day in-lieu of the holiday given on polling day, the strength at office was very weak and by 11.00 a.m. everyone at work were tierd of coming to office on a Saturday. Me and my companion had decided that we will meet up for lunch and I had thought of few places which I wanted to try for sometime. We met up near office, reconciled the eating preference and made a phone call to locate this place called as 'Bangaliana'which serves authentic bengali cuisine as my companion wanted to eat fish. Landed at the restaurant and the place is small with approximately about 8 tables and most of their patrons were either bengalis or from north eastern India. We sat down at a table and in 2 mintues we got our plate meals with rice and two gravys, we then had to read the menu of the day from a white board on the wall and order for fish (Boal Fish) and Aloo Bhaja. The meal was good, the fish gravy was also good, but my companion did not like the fish flesh, may be it is not fresh. I was eager to place the order for desserts and so ordered for Misti Doi and Rasagulla, but of them were just average. I had had better rosagulla's and misti doi in the past. Finally settled the bill and left the restaurant. We both did not like the place and food much, we rate it just average and nothing lost if you haven't had a meal here.
Eating Out: Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan and Sri Venkateswara Sweetmeat Stall, Balepet, Bangalore
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Another lazy Sunday, had plans to go to Manchinbele, got dropped as my companion had some work previous evening. My dad was hungry and wanted my inputs for breakfast, I asked him to be patient for 10 minutes and I quickly figured out this classic old time restaurant in Balepet and my dad become very energetic and happy to learn that we are going there for breakfast. We started at 9.15 a.m. and reached the place by 9.50 a.m. I was amazed at the large size of the dining hall and at this later hour for breakfast the place was crowded, luckily we got a table and settled down. The next 10 minutes were spent in absorbing the interiors of the place and noticing what other tables as to what they are ordering. When our waiter came to the table, we ordered for idli vada, in 5 minutes we got our food and the sambar was tooo good and so were the idli and vada, next we orderdered for masala dosa, the arrival of dosa was a delightful sight, as the waiter managed to carry eight masala dosa in one hand and other one was carrying chutney in a tray. The dosa was tasting good, i would prefer the same dosa with 200% less oil I did not enjoy the dosa, but dad was happy eating the crisp outside, soft inside dosa. We saw others eating a yellowish looking thing from small glasses with spoon, dad enquired with the waiter he mentioned that it it savige kheer and we asked him to get two for us. The savige thing was just average, my mom makes it better. So we finally asked for the bill and settled it at
Idli vada @ 24 rupees per plate
Masala Dosa @ 25 rupees per plate
Sevige Kheer @ 12 rupees per cup
What I liked about the Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan is that its been serving the same menu since 1926 from the same place and I can make out that many of their patrons have been having few breakfasts in a week for the last couple of decades, their set up is simple, very old ceiling fans, black granite table, wooden chairs and the locality is a wholesale business area.
We stepped out of the restaurant and in less than a minutes drive, dad spotted the most famous "Sri Venkateswara Sweetmeat Stall" and we stopped there to pick up the world famous Mysore Pak. I fondly remember the taste of this sweet, as I have been eating this from an young age onwards and it was more of a routine that whenever dad visited Balepet, Bangalore for business he will carry this sweet for home. The shop was small and bustling with a lot of activity, everyone was buy Mysore Pak for sure along with other sweets and mixture items. I ordered for 250 grams of mysore pak and 250 grams of Dumroat, As we left the shop me and dad took sample pieces of Mysore Pak and ate them, it was tasting heavenly after a filling breakfast. Sri Venkateswara Sweetmeat Stall, Balepet, Bangalore is been in business since 1950's and they sell on an average about 50 kilos of mysore pak a day and it seems they have celebrity clientele.
I learned about this wildly famous eateries from Banglore's Times of India Sunday column 'Whats Cooking' and thankful to dad who knew the locality and how to reach there from my residence. We reached home by 11.15 a.m. and I noticed that the place was 15 kilometers away from my residence and the first thing I did after reaching home was to eat few pieces of Mysore Pak and Dumroat and browsed the internet for a while, before I slept off around noon.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Mission: Ombattu Gudde
Day 1: Thursday, April 3o, 2009 
A casual conversation with a colleague turned out as a full blown hard core trekking plan for the long weekend.
I had blocked two seats in the trek group and spent few hours calling my close friends, all of them were occupied over the long weekend.
Departed from Shanti Nagar bus terminus at 10.30 p.m. few more pick-up points and a long stop at dhaba to fulfill few hungry souls and finally out of the city towards the destination
Day 2: Friday, May 01, 2009
Reached destination at 6.30 a.m. and the location was wonderful, thick jungle, by the side of a river. I was groggy cause of tiredness and lack of complete sleep, so did not bring up the camera for pictures.
Had to do morning chores on the banks of the river, finished packing the belongings, food and other essential items into rucksacks and had a good filling breakfast - a necessity for the long day ahead.
In less than 10 minutes we are in jungle, a thick one :-) I could breath the fresh air, the deafening silence, only noise is the rustling of leaves below the shoes. Talking of shoes, I had worn the Nike and approximately in 25 minutes from the time we started the soles of the shoes gave up.
Reached a clearing in the forest and had to cross the river here, the team lead was courteous to give a break to the treak team and it was a much needed relief. The river stream was chill, clear, sweet, flowing slowly and the taste of water was natural. Everyone had a good time at this place by chillaxing in the cool water. Few team members also took this opportunity to get rid of the leeches which had taken refuge inside their socks and have been feasting on their blood. We spent more than a hour playing in the river and admiring the nature till lunch was served. Lunch menu consisted of chappathi, pickles, podi, and jam. I believe everyone had a filling lunch and enough rest.
The team lead alloted 10 minutes of break at this place and I was concerned about the remaining distance for the day to be covered as it was 3.15 p.m. and I calculated we will loose light inside the trail by 5.30 p.m. so I urged the team lead to decide if we have to trek further ahead or call it a day and make this as our camping site, after a quick poll and considering the fact that the trail ahead is in an unchartered territory it was decided that we will camp here tonight. This decision gave a surplus time and all of us a good time in the water.
After spending an hour in the water the aches and pains from all part of the body started taking over me and I resigned from the ongoing activity of pitching tents and fire wood collection. I laid down on the rock face till the first tent was put up successfully, once tent was ready I secured a place for me in the tent and got settled in and applied a lot of axe oil to my feet and soles to uplift my soul. I could feel better after an hour and joined the team playing dumb-charade next to the bonfire. Around 8.40 p.m. dinner was served and I came into the tent at 9.15 p.m. for my good night sleep with the condition that I will be doing the last shift job of manning fire and keeping vigil from 2.30 a.m. to 4.30 a.m. slept well and I was waken up at 2.30 for my shift and spent the next two hours looking at the star lit sky and ensuring that the fire does not dry, I had another team member for company and finally at 5.00 a.m. I returned to my tent for another hour of sleep before finally waking up at 6.00 a.m.
Day 3: Saturday, May 02, 2009
A casual conversation with a colleague turned out as a full blown hard core trekking plan for the long weekend.
I had blocked two seats in the trek group and spent few hours calling my close friends, all of them were occupied over the long weekend.
Departed from Shanti Nagar bus terminus at 10.30 p.m. few more pick-up points and a long stop at dhaba to fulfill few hungry souls and finally out of the city towards the destination
Day 2: Friday, May 01, 2009
Reached destination at 6.30 a.m. and the location was wonderful, thick jungle, by the side of a river. I was groggy cause of tiredness and lack of complete sleep, so did not bring up the camera for pictures.
Had to do morning chores on the banks of the river, finished packing the belongings, food and other essential items into rucksacks and had a good filling breakfast - a necessity for the long day ahead.
Team consisted of 17 high-energetic members from all age groups, we started our trek finally around 8.45 a.m. and with in few minutes I started feeling the weight of rucksack in my shoulders and I am yet to master the art of the carrying the backpack by tightening the various straps.
In less than 10 minutes we are in jungle, a thick one :-) I could breath the fresh air, the deafening silence, only noise is the rustling of leaves below the shoes. Talking of shoes, I had worn the Nike and approximately in 25 minutes from the time we started the soles of the shoes gave up.The next one hour was one of the adventurous hour of my life so far, it was filled with all kind of emotions. Surprised at the thick forest, Amazed at the energy levels of few team members, Eager about the rest of the trip, Cursing self for not choosing the appropriate footwear and for not being fit to do this trek, Thankful to the Almighty for creating water to quench the thirst. It was very humid and I was sweating all over, the kerchief I was carrying was doing an excellent job and I need to mention the tap dancing each member performed while dealing with the leeches. These creatures are so tiny before the hook on to your skin and in less than 30 minutes they suck up so much blood that their size grows up by atleast 300 %. At first I thought I did not attract any leeches, but later noticed below the pant that 6 of them have taken hold of my calf, three in each leg. I had to use the salt and water to get rid of them from the skin. Overall a good learning in this first hour of trek.
Reached a clearing in the forest and had to cross the river here, the team lead was courteous to give a break to the treak team and it was a much needed relief. The river stream was chill, clear, sweet, flowing slowly and the taste of water was natural. Everyone had a good time at this place by chillaxing in the cool water. Few team members also took this opportunity to get rid of the leeches which had taken refuge inside their socks and have been feasting on their blood. We spent more than a hour playing in the river and admiring the nature till lunch was served. Lunch menu consisted of chappathi, pickles, podi, and jam. I believe everyone had a filling lunch and enough rest.Team lead returned from his exploration of the trail ahead and we started from this spot towards our destination, the jungle remained thick and we spotted elephant mines at few places along the trail and my imagination was running wild with the toughts of encountering wild animals. This path was little difficult and the group trekked in complete silence. I had to take few breaks as a team member had cramps in her feet, with few minutes break and application of relispray we resumed walking.
As time progressed the heat and humidity was increasing by the minute and the weight of the rucksack on the shoulder was getting intolerable. Almost after 85 minutes of trekking we came to another spot, where we had to cross another river. The flow in the river was moderate and the entire river was filled with big boulders and the water was making a good amount of noise which was good to listen to :-)
The team lead alloted 10 minutes of break at this place and I was concerned about the remaining distance for the day to be covered as it was 3.15 p.m. and I calculated we will loose light inside the trail by 5.30 p.m. so I urged the team lead to decide if we have to trek further ahead or call it a day and make this as our camping site, after a quick poll and considering the fact that the trail ahead is in an unchartered territory it was decided that we will camp here tonight. This decision gave a surplus time and all of us a good time in the water.After spending an hour in the water the aches and pains from all part of the body started taking over me and I resigned from the ongoing activity of pitching tents and fire wood collection. I laid down on the rock face till the first tent was put up successfully, once tent was ready I secured a place for me in the tent and got settled in and applied a lot of axe oil to my feet and soles to uplift my soul. I could feel better after an hour and joined the team playing dumb-charade next to the bonfire. Around 8.40 p.m. dinner was served and I came into the tent at 9.15 p.m. for my good night sleep with the condition that I will be doing the last shift job of manning fire and keeping vigil from 2.30 a.m. to 4.30 a.m. slept well and I was waken up at 2.30 for my shift and spent the next two hours looking at the star lit sky and ensuring that the fire does not dry, I had another team member for company and finally at 5.00 a.m. I returned to my tent for another hour of sleep before finally waking up at 6.00 a.m.
Day 3: Saturday, May 02, 2009
Woke up by 6.00 a.m. and after finishing morning chores and packing the tents, rucksack and doing a quick, crude fix of putting together my shoes, I had bread and mazaa for breakfast and around 8.00 a.m. we left the campsite for our second day of trek.
This part of the trek was in even more denser forest and the sunlight was struggling to enter the thick canopy of the tall trees and vegetation. I quickly realized that last evening's decision to camp next to the river was a practical one given the reality of the trail we are pursuing. I think we trekked for close to 2 hours and took few breaks to get rid of the leeches and to hydrate ourself and also to fill up our water bottles at the various river crossings, also to figure out the way ahead after getting lost couple of times.
Finally we reached a place where we had to halt for a while to figure out the future course of trail and we used this opportunity to get into the water once again and also finished our lunch here. Slowly it was becoming obvious to us that we are totally lost in the jungle and unable to make out the trail towards the grasslands, based on this realization we did a quick calculation of the time required to get back to our vehicle and we departed from this location towards our starting point. The next few hours we trekked back and took two breaks.
The last leg the trek I had to let go of my Nike shoes as they completely gave away and donned the Bata slippers, prepared a bottle of anti-leech solution and totally motivated by the fact that the last part is going to last only for 70 minutes, I along with few other team members got a head start and needless to say that this last 70 minutes are the most tiring and demanding of the entire two days. The path seems to be never ending and the feet were aching a lot and the leeches kept attaching to me. Finally I could make it to the starting point and what a relief it was to be out of the jungle, closer to urbanization.
The next 5 hours were spent relaxing, chatting, eating snacks, having tea, getting to know other team members, and waiting for the transport to show up. Finally around mid-night left the place towards Bangalore and I reached home by 8.00 a.m.
This part of the trek was in even more denser forest and the sunlight was struggling to enter the thick canopy of the tall trees and vegetation. I quickly realized that last evening's decision to camp next to the river was a practical one given the reality of the trail we are pursuing. I think we trekked for close to 2 hours and took few breaks to get rid of the leeches and to hydrate ourself and also to fill up our water bottles at the various river crossings, also to figure out the way ahead after getting lost couple of times.
Finally we reached a place where we had to halt for a while to figure out the future course of trail and we used this opportunity to get into the water once again and also finished our lunch here. Slowly it was becoming obvious to us that we are totally lost in the jungle and unable to make out the trail towards the grasslands, based on this realization we did a quick calculation of the time required to get back to our vehicle and we departed from this location towards our starting point. The next few hours we trekked back and took two breaks.
The last leg the trek I had to let go of my Nike shoes as they completely gave away and donned the Bata slippers, prepared a bottle of anti-leech solution and totally motivated by the fact that the last part is going to last only for 70 minutes, I along with few other team members got a head start and needless to say that this last 70 minutes are the most tiring and demanding of the entire two days. The path seems to be never ending and the feet were aching a lot and the leeches kept attaching to me. Finally I could make it to the starting point and what a relief it was to be out of the jungle, closer to urbanization.
The next 5 hours were spent relaxing, chatting, eating snacks, having tea, getting to know other team members, and waiting for the transport to show up. Finally around mid-night left the place towards Bangalore and I reached home by 8.00 a.m.
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