VEGGIE RESTAURANTS in BANGALORE
Mast Kalandar
In the ides of March 2006, when my taste buds had been reduced to unmasking tastes between spoonfuls of oil, I chanced upon visiting this restaurant shrouded in a smart hoarding speaking orange and red, tucked away in an unassuming corner of Koramangala on 80 Feet Road. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed this place before, after having lived practically right next door.
I detest overdoses of oil, generous golden drops of taste and fortune they very well may be, but they do clog arteries. I was pleasantly surprised at the ubiquitous accompaniment of Dahi & dry salad with almost all dishes.
The menu comprises mostly North Indian dishes. There are special items on the menu during festivals of Holi & Dushahara.
You could start at the very beginning with one of their special starters - "Chatori Chat" a combo of puri swathed in green chutney & samosa-chat. Enough for 3 I presume, although I wouldn't mind dunking in all of them myself. A lemon-mint cooler or a mango panna / aamras might do you some good in beating the heat this summer.
One of my favorites has always been "Tom, Dick & Harry" combo. You don't get any of the standard side-dishes in this combo such as those with "Balle Balle Pindi Chole", "Baingan Ka Bartha" or "Tangy Dum Aloo" with them, but you do get to choose three different parathas - I normally go for Mooli, Healthy Sprouts, Xing Shing, Aloo paratha - a combo thereof. I prefer Dal Makhani (which is well-made) to Dal Tadka...:)
I'm not particularly fond of rice-dishes (Its just rice!!!)Probably a bit of South Indian upbringing went into that-having eaten Sambar & kootu & curd rice for over a decade, life sure seems different ;). You might want to try the Biryani out. You may rest assured that no pieces of meat made their way into your biryani. There's something the Hyderabadi House might not be able to offer.
Favorite Dessert - I like the standard Gulab Jamun + Icecream combo. Never have had a Gulab Jamun here that didn't have a raisin/pista/almond inside. Can't wonder what my friends see in the aamras / aam ka panna?
Their ambience takes away all the redness & orangeness too form the food. No stupid overdose of garam masala or oil(did I fail to mention?) makes for a sumptuous dinner at affordable prices. Its really crowded on weekends. Be there at 7 PM or else prepare to wait for some time.
The damage done for a decent meal(dinner) is not too high - I'd put it at around 150 bucks per person topside.
Their Billing seems innovative. You pay in advance & hand the bill over to the folks in red & orange. It lets them serve you better, without having to keep track of real-time orders.
Mast Kalandar seems to be the brain-child of IT professionals who boldly delineated a market-space for veggie food and went where few would have ventured. Good Job.
Little Italy
Little Italy caught my fancy because it happens to serve veggie Italian cuisine with wine. Being brought up in and around a conservative city, its quite impossible to dream of wine being administered in a Pure veggie resto - call it a culture shock. :-) The outdoor candle-lit ambience greets one as one enters the restaurant. Reservations in advance are counselled, especially in the weekends. If you're the indoors type - well step right in and say goodbye to windy or rainy conditions. I loved the time when my cousin and I had been to this place and the family sitting in the centre, was kind enough to extend a few slices of Birthday Cake.
The Californian Red Wine was good, albeit a tad expensive. I had had it with a pasta preparation and a pizza (adhering to the true spirit of the pizza - "A baked pie of Italian origin consisting of a shallow breadlike crust covered with toppings such as seasoned tomato sauce, cheese, sausage, or olives.", and very unlike the chunky bread they serve in Pizza-Hut or Dominoes) . I also hear the Tequila-cocktail they serve up is refreshing. One of the best places to extract a treat. A good meal works out to around 250 bucks per person + 450 bucks or so for the wine. ;-)
This baby is tucked away in 100ft road in Indiranagar.
Udupi Krishna
Come Sunday, I'd expect one'd be wondering what one is doing in Bangalore, Karnataka without having visited an Udupi restaurant. Udupi Krishna is a decent Veggie restaurant. Its amicably placed in the JNC Road behind Raheja Arcade. Situated next to a Coffee shop called BrewHaha (yet another cafe' where I have bumped into more than one fellow college acquaintance), this place can boast of a very spacious arrangement of tables. The ambience is lightened with light-flute music pervading the mild environs. The Sunday Special meals is a special favorite of mine. It comprises, among other items, an aperitif - which is normally a seasonal fruit juice concentrate, some kadubu (Spongy Idli-Rice Cakes), baby-masaala-dosas and ice-cream towards the end. It sets you back by around 80 bucks per person. An altogether relaxing experience for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Krishna Cafe'
A very regular haunt of mine, yet another South-Indian resto, not to be confused with the Madurai Idly Shop. ;-)
The idlis here are well-made and the chutney's good. There are a few daily specials - among which I fancy Adai & Avial, rasa-vada & morkozhambu-vada. Better still is the banana-leaf meal served everyday at lunchtime between 12:15 and 3:15 PM - It costs 60 bucks on weekdays and 80 bucks on weekends.
The sweet shop Anand is nearby.
Madurai Idly Shop - Good Pongal, not to be found anywhere else but here. Poor Pooris, Good surprise for a sweet in the morning - sweet pongal, carrot halwa, sometimes even jamun. This old haunt's located in Koramangala, a street behind 80 Feet Road, near Koramangala Club.
Shanti, Sukh & other Sagars - may you Rest in Peace.
*LEKKERBEK - Belgian Cafe'
This is not strictly a vegetarian restaurant but I fell in love with this quiet little place situated on the first floor, down 80ft road, the moment I stepped in & picked up a Tintin comic. :-) Hercule Poirot too is Belgian, you know. (the Belgian detective with the odd egg-shaped head)
I always make it a point to have a Belgian Breakfast and nothing else here. The Belgian breakfast comprises sugary waffles, a chocolate cup-cake, a few pieces of fried potatoes & coffee or tea. I also have a cup of chocolate while reading a second Tintin comic or MAD magazine that are also on display here on the racks.
"De Lekkerbek" is a.k.a. <<Le Cafe Terra>>.
Another interesting page - http://www.anitabora.com/blog/2006/07/24/oh-for-a-taste-of-belgium/
In the ides of March 2006, when my taste buds had been reduced to unmasking tastes between spoonfuls of oil, I chanced upon visiting this restaurant shrouded in a smart hoarding speaking orange and red, tucked away in an unassuming corner of Koramangala on 80 Feet Road. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed this place before, after having lived practically right next door.
I detest overdoses of oil, generous golden drops of taste and fortune they very well may be, but they do clog arteries. I was pleasantly surprised at the ubiquitous accompaniment of Dahi & dry salad with almost all dishes.
The menu comprises mostly North Indian dishes. There are special items on the menu during festivals of Holi & Dushahara.
You could start at the very beginning with one of their special starters - "Chatori Chat" a combo of puri swathed in green chutney & samosa-chat. Enough for 3 I presume, although I wouldn't mind dunking in all of them myself. A lemon-mint cooler or a mango panna / aamras might do you some good in beating the heat this summer.
One of my favorites has always been "Tom, Dick & Harry" combo. You don't get any of the standard side-dishes in this combo such as those with "Balle Balle Pindi Chole", "Baingan Ka Bartha" or "Tangy Dum Aloo" with them, but you do get to choose three different parathas - I normally go for Mooli, Healthy Sprouts, Xing Shing, Aloo paratha - a combo thereof. I prefer Dal Makhani (which is well-made) to Dal Tadka...:)
I'm not particularly fond of rice-dishes (Its just rice!!!)Probably a bit of South Indian upbringing went into that-having eaten Sambar & kootu & curd rice for over a decade, life sure seems different ;). You might want to try the Biryani out. You may rest assured that no pieces of meat made their way into your biryani. There's something the Hyderabadi House might not be able to offer.
Favorite Dessert - I like the standard Gulab Jamun + Icecream combo. Never have had a Gulab Jamun here that didn't have a raisin/pista/almond inside. Can't wonder what my friends see in the aamras / aam ka panna?
Their ambience takes away all the redness & orangeness too form the food. No stupid overdose of garam masala or oil(did I fail to mention?) makes for a sumptuous dinner at affordable prices. Its really crowded on weekends. Be there at 7 PM or else prepare to wait for some time.
The damage done for a decent meal(dinner) is not too high - I'd put it at around 150 bucks per person topside.
Their Billing seems innovative. You pay in advance & hand the bill over to the folks in red & orange. It lets them serve you better, without having to keep track of real-time orders.
Mast Kalandar seems to be the brain-child of IT professionals who boldly delineated a market-space for veggie food and went where few would have ventured. Good Job.
Little Italy
Little Italy caught my fancy because it happens to serve veggie Italian cuisine with wine. Being brought up in and around a conservative city, its quite impossible to dream of wine being administered in a Pure veggie resto - call it a culture shock. :-) The outdoor candle-lit ambience greets one as one enters the restaurant. Reservations in advance are counselled, especially in the weekends. If you're the indoors type - well step right in and say goodbye to windy or rainy conditions. I loved the time when my cousin and I had been to this place and the family sitting in the centre, was kind enough to extend a few slices of Birthday Cake.
The Californian Red Wine was good, albeit a tad expensive. I had had it with a pasta preparation and a pizza (adhering to the true spirit of the pizza - "A baked pie of Italian origin consisting of a shallow breadlike crust covered with toppings such as seasoned tomato sauce, cheese, sausage, or olives.", and very unlike the chunky bread they serve in Pizza-Hut or Dominoes) . I also hear the Tequila-cocktail they serve up is refreshing. One of the best places to extract a treat. A good meal works out to around 250 bucks per person + 450 bucks or so for the wine. ;-)
This baby is tucked away in 100ft road in Indiranagar.
Udupi Krishna
Come Sunday, I'd expect one'd be wondering what one is doing in Bangalore, Karnataka without having visited an Udupi restaurant. Udupi Krishna is a decent Veggie restaurant. Its amicably placed in the JNC Road behind Raheja Arcade. Situated next to a Coffee shop called BrewHaha (yet another cafe' where I have bumped into more than one fellow college acquaintance), this place can boast of a very spacious arrangement of tables. The ambience is lightened with light-flute music pervading the mild environs. The Sunday Special meals is a special favorite of mine. It comprises, among other items, an aperitif - which is normally a seasonal fruit juice concentrate, some kadubu (Spongy Idli-Rice Cakes), baby-masaala-dosas and ice-cream towards the end. It sets you back by around 80 bucks per person. An altogether relaxing experience for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Krishna Cafe'
A very regular haunt of mine, yet another South-Indian resto, not to be confused with the Madurai Idly Shop. ;-)
The idlis here are well-made and the chutney's good. There are a few daily specials - among which I fancy Adai & Avial, rasa-vada & morkozhambu-vada. Better still is the banana-leaf meal served everyday at lunchtime between 12:15 and 3:15 PM - It costs 60 bucks on weekdays and 80 bucks on weekends.
The sweet shop Anand is nearby.
Madurai Idly Shop - Good Pongal, not to be found anywhere else but here. Poor Pooris, Good surprise for a sweet in the morning - sweet pongal, carrot halwa, sometimes even jamun. This old haunt's located in Koramangala, a street behind 80 Feet Road, near Koramangala Club.
Shanti, Sukh & other Sagars - may you Rest in Peace.
*LEKKERBEK - Belgian Cafe'
This is not strictly a vegetarian restaurant but I fell in love with this quiet little place situated on the first floor, down 80ft road, the moment I stepped in & picked up a Tintin comic. :-) Hercule Poirot too is Belgian, you know. (the Belgian detective with the odd egg-shaped head)
I always make it a point to have a Belgian Breakfast and nothing else here. The Belgian breakfast comprises sugary waffles, a chocolate cup-cake, a few pieces of fried potatoes & coffee or tea. I also have a cup of chocolate while reading a second Tintin comic or MAD magazine that are also on display here on the racks.
"De Lekkerbek"
Another interesting page - http://www.anitabora.com/blog/2006/07/24/oh-for-a-taste-of-belgium/
posted by Pradeep at
12:13 AM
<< Home