Review #3: Stones

Name: Stones
Category: Pub
Address: 100 Ft Road, Indiranagar
Tel:
Food: 9/10
Ambience: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Avg session for 2: Rs700/-
Value for money: Yes
Alcohol: Kingfisher draught beer only. Pitcher=Rs225/-
Parking: 100 Feet Road, Easy
Entry: Nil
Signature Dishes: Beef chilly, beef tacos, pork chilly

Notes: One of the best and most reasonable watering holes around Indiranagar. Offshoot of the legendary Pecos, and hence plays similiar retro rock. Excellent food, and one of the few places offering chicken, pork and beef under the same roof. Service is excellent.

Review #2: CoCo Grove Beer Café

Name: Coco Grove Beer Café
Address: Church St.
Tel:
Food:
Ambience: 6/10
Service: Nothing to write about.
Avg session for 2: Rs800/-
Value for money: Expensive for ambience
Alcohol: Draught beer and cocktails only
Parking: Rest House Road, Average
Entry: nil

Notes: Different concept. Resembles a typical coffee shop by the street, but serves beer as well. Interiors are nothing much and buzz factor can be a little dull. A pitcher will cost you Rs275/-. Again, the restrooms are a little far (located in the adjoining Coconut Grove Restaurant) considering that this is a beer café.

Review #1: 20 Feet High

Name: 20 Feet High
Address: Church St.
Tel:
Food: 7.5/10
Ambience: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Avg Session for 2: Rs800/-
Value for money: Average
Alcohol: Yes
Parking: Rest House Road (Average)
Entry: Nil

Notes: Good stopover if you're hanging around the CBD....relatively quiet, elevated, wooden flooring all add to the ambience. The steaks are good and start from Rs180/-. Beef is served as well. A bottle of beer will set you back by Rs120/-. Restrooms are far away since you've to use the one at Amoeba.

Pub Review #2: Fuga

Name: Fuga
Address: Wood St.
Tel:
Food: 5/10
Ambience: 9/10
Service: 6/10
Avg session for 2: Rs 2000/-
Value for money: Expensive
Draught Beer: No
Parking: Valet
Entry: Rs1000/- per couple (Cover)

Notes: New huge cocktail lounge. Outdoor wing with artificial waterfall. Indoor bar with mezzanine floor and a small and crowded dance floor. Service is Ok when it isn't crowded. But once the place is packed, then try and spot the waiter! Deinks are terribly expensive. A pint of KF after taxes will set you back by Rs 150/-. Menu seems exhausting, and most drinks are priced Rs 450 and above, so you get the picture. Several wines/sparkling wines are available at 5-figure rates!!! One thing of interest I've noticed is that they offer Absinthe! Perhaps the only place in Bangalore that does. However, when asked for it, i was told that they weren't able to obtain it yet. (Or thats what i thought I heard). The ambience is pretty good and spacious, but does get stuffy if you have about 300 people packed in!

Pub Review #1: Mojos

Name: Mojos
Address: Residency Road Cross
Tel:
Food: 8.5/10
Ambience: 4.5/10
Service: 6/10
Avg session for 2: Rs 600/-
Value for money: Yes
Draught Beer: Yes
Parking: Difficult ( 2W-Residency Road Crosses/Garuda Mall, 4W-Brigade Rd, Garuda Mall)

Notes: Mojos is an offshoot/sister concern of the hugely popular Pecos. While Pecos was cramped, and the tables would barely accomodate little more than a pitcher & a couple of mugs, Mojos seems to have a lot more space. But there seems to be something missing here. It does not have the old-world/rickety-but-lovable charm of Pecos. There is a perpetual cloud of smoke due to non-existant air-conditioning/exhaust system. though the music selection is good, the music system leaves much to be desired, as it generally jarrs. Couple the jarring, the smoke and the vociferous crowd, and you have the recipe for a headache. The tables are so huge that a practical conversation cannot be held across the table, unless both parties carry megaphones.

Inspite of this, the food is pure pecos-esque, and the beer doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. And if you dont mind the jarring, the music's great too!

Dine after midnight....

Not too many choices here thanks to Bangalore's lazy police that forcefully shuts all commercial establishments, even place that serve something as innocuous as egg fried rice, by 11:30PM. This pre-historic & inhumane behaviour warrants a separate post which I shall write later. There are however, a brave few who try to keep their places open as late as possible to capitalize on hungry party-going crowd/BPO employees, and just about anybody nowadays, and indirectly providing a huge service to Bangalore's citizens. With the exceptions of 24 hour coffee shops in 5 star hotels, the closing times of these restaurants vary to a large extent since it depends on the cops fancy, and if they're satsfied with their pay-offs.



Empire-Church St: 3AM
Empire-Residency Road: 1AM
Empire Shivajinagar: 1AM
Savera-MG Road: 4AM
Hilal-Shivajinagar: 6AM
Airport Restaurant-HAL Airport: 24 Hrs
Chancery-Lavelle Road: 2:30AM
Coffee Day-Millenia: 24Hrs


24 Hr Coffee Shops:
Cafe Mozaic-Taj Residency
Monsoon-The Park
Mynt-Taj WestEnd
Limelight-Royal Orchid Park Plaza
Citrus-Leela Palace
The Raj Pavilion-Windsor Sheraton & Towers
La Brasserie-Le Meridien
Coorg-The Grand Ashok
1498 AD-The Atria
Pinxx-The Central Park

Restaurants with a view

Here's a list of restaurants that offer a great view of the city:

Top Kapi: 24th Floor, Public Utility Bldg, MG Road. (Highest restaurant in B'lore, but pretty run down & way past it's prime)

Ebony: 13th Floor, Barton Centre, MG Road. Parsi & continental cuisine.

13th Floor: Barton Centre, MG Road. Cocktail lounge

Zero G: 10th Floor, Prestige Towers, Residency Road. Cocktail lounge/restaurant/disc

Papparazzi: 10th Floor, Manipal Centre, Dickenson Road. Restaurant

Casa del sol: About 7th floor, Devatha Plaza, Residency Road. Cocktail Lounge

Tivoli: 6th Floor Terrace, Capitol Hotel, Raj Bhavan Road

Quick Restaurant Review 2: Lazio

Name: Lazio
Cuisine: Continental
Address: Haudin Road, Ulsoor
Tel:
Food: 8.5/10
Ambience: 5/10
Service: 5/10
Avg Meal for 2: Rs 300/-
Value for Money: Yes
Smoking: Yes
Drinks: No
Parking: Moderate

Notes: Want to have good continental fare without burning a hole in your pocket? Then head here. Prices of steaks start from about Rs110 and goes upto Rs180. Each plate is served with a generous helping of boiled vegetables, mashed potatos, cole-slaw like salad, and garlic bread. No miserly helpings here. The steaks are tender and juicy. We tried the Lazio steak (minced steak), Wiener Schnitzel (crumb fried) and a philly steak. All three were great. And don't forget the cheesecake! It's heavenly.

Quick Restaurant Review 1: 6 Ballygunge Place

Name: 6 Ballygunge Place
Cuisine: Bengali
Address: # 612, Above Cafe Coffee Day, 12th Main, Indiranagar
Tel: 93421-40520
Food: 8/10
Ambience: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Avg Meal for 2: Rs 450/-
Value for money: Yes
Smoking: Yes
Drinks:
Parking: Easy

Notes:

Never tried Bengali cuisine, & didn't know what to expect, apart from Bengali's eat a lot of fish. The restaurant's clean, but the seating doesn't offer too much privacy, as the whole place looks like a house-converted-into-restaurant. But the food was fantastic - much better than what I'd expected. I had a "Doi Murgh" with some huge puris, and a red fowl curry with a sweet pulav. The best thing was that the servings were of respectable quantity, so in effect, one dish is enough for two.

New Watering Holes......

Some of the newer watering holes.....

Athena - Leela Palace, Airport Rd #5126-5411
Tuscan Verve - Rest House Rd #4114-2912/3
Hint - Bangalore Central #4112-2557
Blue Bar - Taj West End, Race Course Rd #5660-5660 ext 3309
Firangi Paani - The Forum, Koramangala #2206-7878
Ice Bar - Taj Residency, MG Rd
Noir - Le Meridien, Sankey Rd #2220-8771
Tangerine One - MG Rd
Taika - Church St. #5151-2828/2929

Hungry Kya???

Here's a list of home delivery places around indiranagar:

Pizza Hut: 25260999
Dominos: 25287444/45/46, 2524621/22, 51161797/98
Nandini: 25288881/25212068