A BBQ OF SORTS | BARBECUE NATION, BLACK PEARL, ABSOLUTE BARBECUE WHICH ONE IS BETTER?

If you’ve been following my blogs or my FB page “Forks in the road”, you know I’m currently having a love affair with food. I cannot stop bragging about it nor can I stop writing. I guess somewhere in blog etiquette I'm not supposed to post too much. Since I am not much for blog etiquette and like Sheldon often says “not now, in zone”, I need to write when I am “in THE zone” and as the inspiration hits me, sometimes there are three posts in a row. Sometimes writer's block cripples me and its weeks until I am heard from again unless I post something on my Facebook page, which is growing slowly but surely and I like interacting with everybody.

I am off for my sister’s wedding this weekend, so it will be a while for my next post to arrive, may be later next week or the week after my dudhsagar trip; But before leaving for this long leave, I will leave you with a little food porn that’ll certainly add a few inches to your… waistline.

BBQ seems to be having a bit of a rebirth as of late in Bangalore, and I’m totally down with that.  I remember Derrick Riches mentioning in one of his blogs about the origin of BBQ’s. He says “the history of Barbecue people goes way back to olden ages where, the indigenous people of the Caribbean preserve meats in the sun in order to avoid the spoiling.” Meat had to be either, cooked and eaten quickly after slaughter or preserved by either a spicing or smoking process. If we credit the peoples of the Caribbean with the advent of Barbecue or “barbacoa”, as a method of preserving meat then it only follows that modern day Barbecue is an evolution of this process.

Lately, many barbeque joints have taken its root in Bangalore. Whether it is Barbeque Nation or Barbeque Factory or Absolute Barbeques; every month, Bangalore plays host to newbies. I have had my fair amount of share dining in these BBQ’s, and today  I shall review them, but in a  slightly different fashion; I shall compare them and place my verdict based on different aspects like ambience, food, service, and cost. The restaurants of focus today are, Barbeque Nation, Black Pearl & Absolute Barbeque.

P.S Even though I had been to Barbeque Nation a little while ago I will try to recollect as much as possible and provide apt data.

General Info:

All these food holes need prior bookings.

Absolute Barbeque has to be booked 7 days in advance, yes you heard it right, there is always huge demand for AB’s compared to other barbeque joints.

The others can be booked 2-3 days in advance either for the 12.00pm slot or 2.00pm one. BN and BF have a number of outlets spanned across Bangalore whereas AB’s has just one outlet in Marathahally.

Aura:

The atmosphere at BN is very simple. They have square tables and round ones. I personally feel round tables are best for BBQ’s as it’s easier to gather people around the grill, to watch, smell and eat. Like the fires of prehistory this is the place to eat, drink and tell stories.

AB’s again has a very simple atmosphere; one section of this floor is divided into bar, another one for exotic starters and the last one for main course and deserts.

Black pearl has done a commendable job in this genre. They stand by their name “Black pearl” and define it. They did a noteworthy job recreating the entire atmosphere of “Black pearl” from Pirates of Caribbean. Right from the wooden bar skeleton hand shaped stools to the webby nets, to the statuette of various pirates, the wagons and wheels, the cannons and the gun deck and the upper deck, I could see certain stills of this movie recreated right in front of me, alas, now i can say Bangalore has its own Jack Sparrow ship. Even the staff was dressed in pirate fashion. Kudos to them.

Black Pearl has a clean slate win on this aspect.

                                                                                                               

 

Food & Service:

The services received at all this places were commendable. We had atleast 2-3 dedicated staff members for our table. Staffs were polite and humble, they keep insisting on certain starters that were famous, particularly at their service.

Drinks: BN provides complimentary drinks with their buffet package, whereas Black Pearl and AB’s don’t. But upon request AB’s and Black Pearl provided us with an option for complimentary drinks.

BN: either a glass of beer or aerated drinks or mocktails.

Black Pearl: Mocktails, Aerated drinks or Wine (Red/White)

AB’s: Mocktails & Aerated drinks.

                                                                                                                    Wine at Black Pearl                                                                                                                  

Starters: The Starters, main course and desserts for all the buffets were almost the same. Each provided us with usual BBQ starters:

Veg: Mushroon, Panner, Capsicum, Pineapple, Tomatoes, Onions, Sweet Corn.

Non-Veg: Chicken, Mutton and Fish.

Apart from this, there were other 2-3 veg and non-veg starters which involved,  panner, crispy potato, veg kebabs, corn roasted, chicken tandoori, mutton seekh etc. Almost all the dishes at these places were same, except that AB’s also serves some exotic starters mainly for the non-veg folks. They serve exotic non-veg starters like emu, octopus, and rabbits.

Clearly AB’s won this round by providing some exotic starters in there menu.

               Soup at AB's                                                                              Aloo Patty at AB's

Starters and soup at Black Pearl

                                                  Crispy Potato and Harabara Kebab at AB's

                                            Crispy Potato and Manchurian at Black Pearl

Exotic Veg Starter at AB's

                                                                      Black Pearl

                                               Exotic Starter Preparation at AB's 

                                                                Starters at AB's

Main Course: Again this is same at all places. Papad, dahi chawal, rice & dal, biryani both veg and non-veg, noodles, 2-3 curries, salads, pickles, bread sticks, soups both veg and non-veg. Most of times I am so over filled by starters that, I generally tend to avoid my main course and straight away jump to my desserts. Geeee!
Since these places are more known for there starters, there main course are not any different from rest of the places, so its not worth the talk.

                                                     Main Course at Black Pearl

Desserts: Under this genre, I would give AB’s more credits over the other 2 places, followed by BN and the BP. Even though the options available at all these places are almost same, AB’s has this wonderful way of serving ice-creams, when it comes to 2 different flavors. If you want a mixture of Chocolate and Vanilla with few toppings, they hit them together under a flat knife till they are mixed properly and then serve it with cherries and Oreos and choco syrup. And they have atleast 4 choices in ice-creams.

BN serves good deserts too with a lot of options on toppings and syrups but AB’s wins this round fair and square.

Black Pearl has not got any out of the box menu in this genre and hence I rate them the least.

Again AB’s wins this round.

                                                                      Dessert at AB's

Cost:

Again AB’s wins here. Their price ranges from 450 to 475 for Veg & Non-Veg folks respectively, with dinner cost as 550 and 575.

Black Pearl cost 500 and 600 for veg and non-veg respectively whereas BN costs highest among all 3, with 618 & 742.

AB’s has better menu and cost lesser.

Verdict:

AB’s has a clear and cut win, there food and rates are quite over the top when compared to the other 2 BBQ joints, and that explains the madness in reservations. BN and BP shares the same dais with 2^nd place.

I work in a world surrounded by food porn, and the amazing people who make it every day. Me, I just sit back, watch, ogle and eat and let the world (or my few followers) know what wonderful things exist in this crazy place. With this, I, Manju bid you all adieu for a while; stay tuned for more blogs and food orgy.

Late afternoon NOM NOM'S | Fort Kochi Connection

As luck would have it, my hometown Kerala, somehow managed to put itself on the map of Bangalore in the form of Fort Kochi Connection, as a dining destination. For a few months now I’ve been passing by this road, hearing whispers of an amazing Kerala food-hole, serving the yummy all-Kerala specialties at FKC, and a restaurant worth visiting for. On a recent visit to Koramangala, I made it a point to check this place out, which is located a mere half km from where I studied. This place is situated, right at the beginning of JNC road, next to Bhima Jewelers. 

Hailing from Kerala, I am accustomed to eating these foods every day at home, and that’s the reason I never opt for the same, while dining out. But today was different; a friend of mine posted a yummy picture of “Puttu Kadala” (steamed rice cake & black chickpeas gravy) on FB, and I was obligated to eat the same or atleast something similar, not because of compulsion but to satisfy my cravings; and thus we ended up here at FKC. We traipsed into this joint, tussling the consequences that we might end up in, if the food dint meet its expectations, and being a constant consumer of this food, I could be a brutal judge. Have I got any remorse? Nay! I am overjoyed with my decision.

Let’s see how my lunch panned out….

As we walked in, we were greeted by the staff members with a smiling face. They comfortably seated us on sofas and provided us with their food menu card and mocktails menu. Most of these dishes are named in Malayalam, even though the Lipi is in English; and that’s what makes it different from other menus in town, retaining the authenticity of the dishes and by that I mean the names. The Mocktail menu was hilarious; the names are typical Malayalam humors. Kalipu Machane, Pacha Parishkari, Kumari UDC, Alambu Scene, Oru Jathi Gedi, is some of the names of the mocktails. The menu starts with Kerala dishes followed by the influence of Chinese, English and Dutch cuisines; given the history of Kochin, being exploited by them over the centuries, which has contributed further into FKC’s menu. Also make sure you walk into this place with a friend who understands Malayalam or who has a fair knowledge on Kerala dishes, else you can always ask the staff members to translate.

 After brawling through various available options, we decided to go for “Kariveppila Koon” to start with, ensued by kappa which goes perfectly with meen (fish) curry. We wanted a common curry that will serve well with kappa as well as “nayya chor”. Upon asking opinion, the staff member signed us off with “Syrian Christine Prawn Curry”. To wash it down, we ordered a Nalini and Scene Turbo.

All our dishes were brought to our table in single swing. The ice breaker for the day was Kariveppila Koon. In Malayalam Kariveppila=curry leafs and Koon=Mushroom. This is around the time when “where have you been all my life” by Rhianna starts playing, in my head. Fried in coconut oil with a mixture of curry leaves along with other spices, this dish took my breathe away. Every bite consumed, I could taste more and more of coconut oil. I could never have imagined a dish like this, coming out so well, a must try, if you love food cooked in coconut oil. Otherwise this is a big NO!

Next we tried on Kappa (Tapioca), cooked perfectly and tempered well with mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chili, served along with onion chutni and prawns gravy. The combination of kappa with onion chatni was commendable, but it didn’t go that well with prawn’s gravy.

Our entrée for the day was naya chor (ghee rice) along with prawns curry served with lemon pickle and Kerala Papadam. This rice was fried in ghee, served with cashews & raisins and topped with fried onions. Rice served with papadam was quite admirable, but I wasn’t satisfied with the prawns curry. I felt a slightly more hint of tanginess in the gravy, which left a feel of un-satisfaction.

Nalini was something new than any of my usual mocktails. Prepared using tender coconut and lychee, this drink was slightly different from the usual’s and needs to be consumed atleast twice to acquire the taste and enjoy the drink. Scene turbo, a blend of blue curacao, peach and orange was also quite a satisfying welcome. Kudos to these folks on trying an entire different menu on mocktails.

Except for Payasama and Vattellappam, none of the other desserts were available, which was quite sad. So I was forced to choose among palada and adda, and since I am not a big fan on palada I ordered for Vattellappam, custard made of coconut milk and jaggery, with grated coconut sprinkled on it. This is one of my fav sweets prepared at home by mom, where she first creates a mixture of grated coconut, jaggery and coconut milk, spread it on banana leaf and steam it out in cooker. It’s one hell of a sweet. But here at FKC, I was little disappointed as their main ingredients were jaggery and coconut milk with very little coconut, which sadly is main part of any adda.

This was one of the days I have enjoyed and appreciated my meals. In the grand scheme of things, I’ll admit my choices were a little mild in comparison to some of the other menu items they offer at FKC. I’m definitely hoping to get myself back there soon with some more adventurous eaters to try out the other set of menu.

Sweet Treats @ Asha

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
-Robert Frost, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

I call this time of the year, this month of October, the “change month.” We shuffle with one foot in rain and the other stubbornly in icy-cold weather of winter; That’s always how I feel about October; eagerly anticipating the changing light of the new season, but also so very hesitant for the short cold days to creep away. And so, today, on a cloudy weather day, when we all nurse for a good month more, I happen to be on the other side of Bangalore, “Malleshwaram”, shopping for my sisters never ending wedding purchases. In this qualms of planning a wedding and shopping and arranging all the necessities, I have had the privileges to go to new places and try out new joints to dine and try savouries. One such instance was yesterday, when my sister happened to have dragged me, against my will, into Asha sweets. Gee, I don't regret it. One of the oldest sweet joints in Bangalore, Asha sweets have stood firm and unaffected by the newbie’s in town, retaining their glory, by providing some lip-smacking savoury and chats in town.

So, today as I sit here with an acute acknowledgement that I am far from a savoury master, I am feeling awfully proud to be sharing this experience.

Disclaimer: If you feel dainty I am not to be blamed ;) Instead make your ass move to the nearest savouries and be a prey to gluttony.

Asha sweets are known for their Badam Milk. Costing round 40 bucks, they serve this chilled milk in a plastic cup. This milk harbours a handful of Badams, squished almonds and pistachios, along with little essence of Kesar. Delicately flavored with cardamom, the nuts in this chilled, cooling drink don't just make it tasty, they pack a mighty nutritious punch too! 

Next up was Rasagulla, my favorite Bengali savior. My style of eating this delicacy is, shoving an entire piece of Rasagulla into my ingress. Nom Nom Nom! 
Made of balls of unripe Ned Cheese and Cottage Cheese soaked in sugary syrup, this rasagullas has perfect texture, adequate sponginess and strikingly sweet yet not too sweet syrup, if you know what I mean. Costing one piece 20/-, this is slightly expensive but the piece of rasagulla served is quite big.

The last item on the menu was Rasamalai. I have had a fare share, or rather I would say more than my fare share of rasmalai’s when I was residing in Indore. Its a very popular Indian sweet prepared with paneer (Indian cottage cheese). Ras means 'juice' and malai means 'cream'. Rasmalai is another form of Rasagulla, wherein instead of rich sugary syrup, the cheese chunks are soaked in rich saffron flavored creamy milk. This cost around 35/- per piece.

There were many more savories I wanted to try, like gajar ka halwa, samosas, pav bhaji’s, barfi’s and the list goes on and on.

One of the things I most love about this blog is the way I can look back through the seasons and years and glean a sense of what that time felt like for me, judging by the food I was eating, the things I was baking, the stories I was telling. With this, it’s me, Manju, bidding you farewell with a promise to come back with many more blogs.

FOOD PORN THURSDAY | EVERYTHING AT TIME TRAVELLER

Today we have a very special food chronicle Thursday, a cheesy triple threat if you will. Given that my Continental eatery joint, Time Traveller, is a few min drive from my office, it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite places to over-indulge on my lunch break every once in a while. Not only do they have an entire menu dedicated to continental, they do serve North Indian and South Indian food, not that I recommend either of it, but just as an info.

Located in Jigani, right after electronic city, this restaurant is integrate part of Sai Vishram business hotels, which till now I dint believe, exist.  TT is mainly known for its huge spread buffet. Very few like me walk in here to place al-carte order. This places in purely vegan and a non-alcohol hole. This place is generally crowded, so I would recommend prior booking. Since we hadn’t booked our seats prior to coming in, we had to wait roughly for couple of min(and it was just a seat for 2), after which the manager seated us comfortably. He insisted on buffet, but I am insisted back on al-carte, he double insisted me on buffet and i insisted back, this went on for some time after which he had to give up and take my al-carte order.

I didn’t give away my chances on trying al-carte, firstly because I wasn’t so much into buffet and secondly because I wanted to try there continental menu, which wasn’t that big of a part in there buffet menu. Be prepared to wait for 20-30 before your order is ready, as not much folks order al-carte, on the brighter side, the food you get will be freshly prepared and served hot. They do give you a basket of freshly baked breads, a variety of them with butter, so one can munch on them while they wait for their order to arrive.

Her name is Corn Chowder and you can find her in TT. She is creamy, yummy and lovely. Tasty and very satisfying, this soup had perfect texture, good broth, good potatoes and nice corn flavor. I recommend! Please try it!

Her name is Cannelloni and you can find her at TT. She’s gorgeous and she knows it, oozing with sophisticated sex appeal, if it’s even possible for a food item to possess such a thing. When it comes to porn, she’d never be caught dead spread across a Playboy mag, she’s more of a scantily clad goddess gracing the pages of a controversial spread in W or Vogue. You can’t help but stare, admiring her elegance and jaw-dropping beauty. You feel guilty breaking off one of her cloves, but the spinach rolled pasta in the gravy spread is so heavenly, you can’t help yourself. A glance and a bite and you’re hooked. Nothing else matters.

Her name is Lasagna and you can find her in TT. She is elegant and beautiful. She gives a perfect competition to Cannelloni, but lags behind slightly in her taste. Covered in a layer of melting cheese and layered pasta, she hides her demarcation completely. The only problem I found in her is the excess amount of vegetables added into her, she is stuffed too much and that is not quite appetizing, and also the excess use of jalapenos, which I am not a fan of.

Her name is Choco Mousse and you can find her in TT. She was rich and decadent , and chocolaty. The perfect size. The perfect juxtaposition. The perfect end to an amazing delightful evening.

Apart from these we did order a mozzarella and tomato cake, totally unaware that we would be served chunks of cheese dressed with raw tomatoes. The only dish I regret ordering, the only dish I would never order.

After glancing at these photo’s I’m sure you’ll understand my obsession, you also may get a clogged artery or two just from looking. The biggest thing I can say about the food is that the chefs here don’t overwork it.. Lightly seasoned and cooked to perfection, everything is handled with an absurd level of quality and care. You can see the fun and personality in each dish, and taste its uniqueness.  

Juicy yummy food-gasm @ Mango

Rent one place, take one part rustic feel, add a dash of modern flair, incorporate all things bacon and finish it off with a locally sourced menu and an exclamation of modern day furniture’s and BAM! Restaurant. Born. But, despite the equation seeming standard at this point in the world of food and drink, my first trip to Sri Sai Mango Tree, was harrowing. I was determined to give it yet another try and revamp my stance, maybe to just have take-off a bite out of my cynicism. Was I successful? That’s in store in the below review.

So, here we are, off, yet to another joint, to curb a good chicken biryani in this city. Although I tend to favor quirky eateries with menu items that would make a picky eater blush, I’ve made the rounds through my fair share of pricey biryani houses and it was time to try on some less pricey places that would not tussle my conscience to give up internet for a month or sacrifice shopping Mango or at times walk a few km to save up some cash, so that I could afford to spend some cash-money like one. Hey, we all have priorities, right? Well, for all those folks sharing the same plight, this mango place is a savior.

Like I said before, this place is nothing fancy, and any resemblance to the name “Sri Sai Mango Tree”, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Mango, located on the main road of bellandur, next to shell petrol bunk, is an excellent option for office goer’s vis-à-vis the food court meals. The food here is reasonable and delicious. Service is quite poor, waiters are boisterous and the place is unclean. They have tried to create a friendly environment but I personally feel this place is meant for those folks who walk-in, order, eat and leave as soon as they are done with food. Yet I can’t stop rattling about their food, as they all cause, worthy food-gasms, particularly there chicken dishes.

We started off with, Chicken Maharaja, a spicy chicken starter stuffed with keema topped with onions and green chatni, the best of this kind, and coming from a rookie chicken eater like me, it definitely would impart its voodoo charms on you. Presented at the perfect medium-rare temp, my jaw literally hit the table when this came out, which was perfect, since I immediately started shoving bites of it inside my mouth. A perfect blend of juicy chicken and spices, I could see you go all gaga about it. They serve 6 of these, 4 boneless and 2 with bones. 

Next up were panner chilli, the dish of the day for vegan folks 

& Mushroom 65.

 I had huge hopes on these dishes, and maybe that’s why I was a lot disappointed when I tasted them. Not that these dishes were bad, but my expectation were high and the taste was not as expected. Nevertheless panner and mushrooms were cooked to dot and fried perfectly; it’s just that my expectation was way above par.

Moving on, the next dish, we tasted, Chicken roast. Again a perfect blend of spice and perfect roasting, not as popular as Chicken Maharaja but this too had its own charm. Most of them were bone pieces so I got very little to eat, but otherwise it was good.

I’m actually embarrassed to admit how giddy we got after our starters. I dint have much hopes on my mains, as we didn’t get what we actually wanted and ended up having a pot of schezwan fried rice and Mushroom fried rice. 

Since I wasn’t quite enthu on eating either of them I filled myself with loads of starters and ended up eating just a spoonful of these rice’s. I wasn’t very happy with schezwan fried rice, but, given the fact that, fried rice are not my thing; I could eat white rice or I could eat biryani and as a matter of fact I can endure pulav too, but fried rice, nay, not my genre. So it was kinda obvious why I dint like either of them, but if I had to vouch for one,  I would go for mushroom over chicken. Chicken, I felt was too bland and tasteless, whereas mushroom rice was tasty but I was full.

Overall I would say this place is pretty good for chicken dishes, few veg dishes aswell. But I always get disappointed on mango because of their service and cleanliness and interiors. If they could just improve on these factors, they can be competing for the top places to dine in Bangalore. Moreover it’s not fair for the chef to be undermined, he deserves to belong somewhere better where his food would be praised high and loved by many bangaloriens.

I wouldn’t recommend this place to “sit and order” types, but you can always parcel out food from here, because they do serve heavenly biryani.

Back to answering my intial question "Was i successfull", not really. Like last time, they did manage to mess up their service this time too, and they couldn't care more. Would i go back there? Probably not, i did give them a benefit of doubt and they again managed to screw it up, which shows they really dont care nor their motto is "customer happy".