ASKME FOODIE MEETUP #1 | OKO | LALIT ASHOK

So askme invited a handful of foodies for there first foodie meetup at OKO, Lalit Ashok on a Sunday. Seems like askme is entering the foodies club and this is their first step towards their milestone. The meetup mostly circled around "what is askme", also they did organize few activities for us like techniques to shoot food pictures, vegetable carvings and food presentation. We also got a chance to interact with all the chefs working for OKO.

Can’t type more. Too busy drooling. No but seriously, what the HELL! Take one look at this thing and try to tell me you don’t are not too ;)

OKO -LALIT ASHOK
Address: Kumara Krupa Road, Highgrounds, Seshadripuram, Located inside The Lalit Ashok

TOWNTRENDZ FOODIE MEETUP #8 | WHAT THE F?

Why do I blog?

I love writing! and I feel that I am good at it. Sitting in front of your computer staring at the monitor, your fingers tailing on the keyboard, waiting for the right words to flow out of your mind onto your lips and automatically your fingers gnawing on the keyboard typing over 40 WPM. It definitely does feel good to be able to duplicate your thoughts in your writing and this feeling and my love for food is what inspired me to come up with my food blogging site. Like any other individual I should pretend that these blogs are for the audience, which off course is true and would stand 2nd on my reasons for blogging, but, my primary reason would always be the satisfaction I receive when I get to pen down my thoughts.

A little history on me and TownTrendz!

I joined TownTrendz around 6 months back when a dear friend of mine urged me to do so. She seems to be enjoying my blogs and always felt overly bad that my blogs were not received by a vast audience. This let me to write for TownTrendz as they have this super cool technique wherein I could just share my blogspot link on their page, and if anyone were interested to read them they will be automatically transferred to my bloggers page. Isnt it cool? **wide smile**

TownTrendz had their 8^th foodie meetup organized at What the F? on St. Marks road and this was my 3^rd meetup with them. Before I go into the detailed review let me just say this,

“TownTrendz, you guys are doing a commendable job arranging these foodie meetups every month, showing up at each one of them and being overly courteous and polite. Shreyas and Shilpa are always the first ones on the venue giving me company while we wait for others to walk in, Arjun always ready with his camera, Sridhar and Jay always make it a point to go around and talk to all of us. Phew! That does require a lot of patience and stoicism. So keep doing what you do the way you do it and TownTrendz definitely has lots to achieve in coming years.”

“What the F??” review:

Let me start by saying how disappointed I am with “What the F??”. Despite the fact that they knew a group of food bloggers are going to attend this event that they were hosting, if they came up with such a terrible menu and food, I must say they definitely have some nerves. Although I am still a little baffled, coz they did serve bad menu but the owner of the joint made it a point to come up and talk to us which is quite ironic, so now that I think I could give them a benefit of the doubt.

Break Down of the Brunch:

Drinks: Although at first I was quite disappointed with their drinks menu I was quite satisfied in the end. Why did I feel disappointed in the beginning? There drinks menu was vague. The menu mentioned only the brand of hard drinks used and no other details. So if you needed a cocktail say with whisky, you mention that to the staff and the bartender would make his special Whisky based cocktail and serve you. I was a bit skeptical in the beginning but as the cocktails made its way to my table I started enjoying them. I had a Whisky based and a Vodka based drink and both were commendable.

Starters: Among the starters, chats, vegetable quesadilla, potato triangle and murg Kebab  were good. Mini Burger was quite alright, may be a slightly thinner bun would have done the trick. Noodles could have been enjoyed more if it wasn’t soaked in oil to this extend. Shahi Kebab and Szechwan babycorn were too dry and terrible, kheera was a so-so.

Entrée:  This was the most disappointing amongst all. Pasta container was empty, fried rice and Szechwan sauce looked terrible, so I never tried them. Roti was served dry and the only curry I could eat it with was Murgh Makhani thus leaving no options for vegetarians.

Dessert:  Again a disappointment. Gulab Jamun thumbs up, Gajar Ka Halwa a total let down and Dahi Ka Meeta so-so.

Overall I would rate this place a 2.5/5 and urge them to reconsider their brunch menu and come up with a better one next time.

WHAT THE F??:

Address: #3, 3rd Floor, Manandi Plaza, St. Marks Road

Contact No: 080 44443333, +91 9620562725,+91 9164219997

ANOTHER NEWBIE IN EC | TAP HOUSE RESTO BAR

Golly! Electronic city is a proud owner of another noteworthy food hole “Tap House Resto Bar”. It’s a YAYYY moment to all the EC folks, they could count on something different and nice which apparently doesn’t happen quit a lot. But I must say, recently a lot of restaurant owners are daring to open restaurants in places like EC and SJP which is quite astonishing given the risk and the population available to try these places, so kudos to them!

As it happened I was working last Saturday unfortunately and as sad as the situation is, it was self-inflicted and unavoidable for reasons you will come to know very soon. As it happened my friend was alone in town and in need of a friend so I invited him to come down to EC for luncheon followed by a friendly badminton match in my campus which he was more than happy to agree on.

I am known to most of the restaurants in EC, so I wasn’t very keen on the options available. After weighing all my options I decided to use food sites to try my luck and golly, I found this new joint just a km away from my office. The ratings and the reviews seemed promising so I decided to give it a shot.

We started off the menu with a couple of cocktails; Sex on the beach and Exotic Island Ice Tea. Poor presentation but drinks were good.

This was followed by Manchow Soup had a very good garlic ginger spice flavor and was thick but lacked in taste slightly.

Our mezethes were Crispy Corn Chilly Pepper on the Veg front and  Choppey Nawabi on the non-veg front. Crispy Corn was a delight. The corn shelling’s fried to crispness and the spiciness along with the ball peppers added the flavor a tad bit more. Choppey Nawabi was decent but not great. It lacked in spice and was a lot tangier than expected. But I must say the portions served were quite a lot, each dish could serve 2 pax with satisfaction.

Our entrée went something like this:  Chicken Fried Rice and Vegetable Biryani.

Vegetable Biryani was alright types.

Pros: Served with curry and raita

Cons: Too oily, not hygienic.

My friend seemed to be enjoying his Fried rice too.

Compared to a lot of places in EC this place is definitely good but they did have quite a lot of issues.

11. None of the tandoori dishes were available which is quite disappointing. This includes roti, parathas, nans and kulchas.

22. Since we ordered so much we weren’t able to eat all of it, thus we ended up parceling it out, and the restaurant ended up charges 20 bucks more for the containers which a lot of other restaurants don’t.

33. Service is little bit slow, especially if you happen to go for an early lunch around 12.30.

Nevertheless a decent place to enjoy your meal peacefully.

TAP HOUSE RESTO BAR:

Address: Hotel Stay Inn, 100, Hosur Road, Electronics City Behind Genpact

Phone No: 080 28528055, +91 9449441532

A SAVIOR IN SARJAPUR | BIG BREWSKY

One could expect a great deal of pubs and microbreweries and lots of fancy restaurants when it comes to Koramangala or Indiranagar or MG road, but when it comes to places like Sarjapur or Electronic city the choices are always limited and nearly equal to nil. Working in Sarjapur for over 3 years I am very adamantly sure that the options available here is quite sad; offcourse they hold their ground to Firshermans Warf, Lacasa and Mekong; but that’s not news nor will they help sell Sarjapur as a happening place, not that it will now but an addition like this could help change the perception and you never know it might introduce a lot more of fancy places.

Now you know why I am surprised when I found a microbrewery opened in Sarjapur just next to my Wipro office. I was quite astonished when I found this restaurant listed in the food site. In a jiffy I knew I would go here very soon and as I recall quite rightly I did end up here for dinner. A friend of mine was visiting Bangalore and I had a chance to meet him for dinner. I recommended him to meet me up at Big Brewsky in Sarjapur and lucky me he agreed.

Bangalore is coming up with pool side theme and I must say I am impressed.  Very recently I have observed that I have been going to a lot of pool sided restaurants but I never got a chance to actually enjoy the pool, hah may be 3^rd times the charm. As of this food hole, amazing set-up, especially if you go in for dinner. Very vibrant ambience, a feel of being transported to another world. Quite chilly at night and by chilly I mean the good type chilly. Not very crowded; very vibrant fun loving smiling crowd; the lights shimmering down like twinkling stars; the cold breeze hitting your skin and light music in the background. A perfect location to hang out with friends and also for romantic dinners.

Although I did want to try on the brewing beers and explore the other drinks menu, I was stuck with mocktails as I had to drive back home. After a lot of hustling and bustling and flipping the menu back and forth I settled for an Angels and Daemons solely because I am a Dan Brown fan and the title did amuse me. My friend settled for an Afternoon Delight, the sole reason being he is a litchi person.

Angels and Daemons was a good blend of cranberry with coconut syrup, mint leaves, lime juice and peach syrup. Not too sweet not too tangy. My friend seemed to have been enjoying his drink aswell with no complaints.

This was followed by our tofu fried starter which I must say was quite spicy, in a good way. Team up with green chutney and sauce it was a good one.

As per my request we went for steamed rice paired with thai green curry. Although I was quite satisfied and happy with Thai Green curry, I must say it lacked a bit of Sichuan style touch and that was a teeny tiny tad bit disappointment.

Overall a good place to hang out and dine. I would love to try and explore the other menu options they have to offer and yes I would go again. 

BIG BREWSKY:

Address: Behind MK Retail, Before WIPRO Corporate Office, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore

Phone no: 080 49653450