Aroy – A Thai Delight

What is the dissimilarity between Thai and Chinese food ? In India; nothing. But yet there is a new place that does complete honesty to the food when its Thai. I am talking about Aroy, located in JP nagar above Crosswords,

Aroy serves both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food but strictly Thai in nature. They also have few dishes that are of Burmese origin.

Above Menu Pics Courtesy Zomoto – Visit this link for complete Menu http://www.zomato.com/bangalore/aroy-jp-nagar/menu#tabtop

Aroy is a rooftop restaurant where you can sit in an enclosed zone or in open-air. The only difference between inside and outside is mostly a glass wall. I have been here 2 times on a cloudy twilight and I must say that the ambience is just exquisite. The fixtures, the spotlights and the entire arrangement of fine dining excellence.

The only problem that I find with open air restaurants is that the food goes cold in no time but every time I have been to Aroy; I was ready to trade that with the charisma of outdoor cosmos.

The food served here is Thai which means lots of coconut based gravies. When I was here the last time; I and my wife were starving and jumped straight on main course, we ordered Ong Noh Khaw Swte (Burmese specialty which is Steamed noodles, Crispy noodles with curried broth served with selection of numerous add-ons), Coconut Rice, Green Curry.

Now it was only 2 of us who are moderate eaters; who ordered three dishes. I did not appreciate 2 things,

1. All three dishes were presented to us at the same time instead we should have been asked which dish we want to have first. But still staff understood the situation and took back the Green Curry and Coconut rice.

2. The portions are relatively generous here and one dish alone was adequate for 2 of us and yet the waiter did not recommend us to go for one dish and order later if required. So eventually we ended up with take-away for rest of the 2 dishes we ordered which could have been circumvented.

Where we could have certainly had dinner inside 350/-; we spent 1100/- and ate that fine dining restaurant dishes at home the next 2 days for breakfast. I did not realize it last time because we were 3 with pretty much the same order.

Overall I am not disappointed with the restaurant because the food is delightful and have lots of finesse in it. The team of cooks here unquestionably know how to make Thai food, of course indianised version of it. Prices are not too extraordinary for the class food is offered.

My Report Card for Aroy based on my 2 visits,

Price – 7/10

Taste – 9.5/10

Service – 7/10

Ambience – 8/10

Value for money – 8/10

Will I go back – Hell Ya

The Wine delight

Friday afternoon, a working day but you have taken a day off from your chaotic office timetable to celebrate your birthday in peace. On one hand you have enchanting garden-fresh barbecued skewered vegetables and on other a glass filled with Heritage Cabernet Red Wine; perhaps a finest selection of an Indian Origin wine.

 

I am talking about the Heritage Winery located on Mysore Road. On Mysore – Bangalore highway you will encounter an uninterrupted display of red boards guaranteeing throughout the journey that you do not miss the turn to this estate

Just near Kadambam Hotel you will find a series of red boards indicating you to take left but don’t take a blind left as you might end up in a pit (Trust me there was one when this blog was written). Go a little ahead and then take your turn. It’s still 4 km inside; road is are great only till halfway; later half; not so much; still better than current Bangalore roads. Once you pass through flower farms; you will reach the entrance to Heritage Winery. They have done one hell of a job in showing the directions.

 

Once you are in, you will be asked if you would like to have a winery tour which includes an attention-grabbing video on wines, a wine factory excursion and 4-5 samples of wine for tasting. All this comes at a fee of 150/per person. Personally I did not find it worth for the money because the tour was ordinary; the point is that a factory visit cannot be an exceptional one unless it’s Charlie and his chocolate factory. 150 bucks in my opinion is for 4-5 samples you get to taste at the end of the tour. But this place is not only about wine tour; even if you do not go for the tour; you can still enjoy the Epulo Restaurant that serve fresh food with noble home brewed wine.

Above Menu Courtesy, Zomoto.com

The place is located 4 km inside the main highway surrounded with farmsteads and that gives the place a resort kind mood over other places. Here you can talk for hours, enjoy food and drink wine in tranquil countryside.

They claim that they do not keep things prepared but cook from scratch, hence anticipate a delay of up to 30 minutes which is worth. Since it’s surrounded by farms; you get a fresh flavour in the cooking.

 

Overall experience was not bad at all, with wine tour for 2, a three course meal and 3 bottle wine for home concluded with just 1300 bucks, which is quite economical considering prices at restaurants in Bangalore. But having said that, this is not a resort; we were told that they are forecasting a resort here and sadly; after that this place also will become swarming

My Report Card for The Heritage Winery based on my only visit,

Price – 8/10

Taste – 9/10

Service – 7/10

Ambience – 8/10

Value for money – 8/10

Will I go back – Of course

The Great Indian Thali

The Great Indian Thali is a pure vegetarian buffet restaurant on a similar concept as Rajdhani.

 

Similar to Rajdhani, here also you will be served everything to you on the table,

But not only that is comparable but the whole food experience is analogous too. The service is quick and the place is sparkling fresh. The restaurant is elegant and ambience is great. You get a fine dining experience which you might not find in Rajdhani.

Now let’s talk about the diverse aspects of the hero, the food.

The food here is good, it’s delicious but at the same time is very rich in nature. In Rajdhani the food is not that greasy and you can relish it for a longer period of time but at “The Great Indian Thali” food had lots of fat in terms of butter, Ghee and Oil which might not allow you to take pleasure from it for long. All the side dishes had heavy butter and cream, dals had a quite good coating of cream, something that gives it an edge on taste over Rajdhani. The bottom line is that within 1-2 Parathas or Phulkas or Bhaturas; you will feel that you have eaten so much that now nothing can go in anymore. Taste wise no doubt; I would say that it maybe is marginally ahead of Rajdhani but at the same time you do not get all that huge range of variety in here as you get in Rajdhani.

Another problem that I found was, as soon as I entered here I saw chat stalls and all of us were quite excited. Without noticing much we ordered for thali but then we came to know that the main Thali on which the restaurant’s name is based does not include chats!!! What a waste!! The menu does not make any sense at all if you are not taking their good old thali.

above pics, courtesy Zomoto

It’s a great place for people who do not eat rich north Indian food on a regular basis like my in-laws, they just loved the food here but I and my wife were not very impressed.

My Report Card for The Great Indian Thali based on my only visit,

Price – 6/10

Taste – 8/10

Service – 8/10

Ambience – 8/10

Value for money – 7/10

Will I go back – Not Sure.