Kamath Lokaruchi

If you are fond of North Karnataka food which to some extent bears a resemblance to the mixture of north Indian and South Indian cuisine then “Kamat Lokaruchi” is the place for you. It’s away from City’s chaos and hence is just right place for a weekend retreat. It’s a kind of place where you would like to stay for hours. People travel from close by cities just to eat Breakfast, Lunch or dinner here. I have also heard that they serve buffet breakfast which is out of this world, will try it in the next visit. “Kamat Lokaruchi” is situated about 50 km from Bangalore city on Bangalore Mysore Highway.

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You will discover classic north Karnataka cuisine, Jawar Roti accompanied with aubergine curry and limitless butter milk is the prime attraction. Other than regular meal, they also serve mini meals which are good for kids and individuals who are not looking for unlimited food. You can also find fresh fruit juices, hot and cold beverages and freshly made sweets straight from the oven. Price tag is what makes this place extraordinary. Full meal is priced highest with a meagre 110/- rupees which is quiet remarkable.

The place has got an open kitchen at the centre, so you can park yourself and spot your food being cooked right in front of you and then comes to your plate right from the hot pan.

It has a lovely ambience which will make you feel like at home and hence you can hang around for long and as a result trip no longer remains just for the food.

Price – 9/10

Taste – 9/10

Service – 7/10

Ambience – 8/10

Value for money – 10/10

Will I go back – Definitely

It’s just a right weekend escape for 4-5 hours and can be extended up to the “Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary” which is just 75-80 km ahead.

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At Ranganthittu sanctuary, don’t forget to purchase the tickets for the boat ride at the entrance itself because they do not put up the tickets for sale inside.

The boat trip in fact divulges the true magnificence of the sanctuary. The water is filled with over 100 crocodiles which will give you a chilling sense of an Australian outback. Do visit it.

Egg Factory

I love to watch NDTV Good times and I especially like the TV series “Highway on my plate”. It’s a show about 2 guys, one vegetarian “Mayur” and one non-vegetarian “Rocky”. Their job is to visit any place in India and to taste it’s most eminent shops and their dishes. On the same show they went to Bangalore once and for breakfast they ended up at “Egg factory”.

                                 
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I personally believe that if Maggie and eggs were not there then the humankind would not have survived. I worship egg and was craving to visit this place as soon as possible. We made a plan and 6 of us made it to the place at 9 in the morning. The restaurant ambience is excellent, they have tried to make it like a factory with all kinds of equipments like siren, chalk board etc. It has wooden tables with wooden benches which are reasonably comfortable, it has nice windows because of which it’s kind of a polite place where you and your gang of friends can sit down and chat for hours and no one will come to bother you. And we did the same thing, we had breakfast for around 2:30 hrs, until we called no one came to us to take down the order because it was evident from the menu that it typically takes vvvvveeeerrrrrryyyyyyy looonnnnggggg time to make your mind up for what you would like to eat because they put forward a broad variety of Indian/Chinese/Italian dishes made out of Eggs.

We ordered countless dishes, roughly 10-12 items from the list of options but to our dissatisfaction we found only 2 dishes worth the money they demanded, Akoorie (Spicy scrambled eggs) and Roasted chillies frittata (which is basically a spicy spinach spread spread over a normal omelette), Everything else was just ordinary, as my disappointed wife said, “They served us a 10 rupee omelette for 100 rupees”.

Its always good to reach here in the early hours because this place has many followers and gets over packed in no time. If you are a freakish egg lover then you must go here at least once but price and the food for that price will make you apprehend why you should not go back.

As Mayur and Rocky does,

Price – 3/10

Taste – 5/10

Service – 7/10

Ambience – 8/10

Value for money – 3/10

Will I go back – Probably not

The Beach

The Beach is the restaurant which is located in Indiranagar, Bangalore,

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I have heard a lot about The Beach but never got an opportunity to be there until yesterday when 2 of our friends decided to throw a party for 10 of us . They have actually put sand on the floor to provide a fell of a beach. The place is decent, if you get to sit on “Couch” but if you get small stools you may get annoyed after sometime because they are very uncomfortable. At lunch time we were given 2 selections, 499/- limitless Soft drinks/Mocktails/Beer and 699/- unlimited Vodka inclusive of everything in 499/- batch. With all this you will be supplied with infinite Vegan and non vegan starters . There is no Buffet but you can choose what you want and order, it will be served to you on your table.

Now if I go to a place where I am asked to shell out 500/- I look forward to get at least a decent food and an upright service which were absent constantly. We were not given any menu cards but the server made us aware about what all is offered. We were given choices of 4 vegetarian starters and 4 non vegetarian starters. The food quality was under standards in comparison to what was I being charged for. Also, it was very annoying that every time a starter gets over we have to order over again instead we getting served all the time.

When we were done with the starters and demanded for the main course, the attendant offered us a menu card, trust me if I tell you this that the menu card was nothing but ONE A4 sheet!! The menu had the starters which we ordered and also something which we were not told of. It looked like that they wanted to supply all non-expensive food and saved themselves a tiny fortune. Main course also did not have much of a selection, overall it was a below average experience food wise.

Since we were 10 of us we had a blast and we had loads of fun, mind you that we enjoyed because we were a group. I think we had around 15 rounds of beer and 9 Tequila shots (Which were billed separately) in total with limitless starters for which we were billed around 7,000 rupees which was way beyond what it was worth of.

Verdict:-

My opinion, please skip “The Beach”, it’s not at all worth for what it puts forward (For lunch time, I do have any idea if it’s the same in the late afternoon) until you are intense drinker and can make your money count by unlimited liquor. I would rather advise “Barbeque Nation”, just next to “The Beach”, where you will get AMAZING food and even if you drink as much as we did, you will not cross that 7k mark.

De Dana Dan

De Dana Dan

Today I went to see the newest movie "De dana dan", Directed by Priyadarshan who tried to cast the magic of Hera Pheri. But you know, Hera pheri was a work of art which in my opinion requires a great skill to replicate and more you try to repeat it the more you tend to fail which we have seen in previous few of Priyadarshan movies like “Malamaal Weekly”, “Hera Pheri 2” and “Bhagam Bhag”. A master piece like “Hera Pheri” comes out just from simplicity.

Well let’s talk about the movie "De dana dan".  The biggest assets of the film are Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and clearly Archana Puran Singh. She is loud but in my opinion she does justice to her character in each movie. The movie has tooo too toooooooooooo many characters. And as we know Priyadarshan direction from the times of Hera Pheri that all his movies are packed with lots of characters which builds misunderstandings and in the last part everyone runs behind each other. You will find the same in this film again. But in this movie it’s somewhat comical in a better way and entertaining at some points too. There is an excessive shouting after the intermission, almost each character has delivered dialogues while almost screaming. But even that I found funny.

But you know I have learned one thing in past few years that there is an enormous disparity between seeing a movie in a theatre and at home on television. The movie becomes 10 times better when it’s watched jointly with hundreds of strangers. Like few of my friends watched “All the best” in the theatre and going by their good opinion towards the movie I watched it at home and to tell you very honestly, I did not laughed even at any single instance. It was garbage.

Well “De dana dan” is a complete time pass if watched in the theatre which I can’t guarantee the same if watched at home on television. According to me you can watch this movie. There are just few scenes which could make me laugh but my in-laws and cousin sister-in-law were rolling on their stomach, the reason being that they have not watched most of Priyadarshan movies. It’s just same old Priyadarshan trademark movie which starts with light comedy, creates confusion in the middle with an extra stretched turmoil towards the end. I enjoyed the movie because the tickets were for free, accompanied by complimentary popcorn and Pepsi.

If you really want to watch a comedy movie in the theatre and ready to shell out few hundred bucks then I would suggest to give "De Dana Dan" a shot. It’s not that bad. It’s in fact a good Akshay Kumar movie after a very long time in which he has made a sincere attempt to make people laugh which he has succeeded to some degree

I would rate it 3/5

The Great Indian Oktober Fest

My hands are in the sky and I am dancing and shouting to the beats of “Aapki Dua dil haar gaya”. Anyone will go crazy if that song is performed in front of them by THE KK himself in front of a swarm of zillions. I was a piece of this zillion, thanks to Kingfisher for organising India’s own October fest AKA Beer fest.

    The venue was Palace ground, Bangalore. We got hold onto a couple of passes. We were not very fascinated about the fest because we have attended the original beer fest in Denmark and trust my words “It was a pool of shit”, people were drinking out of their limits and were generating every sort of crap. It was mother of all chaos I had ever stumbled upon. But we decided to go to Bangalore beer fest only because the name “Kingfisher” was coupled with it. Outstanding is the second name of “Kingfisher” to me and I am sure that you also would agree with me.

    The beer fest 2009 started on Friday the 23^rd and will be there till 25^th the Sunday, We made it Today, the Saturday and we in fact experienced the actual gist of “The Saturday Night”. An entry fee of 300/- kept the cheap mob away. The crowd was a civilized one which made the evening even more comfortable, there were hundreds of beer stalls which were selling all kinds of kingfisher beer and each and every single soul was just finishing one can after the other. It was messy but not shitty :D

When we arrived there “Raghu Dixit” was performing.

Raghu Dixit (From his Website raghudixit.com) - Raghu Dixit is fast emerging as a unique and popular composer-song writer-singer from India. Raghu’s music is a seamless amalgamation of Indian ethnic music and styles from different parts of the world. His lyrics, though intense, are simple and speak about every common man’s emotions and experiences, therefore, making his songs extremely popular among his fans. Inserting Indian Ethnic Folk, Sufi and Classical music phrases cleverly into his songs

    You know I could not appreciate what he was singing because he was singing in Kannada but the song which can ROCK 10,000 people at once must be something extraordinary, and it was. The Finale was performed by KK and he just took it away. People went crazy even for the slow songs he sung. We really had a great time and if you read this in time then you can definitely catch the action on 25^th October 2009 which is tomorrow as I write this (actually its today, it’s already past 12 AM).                                         

CHEERS !! Hiccccc !!

Tere Sang – A Kidult Love Story

    Today I saw a movie title of which is the same as the title of this post. I know many of you would not have heard of it because it’s already out of theatres. When we started this movie I had a slight info about the movie that it’s about 2 teenagers who by mistake end up having a preteen physical relation. I actually had no faith in the movie, I was thinking it will be just another film in which director would try a disastrous effort to offer audience a message.

    The movie did not have any huge star caste or any other extraordinary features but I still decided to go ahead and write about it because of its unusualness. The movie is directed by none other than Satish Kaushik and music is composed by Anu Malik. I was astonished to notice those names at the opening and at the finish of the movie. A movie with such big names went overlooked.

So What’s the fuss all about!!

    The Movie is about 2 teenagers, who go eloped after committing the blunder and a 17 yr old tries to take care of his 15 yr old pregnant companion. Movie does not have any excellent story but what it does have a strong finish which I and my wife were never presuming. The ending is not a total shock but a very indisputable one. Movie also has very different dialogues, every time there is a dialogue or a situation which is repeated in almost all Indian movies had a very different and far better conclusion in comparison to what every other movie has. I just loved the way Satish Kaushik and Rajat Kapoor acted right through the movie, they just proved how effortless and sparkling they are in their work and I would say in fact that this one is the best of Satish Kaushik's any roles that he has played till now.

If you get hold of this movie then try to watch it, it’s not bad :D

Are you an Indian ??

Me:- What is our President's Name?

VR: - Ummmmmmm ..... mmmmmmm ..... mmmmm .... I know it ..... Manmohan Singh .... no no no .... ummmmm
Me:- Shall I tell you ?

VR:- No No ... I know .... It’s Abdul Kalam Azad.

Me:- Awesome, then tell me what is the capital of New Delhi?

VR:- Hey Delhi itself is India's Capital, what do you think I am a fool ??

Me:- No but in that case, since it’s a state it should have a capital, right??

VR:- No it’s not a state.

Me:- Ok then what is it ??

After thinking and silence of exact 30 seconds

VR:- Ya it’s a state but I don’t know what its capital is.

Me:- Chandni Chowk

VR:- Ya may be (with a non-convincing look)

Me:- Ok then tell me this, How many states does India have ?

VR:- 25

Yes, that’s what the IQ of today’s generation is. Above, VR is one of my College friend and after 4 yrs of engineering and 3 yrs of job this is what a 26 yr old knows about his own country. It’s not the problem only with him, I have come across many others too and I have got the same kind of answers. People then say that they don’t have interest in politics.

These were no political questions!!! This is regular information which I think everyone MUST know ATLEAST.

Well correct answers to the question asked above are

President's Name (2007-2009 and going on) - Smt. Pratibha Patil

President's Name (2002-07) - APJ Abdul Kalam (No “Azad”, Abdul Kalam Azad was the renowned freedom fighter)

New Delhi - It is not a state but a Union territory (A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India, in the federal framework of governance. Unlike the states of India but not actual state)

Number of states - 28

1.Andhra Pradesh

2.Arunachal Pradesh

3.Assam

4.Bihar

5.Chhattisgarh

6.Goa

7.Gujarat
8.Haryana
9.Himachal Pradesh

10.Jammu and Kashmir

11.Jharkhand

12.Karnataka

13.Kerala

14.Madhya Pradesh

15.Maharashtra

16.Manipur

17.Meghalaya

18.Mizoram

19.Nagaland

20.Orissa

21.Punjab

22.Rajasthan

23.Sikkim
24.Tamil Nadu
25.Tripura
26.Uttar Pradesh
27.Uttarakhand
28.West Bengal

Number of Union Territories - 7

A.Andaman and Nicobar Islands

B.Chandigarh

C.Dadra and Nagar Haveli

D.Daman and Diu

E.Lakshadweep

F.National Capital Territory of Delhi

G.Puducherry

I don’t know why people don’t have any awareness towards our own homeland.

# We know who is Obama, Sarkozy or Blair but who is Indian President no one knows

# We know who Guns and Roses are but don’t know who is Bheemsen Joshi

# We know about Eiffel Tower but have no idea where India Gate is (Bombay or Delhi !!!)

# We know about Pizza but eating masala dosa is considered middle class

# We know who Tom Cruise is but have no idea who Om Puri is.

I appreciate that foreign ethnicity is flamboyant and extraordinary but you are an Indian and till now you used all Indian resources to be here, to be able to read this but still you are more concerned in the nations other then yours. I am not asking you to write a book about India but having basic knowledge about it will do.

Think about this, I will ask you 5 very basic questions about India and if you answer them without googling/referring then you must be proud of yourself otherwise......

1. What is the capital of India ?

2. What is the order of 3 colors in Indian Flag ?

3. What was Mahatma Gandhi's full name ?

4. What is national Song of India ?

5. In which state Tajmahal is?

Let’s see the answers in the comments, if you do not know the answers then leave them namelessly but do not refer. If you refer and reply then we are not in loss, then its just you who is fooling yourself.