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.

Caffe Pascucci where you get Wood Fire Pizza

Pizza Pizza Pizza, everyone loves Pizza and that’s why there are now zillion of pizza factories offering numerous pizza selections from thin crust to stuffed crust etc. Opportunities are many and yet the true flavour needs to be discovered. There is barely any pizzeria that is serving a pizza worth your money. If it’s inexpensive it’s no good and if it’s good then it’s overpriced !!

And there is yet another pizzeria called “Caffe Pascucci”. The name is “Caffe Pascucci” but the board on main road reads “Wood Fire Pizza”. It would appear that one single place has 2 names !!

Address:- 690/8, 14th Main, 15th Cross, 2nd Phase, JP Nagar, Bangalore

So they serve wood Fire Pizza, Do you care where they make their pizza ? Do you even know what the difference ? What is the difference between the pizza that is served here or Pizza hut or Dominos or Pizza Corner ?? None

I and my wife went in here at around 9 pm Saturday night and astonishingly place was jam packed. This gave us optimism that this is a sign of a great place to get some remarkable pizzas. We were seated down inside the enclosed area (By the way, you can opt to sit out in open or inside). The attendant came to our assistance without ado. The prices looked on a higher side but once you have eaten pizzas in Dominos, Pizza Hut or Pizza Corner then what’s an expensive Pizza

We ordered 3 courses,

1. Cream of Mushroom Soup 1 by 2

2. Garlic Bread

3. Grilled Zucchini Pizza

The prices are absolutely lesser then big and old Pizza trademarks but more than price one has to serve respectable quality food and provide upright service if they want to run their business for long.

Well it looked like that this café/restaurant has got fame in a very less time and now want to attend to each and every customer as they arrive. Basically this restaurant does not want any customer to go away just because there wasn’t any table available. If they do not have place for new customers; they make sure that customers who are currently dining, must eat fast, pay and LEAVE.

If you see what we ordered, was fundamentally a 3 course meal and ANY restaurant in world would serve you in order 1, 2 & 3. But service here is FAST, it was so fast that they served us 1-2-3 at the same time !!! In below pic you can actually see the soup bowl with SOUP in it !!

I had a hard day and wasn’t in mood to argue but this did not happen only with me. It was happening almost with everyone and frequently pizzas were going back because typically main course is eaten after appetizer. This was the first time I was having my main course along with my Soup . Even while eating as soon as I took last spoon of soup the soup bowl was gone before I sipped it !! Just because there were few people waiting outside !!

That was about service, now let’s come to the food,

1. Cream of Mushroom was just scrumptious. The measure of half soup was even more then solo portions at many places.

2. Garlic bread was awful; it was stone-cold, looked butchered with uneven slices and no hint of any garlic whatsoever.

3. Roasted Zucchini pizza was excellent and delicious.

For some strange reason they don’t serve any soft drinks which all big Pizza brands have made our habit. As an alternative you can go for array of beverages. A regular Liquid refreshment is priced almost identical as an average Pizza here!!

Overall it wasn’t a bad place to pizza at all but it’s not the place for heavy eaters because a single pizza won’t be enough for 1 as it is in pizza hut. This place is about flavour and it has got that. But I know a place that serve exactly the same pizza at somewhat lower amount or maybe same price but I guess Pizza is larger in size; just half a mile away from this place; Pizza stop.

I might not come back to Café Pascucci again just because of its service and little pricey affair when I know I am getting same thing for a lesser price nearby.

My Report Card for Café Pascucci (JP Nagar) based on my only visit,

Price – 6/10

Taste – 8/10

Service – 5/10

Ambience – 6/10

Value for money – 7/10

Will I go back – Sure if Pizza Stop is closed?

Guru Palace – A Dirty Affair

Guru Palace is situated on Bannerghetta road, near Meenakshi mall. It’s that kind of restaurant where all young guys come for food + alcohol. It’s not at all a great family restaurant but have a reputation of serving delicious food. I have been going to Guru Palace from last 2-3 years with a regularity of like once in 3 months. I go here because its nearest restaurant I have. The food is reasonable but they do not pay any consideration to the hygiene and sanitation. Which is why my last visit became my last visit ever to Guru Palace.

Me and my friend went to have a good north Indian food. We ordered couple of curries and chapatis.

1. He took forever to come and clean the table we were sitting on.

2. Then he took ages to get the menu card

3. After taking the order down, he took almost 30 minutes to get the food

While I was sitting there, a group of 6 guys got their order. As they began eating one of them realized that the chapatis that were served to them are stale. He asked waiter to replace them with the new ones. I started thinking what if that waiter now dish out those returned chapatis to someone else. What’s the way to know if food that’s being served to you is fresh ?

Well we were served food and as I was about to take a first bite into my Roti, I was shocked to see that my chapati was already eaten from one side !! I soon grasped that my nightmare is in front of which I was thinking few minutes back. It was clear that the waiter had served me the same chapati that the guy took a bite in and returned !! As a composed person I showed this to the waiter who was serving me. That guy coolly took that chapati and got me a new one in a minute WITHOUT EVEN SAYING SORRY TO ME.

We finished the non-tasty and expensive food in few moments. Over the period of time the quality of food in Guru Palace has sunk with rise in price of the food. We went to pay the bill and I asked for Manager. Now according to the waiter and cashier manager was just here and now missing; it was clear that they did not want me to talk to the manager. Then cashier asked me what’s the matter. I asked him, “If you serve a Roti to a customer. He takes a bite of it and returns it to you saying that its stale. Then what do you do with that Chapati ?”

“Sir we throw that away”, cashier said

“Sir it was served to me”, I replied in anger

To my astonishment he was not at all stunned to hear that !! Cashier asked the waiter who was serving us. Seeing me talking in Hindi; they both started talking in kannada. They did not know that I understood Kannada and this is what waiter told cashier,

“I asked cook to make new rotis but a group of guys returned lots of rotis, hence cook reheated the returned chapatis and gave it to me to serve. But later when this guy found out that it’s a stale chapati, I gave him fresh one straightaway”

Immediately cashier asked me, “Sir what’s the problem, we anyways gave you the fresh one right ?”

I could not believe that someone would be so cocky and arrogant to treat their customers not less than dogs. In this whole incident no one asked me sorry a single time. The cashier was not even bothered when I told him that just because of this incident I will not return to this place again. I have self-respect and hence I will not go this place again in my life. Please avoid this place.

My report card for Guru Palace not just based on my last visit,

Price – 3/10

Taste – 3/10

Service – 0/10

Ambience – 0/10

Value for money – 2/10

Will I go back – I will not even allow my dead body to be taken there

Vidhyarthi Bhavan :- A Legacy

It’s said that if you are in Bangalore and haven’t had Vidhyarthi Bhavan Masala Dose then there was no significance in visiting Bangalore. Vidhyarthi Bhavan perhaps is the most ancient restaurant that serves mind-blowing dosas. They have other stuff too but masala dose is the most well-known order here. Vidhyarthi bhavan is located in Gandhi Bazaar,

Its famous for its breakfast but when you go here have slight endurance because you will have to be in a queue to get in. People just pour in from each direction to have breakfast here.

The operational timings here are,

As soon as you get here; get your name written to the attendant outside the restaurant gates taking names to get people inside in orderly fashion. Once you are in then you will appreciate the oldness (It has been renovated but still has looks from the past) of the place and if I am not incorrect; few people in staff too are as old as the restaurant.

When you get in; you can ask for innumerable varieties of dishes but don’t forget to order masala dosa right away because waitron may give you a bad glare if you don’t order one (Just kidding; I have never tried that but that can happen I guess). Khara bhat, Kesri bhat and tea are ordinary but Vada, poori and Coffee are good

and unquestionably masala dose are simply the crispiest dosas you will find anywhere ; except of course at Davangere Benne dose opposite to the Sarakki bus stop,

Don’t get terrified by the manner Dosas are served here, they are professionals and please do not try this at home,

After dosa is served; wait for some time because a server would come to aid you with chutney.

It’s a legendary place, very crowded and yet very small hence don’t get perturb if a family stands next to your table waiting for you to get up as soon as you are done so that they can grab the seat. Such sights are traditional here.

My report Card for ‘Vidhyarthi Bhavan’ is

Price – 8/10

Taste – 8/10 (Only for Dosa)

Service – 10/10

Ambience – 4/10

Value for money – 8/10 (Again, Only for Dosa)

Will I go back – Sure why not

In the Pink

Being a foodie I love to discover lots of food joints and being a complete lazy I frequently look for healthy and organic nourishment too so that I can compensate the food with no exercise

While going through a magazine I came across an organic restaurant nearby my vicinity called ‘In the Pink’, ‘In the Pink’ means “Healthy”.

‘In the Pink’ is set on Bannerghetta road with an upright neighbourhood. When we entered inside we were greeted with the organic bazaar where you can shop anything and everything organic. Next to that is the decent looking diner area,

We were quite hungry and wished to experience the freshness of organic food but as soon as we were passed the menu card we were little saddened. The menu did not have any authentic south Indian dish or any meal options, in fact the menu card was nothing but a collection of few dirty A4 sheets clipped together with some cryptic marks and symbols emblazoned by pen. Undoubtedly it looked like that the owner was sitting on one of the table on a gloomy day when there was no business and decided to cut down the menu,

		Rest of the Menu VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We ordered few regulars like Tomato Dhaniya Shorba, Mushroom Chilly, Bajra Roti, Peas Masala, Jeera Rice and Butter milk. It was little odd to notice that waiter was inexperience and to some extent chaotic because of the way we were served. Because after soup and starters we had to go look for him to let him jot down the remaining order. To be noted that this was Wednesday; just beyond twilight and there were only 2 people in the restaurant the blogger and his wife, hence it cannot be that he was busy attending other tables.

Well Dhaniya Tomato Shorba was nothing but Garlic Rasam which was very strange because it’s said tomato soup and tasted more of garlic, though it was great in taste.

Soon after we were aided with Mushroom Chilly, looking at which we were completely disheartened because it was very greasy and certainly not healthy,

The taste was no exceptional but the freshness of capsicum in the dish was worthy enough without any idea if it in fact was fresh or not.

Upon 2 unsuccessful attempts I could succeed to discover the attendant to takedown our rest of the meal order which was served in no time.

The Bajra Roti was blameless but Peas masala wasn’t, Jeera Rice had its true smoky aroma with a bit of extra oil and at the end the buttermilk was truly dreadful, have never had vilest buttermilk then that.

In the end it was evident that the price tag on the food is not at all worthy or for anything for that matter.

There was another alarming statistic we detected that for the whole time of around 1 hr there was not even a solitary bird that lay its feet inside the restaurant and that pretty much tells the true story.

My report Card for ‘In the Pink’ is

Price – 4/10

Taste – 5/10

Service – 6/10

Ambience – 5/10

Value for money – 4/10

I can find better taste and quality of street food for 1/5th of the price charged

Will I go back – Not in my current life, I might in next birth.

There is nothing apparent organic about it and for sure nothing healthy about the food either

For me its ‘In the Pink Disaster’