August 2016 - Foodie Land Blog | Indian food and restaurant reviews

The Afghani Food Festival | The Vivanta by Taj - Whitefield | Bangalore

Veg Kofta Preparation

Pretty recently we had a taste of true Middle Eastern food about which we had posted too. The Middle East encompasses a huge land mass consisting of many countries and cultures. This time we bring to you our experience of the Afghan Food Festival at The Vivanta by Taj—Whitefield, Bangalore.

The last time we mentioned that the taste was surreal and mostly the kebabs and preparations had Turkish and Moroccan spices. This time, not only were the dishes different but also all of them had an Afghan touch to it. One can understand this, mainly due to the richness of the preparations.

This is an ongoing festival at the legendary restaurant Terracotta which runs till the end of this month. (Unfortunately, we are a bit late to announce it this time!) The ambiance is very rustic and there is a lot of ambient light in the restaurant.

So, whatever you read and see—if you like it: hurry!

Just joking, you still have some time as some of the dishes in the menu are going to be incorporated in the original menu based on customer response. Now how cool is that?

Now, coming down to this feast of flavours:

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The Beer Cafe | Launch of Beerosphere | VR Mall | Bangalore

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Hoegaarden with Chicken Poutine

A nice and warm setting along with a selection of specialty brews and draught beers is what a beer lover’s choice would be to have a good time with friends. The Beer café launched its third outlet in Bangalore at VR Bengaluru and it would cater to everyone who loves beer!

The setting is perfect and if you think that beer café is only serving beers then think again. Because they have quite a lot of delectable food items on the menu such as their classics and the newly introduced dishes like Flaky chicken strips, chicken poutine, etc. And not just that! The new menu would also suggest which beer would be the best to accompany your food!

We were recently there for the launch of their Beerosphere products and we tried out a few of the dishes they serve.

There was a special set menu which consisted of a few delightful non veg and veg preparations and obviously beer!

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Navroze Bhonu @SodaBottleOpenerWala | Bangalore

bhonu

Different communities have different styles of cooking, secret recipes and also a separate significance behind what they eat, how they eat and why. As mentioned before, our country is home to a variety of people and this time we will be talking about a certain community only: The Parsi community.

Just like any other community, Parsi’s have their specialty when it comes to food and we got a taste of authentic Parsi food very recently at one of the most popular cafe’s in Bangalore: SodaBottleOpenerWala (Now that’s what you call a long name!) and they are located in Lavelle Road, Bangalore.

This is the time the Parsi’s celebrate their new year called Navroz Bhonu to honour India as their new home.

On this auspicious occasion we visited SodaBottleOpenerWala to try out their special menu. Their special menu consisted of two thali’s: Veg and Non Veg including two desserts.

For pretty obvious reasons we tried the non veg thali and the desserts of course. Parsi’s cannot imagine a meal without non veg and the same goes for us so as always great people think alike ;)

Now coming down to the items which were present in the thali:

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Leela Residencies FAM Trip | Bhartiya City | Bangalore

apartments

We, The Foodie Land blog have come a long way in our food journey thanks to you guys! This journey is never ending as there is no end to our love for food and we expect the same kind of support you guys have always given!

Since change is refreshing, we will mix things up a bit with travel posts, lifestyle posts etc. In the same line, we very recently visited an approximately 126 acre city inside of Bangalore city. Bhartiya city has joined hands with The Leela Hotel to create this self sufficient, connected, modern and luxurious city which has everything almost everyone needs!

We were amazed to know the amount of planning it took for building this city. The city encompasses a hospital, a school, business parks, residential towers, luxury apartments, a central park, a multiplex and much more! They also have an open air theatre concept which has a metallic, butterfly shaped covering which can illuminate the entire city in the presence of moonlight. This will definitely be something to experience!

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The Middle Eastern Food Festival @ Mynt | The Taj West End | Bangalore

bangalore

Mahalabia

We have visited many Taj properties in the past, both in Bangalore and in our home town Kolkata. Each hotel has its own unique significance and a story behind their existence. Each hotel has a different charm, beauty and set of specialized chefs.

Very recently we have been to the oldest Taj property, not only in Bangalore but also in the entire country—The Taj West End. It is located at the heart of the city in Race Course Road and its grandeur is simply astounding! The lobby was exceptional with medium sized trees and dim lighting. The property was earlier meant to be used by British soldiers when India was not independent. Afterwards, it was taken over by many a group and currently it lies in the hands of the Tata group which cares about this property and beautified it beyond brilliance.

Now moving on to our objective: We were privileged to be a part of an exclusive dinner preview of the upcoming Middle Eastern food festival at Mynt which kicks off from the 17^th of August and runs till the 27^th.

The adept chefs at Mynt with their executive chef Sandeep Narang crafted this special menu which aims to bring certain Middle Eastern delicacies to the table of all customers of Mynt.

The menu we tried was elaborate but during the festival the entire menu will not be served to the customers but it will be on a rotational basis.

Now, coming down to the food:

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The 2nd Year Anniversary Celebrations @ The Fatty Bao | Bangalore

anniversary celebration

Raindrop cake

We have tried a variety of cuisines in the past and we get excited whenever we get the opportunity to try out something different. Our country is home to diverse cultures and in turn there are loads of different kinds of food to try out, which is a challenge by itself. Now, just imagine the variation of food across the entire globe! It is practically impossible to give your taste buds a taste of all that!

We have recently been to The Fatty Bao, Bangalore for their 2^nd year anniversary celebration (called Fatty's Travel Tales) and we were overwhelmed with love as Fatty loves us to the moon and back! ;) They are an Asian Gastro Bar very well known for their unique preparations and colorful presentation! Headed by their Executive Chef Prashanth they have been in the spotlight for quite some time at least in Bangalore and especially for youngsters.

As a part of their celebration, they have a special menu containing delicacies from the kitchens of East and South East Asia. We were privileged to be a part of the exclusive lunch preview of this limited edition menu. Also, they have tied up with Tiger Air to host a small contest during this special occasion. Every customer gets to fill up a boarding pass which contains a few basic questions about Tiger Air and lucky winners win a return trip to Singapore courtesy: Tiger Air (Who else! :P).

Most of the preparations were very different from what we normally eat and the taste and presentation of the items were exceptional. The Fatty Bao, Bangalore is located in 12^th main road, Indiranagar. Their decor, seating arrangements, crockery etc are all very colourful. They have spacious seating, giving their customers privacy and room to breathe and spread their arms and legs.

Now, coming down to the food and drinks:

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Ayubowan | The Sri Lankan Food Festival @ Vivanta By Taj - MG Road | Bangalore

bangalore

Lunumiris and egg salad

In the past few months, we have visited a lot of luxurious dining spots mostly covering different festivals from across the world. Some of them were the dragon boat festival, Chinese New Year, generic impromptu festivals and much more. This time we bring to you our experience of a festival we have very recently been to at The Vivanta by Taj- MG Road, Bangalore. This ongoing festival goes by the name: Ayubowan which is the Sri Lankan food festival and it is sure to take your taste buds to a ride further down south!

Geographically as well as on cultural grounds India and Sri Lanka share many similarities and after trying out the food in this festival one can understand the deep connection between these two glorious countries both in terms of rich culture and food!

This festival is running at Cafe Mozaic which is run by their multi award winning Executive Chef Ramasamy Selvaraju. We are not sure whether we will visit Sri Lanka in the near future, but thanks to this festival we sure went on a fabulous culinary trip.

Cafe Mozaic has indoor and outdoor seating. Indoor seating is for people who prefer privacy and a certain degree of sophistication whereas the outdoors is pool side and has a different charm to it. Except for the food factor, this festival also includes Sri Lankan folk dance performances by the renowned Budawatta dance troupe. We really enjoyed the food and the performances just made the experience a whole lot better!

Now, coming down to the food:

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The New Concept @ Barbeque Nation | Mahadevapura | Bangalore

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Mouth watering kebabs (chicken, prawns, fish)

We love to eat at all you can eat buffets! We are sure you know that by now, given the number of times we have written about buffets. Recently we wrote about the Dilli walli Khau Gali festival going on in Barbeque Nation. Its time to write about them again!

But this time, we will be telling you about a new outlet of Barbeque nation that opened up with a new vision and concept at The Arena Mall, Mahadevpura, Bangalore. The first thing we noticed was that they had changed their decor, logo etc.

They have maintained the essence of barbeque nation but have added a few more things. You will be provided with the hot barbeque station at your table, you will be given delicious skewers to barbeque, and you will have the flag. And with this you will have a variety of live stations to get your food made according to your choice! Now doesn’t that sound good!?

They have a live Dal station which intrigued us, because you don’t get to see this usually. They have a live stir fry counter for both veg and non veg where one can choose from a variety of meats and veggies and take back a stir fried delight! They have a couple of varieties of sauces too! These are made to order in front of you and according to your taste! They have a variety of meat for non vegetarians, which include rabbit, quail, etc.

Along with this they had a live counter for soups as well, where they served clear soup and added the ingredients according to your choice. We got a clear soup made in a vegetable broth with corn, carrots, mushrooms and prawns. Finished with just a bit of spring onions! Delicious and to our taste!

The starters were up to the mark, like at every Barbeque nation and the service here was also up to the mark! The only disappointment was the live roll counter. We are Bengalis who belong from Kolkata and rolls have a soft corner in our hearts and when it is not done right, we sure get disappointed.

Guess what :P

Shawarma, stir fry, daal and soup live counters

They have a Kati roll and shwarma counter as well, where it’s again made to order. The roll was, like we said, not that good; slightly soggy and chewy, not crisp and delicious. But the shawarma counter made up for it.

Non veg stir fry with noodles (schezwan sauce)

Non veg stir fry without noodles (Indian sauce)

Strawberry and basil mojito

Aam panna

We moved on to the main course after trying all the live counters. The mocktails which accompanied us till here were Gleeche (a litchi and rose drink, absolutely refreshing and fruity) and Strawberry and basil mojito (a mild fruity concoction, perfect to accompany the starters).

They had two types of non vegetarian biriyani, Lucknowi Mutton Biriyani and Hyderabadi chicken biriyani. We obviously went in with the Lucknowi Mutton biriyani and were very happy about it! Lightly flavoured rice and perfectly done meat.

There were also a chicken and a mutton gravy preparation and both were remarkable. One was rich and creamy and the other spicy: common factor being the well cooked meat of course!

Now coming down to the desserts, they had the barbeque nation special Kulfi counter here. I (Priyanjana) usually look forward to the Kulfi here, every time. Loved the kulfi this time as well!

The other desserts were assorted pastries, fresh cut fruits, gulab jamun, different flavours of ice cream and phirni. All of these were up to the mark.