The Risotto Fare @ Ottimo | ITC Gardenia | Bangalore

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The Risotto Fare @ Ottimo | ITC Gardenia | Bangalore

Which cuisine comes to your mind when you think of romance?

For us, like most people we associate Italian Cuisine with romance and during this time of the year i.e. around mid Feb when love is in the air, we were invited to the Risotto Festival of Ottimo, ITC Gardenia called the Risotto Fare.

This post will be all about Risottos and how beautifully they were made. Before that, the setting of Ottimo is truly unforgettable. The open kitchen, the theme of the restaurant, the service, the food & wine and the tunes are bound to make your dining experience unlike any other.



Valentines Day Special @ Vivanta by Taj - Yeshwantpur | Bangalore

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Valentines Day Special @ Vivanta by Taj - Yeshwantpur | Bangalore

It has been a while that we posted something related to luxury dining and we missed bringing them over to you apart from missing the food as in almost all cases the food makes us go crazy.

We have visited many Taj properties in the past and we were pretty sure that we have been to all of them (In Bangalore). Unfortunately, we were wrong and this time our visit to the Vivanta by Taj- Yeshwantpur for a preview of their special Valentine’s Day arrangements.

So, for those who want to make it special on the upcoming 14th of Feb, here’s what you can expect if you decide to celebrate this special day of love at this luxurious property:

A fabulous selection of food which look & taste delightful & a lot of hearts!

They have a special A.I package (INR 5999) for couples on the big day and they have appropriate plans to make the couples fall in love all over again: heart shaped chocolates, balloons, strawberries dipped in chocolate and much more.

So from the food point of view, here are our views:

The English Pub Experience @ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore

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Special Irish Swiss Roll Chicken @ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore
Special Irish Swiss Roll Chicken

With the increasing number of F&B establishments all around it is getting more difficult by the day to spot unique names. With that said, our recent visit was by invite to a bloggers tasting at a newly opened Resto-Bar in JP Nagar, Bangalore named Churchill’s!

The pubbing concept first originated in England and this impressive Resto-Bar tries to pay tribute to the one and only Winston Churchill, one of the greatest English Prime Ministers of all time.

A few words about the place: The interiors are classic with plenty of ambient light and woody finishes all around. It does not have air conditioning yet and ventilation is totally on ceiling fans and Mother Nature. The walls all around have original quotes from the man himself.

Now about the food: A very well planned spread yields expected results and in this case this meet was very well organized. The best part being we ate after photographs were taken so no interruptions while eating!

There were plenty of starters for non-vegetarians and only a few for vegetarians. So we will speak about the highlights only.

Egg on Nest @ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore
Egg on Nest

Peri Peri Chicken Wings @ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore
Peri Peri Chicken Wings

Hara Bhara Kebab @ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore
Hara Bhara Kebab

Chicken Hariyali Kebab

Mutton Seekh Kebab


The Egg on Nest was pretty interesting for those who love eggs. In place of the yolk there was a sweet mayo filling and it tasted great but there was nothing outstanding about it.

The Paneer on Fire is a highly recommended dish if you are into paneer. The paneer is well done and soft and spicy. It tastes very difficult and a big thumbs up!

The Hara Bhara Kebab was excellent. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The stuffing was hot & spicy and it can be coined as a perfect snack.

The Butter Garlic Mushrooms were the best they can be. By character mushrooms do not suck in flavours but they just remain on top. The quantity was very impressive.

The Crispy Chicken Tenders were too thin. There were many in number but too much of crumb and too little chicken in each bite—not worth it.

Peri Peri Chicken Wings? Oh yes! This was a marvel and was done to perfection. It was spicy and the chicken literally fell off the bones. Perfect pairing with beer!

The Nagamese King Chilly Pork was another amazing preparation. It was not as spicy as expected but tasted brilliant. The pieces contained fat and meat unlike in other cases where it is totally fat.

They served 3 variants of Tandoori Chicken: Cheese, Hariyali and the Classic variant. The chicken was perfectly cooked and tender. All the 3 were spicy but the best part was that they were balanced. The Cheese variant tasted weird at first but it is something to slowly get used to.

Classic Chicken Tandoori @ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore
Classic Chicken Tandoori (Boneless)

Chip Butty


Cocktails

They have an array of colourful cocktails but we ended up on the dry road and had the Blue Lagoon and a Mango mocktail. One suggestion to them would be to improve on their consistency.

The main course was not as colourful as the starters were but some items deserve a try and a retry.

Their Alfredo Pasta was well done. The sauce had good consistency and the quantity of toppings was sufficient.

The Copacabana Pizza deserves a special mention. The balance of the herbs, cheese and pork chunks were amazing and this topped the pizza charts for sure.

The English Fish & Chips was as expected. The presentation on the bed of fries looked appealing. No extra oil and the all mighty combo of tartar sauce and good fried fish always wins!

The Jolly Good Mix Grill was a combination of grilled lamb and chicken. The highlight of this was the lip smacking sauce. 

Lastly, the Special Irish Swiss Roll Chicken was the dish of the tasting (sort of man of the match!). Excellent presentation and the taste was even better. It is sort of like a crepe with loads of chicken and baked with cheese. It is sinful but worth every bite!

Bangers & Mash @ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore
Bangers & Mash

Copacabana & Peppy Paneer and Pepper Pizzas@ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore
Copacabana & Peppy Paneer and Peppers Pizza

English Fish & Chips @ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore
English Fish & Chips

Alfredo Pasta@ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore
Alredo Pasta

Baked Fish Normandy@ Churchill's Resto-Bar | JP Nagar | Bangalore
Baked Fish Normandy

That’s all from this tasting session. There were plenty of items and some of which we have intentionally left out as it is not possible to talk about everything and they lacked the special zing. Not that they tasted bad but if a Lemon & Coriander Chicken tastes excellent with the flavours of lemon & coriander there is nothing much to stress on ;)

From our side, we believe that this is definitely a good place to hang out with colleagues and friends. They serve good food, play good music and have a classy ambiance.

They are new on the block and still working on adding desserts to their menu so nothing for your sweet tooth yet.

The entire place is smoker friendly so if you can’t tolerate smoke: reconsider.

We’ll be back soon with another tasty foodventure.


Till then—keep rocking and bon apetit!

The New Menu @ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore

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Taka Tak Paneer Tikka @ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore
Taka Tak Paneer Tikka

So, before we begin we wish you a very Happy New Year and hope you have a rocking year ahead! (better late than never!)

The New Year brings about a lot of “new” things, be it resolutions, schedules etc. but it is normally not expected that with a new year a new menu comes into the picture.

One of Bangalore’s favourite north Indian (actually they serve North West Frontier Cuisine) Restaurants: Kopper Kadai launched its new menu this week and they start off 2017 with a new menu and resolve.

This was not our first visit and the last time as well, the food was exquisite. They have kept a fifth of the old menu and replaced the rest with new and innovative items to maintain their position as one of the best.

The best part was that we had a live interaction with celebrity Chef Akshay Nayyar who gave us a walkthrough of the new menu.

So, starting off the New Year with some spicy, rich and crafted food:

There were a large number of items served and we did not try all of them but we would definitely stress on the ones we recommend this time.

Limca Bhel @ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore
Limca Bhel

Kashmiri Kiss

Chiller Chai@ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore
Chiller Chai

Tandoori Broccoli preparation

Jwalamukhi

For starters we had the Ande Ka Funda, Nadru Ki Chaat, Pesto Soya Champey, Jwalamukhi, Taka Tak Paneer Tikka, Murgh Korma Kebab, Hariyali Machhi Tikka and a few more.

If you are an egg lover, do not forget to try the Ande ka Funda as it has a stuffing of spinach & cheese. You’ll not be disappointed for sure!

Anda Ka Funda@ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore
Anda Ka Funda

The Nadru ki Chaat was a crispy lotus steam preparation and was mildly sweet. Worth a try but won’t be any harm if you don’t.

The Pesto Soya Champey was excellent. The characteristic flavours went through and the rich and creamy feel was delightful. The best part was the consistency of the soya: smooth as silk!

The Jwalamukhi or Volcano was a spinach and cheese preparation and the heart of it was molten cheese. Taste wise not so special if you ignore the cheese.

The Taka Tak Paneer Tikka was spicy with a tangy after taste with huge chunks of Paneer. The paneer was well done and deserves a bite.

The Hariyali Machhi Tikka was standard. It will not disappoint you and at the same time, won’t excite you either. The fish was perfectly done, the flavours went through and the juiciness intact.

The Murgh Korma Kebab deserves the mouth-watering label. One can feel the richness in each bite. Cooked with loads of milk, it gives a mild sweet sensation along with the fusion of herbs and spices. Amazing!

The drinks we tried: Chiller Chai, Jugal Bandi and the Kashmiri Kiss.

The Chiller Chai was unique. There was a mixture of citrusy flavours and the good old notes of tea which ended up as a great appetizer.

The Kashmiri Kiss looked great but was dominated with the flavour of honey. Healthy no doubt, but definitely needs some tinkering. It is served with a burning piece of cinnamon which gives off an inviting aroma.

Now finally for the main course:

We heard that the Gobi Chicken was worth a try but since we didn’t we won’t comment further.

Hariyali Machhi Tikka @ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore
Hariyali Machhi Tikka

Pesto Soya Champey@ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore
Pesto Soya Champey

Pashmeena Nalli Gosht

Murgh Korma Kebab @ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore
Murgh Korma Kebab

Chowdhary Chooza@ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore
Chowdhary Chooza 

Kopper Kadai Biriyani @ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore
Kopper Kadai Biriyani

The Chowdhary Chooza was a chicken preparation with yet again, great presentation. The gravy was semi thick and not worth wasting. The boneless chicken was accompanied with chicken keema in the gravy. It was spicy and lip smacking. Tasted excellent with the breads!

The Kopper Kadai Biriyani was a chicken meatball biriyani and the rice was aromatic, fine and delicious. The meatballs were perfectly done. After this we want to talk about two mutton preparations: The Pashmeena Nalli Gosht and the Laal Maas.

Both are a must try, depending on whether you like meat on or off the bone. The former had the all-powerful flavours of Garam Masala and it always comes through. Insanely tasty!

We expected the latter to be fiery and fierce but it was not quite so. It was balanced for normal human consumption and in fact was mildly sweet. This was not desirable but the meat was well done and preparation was spicy and magnificent.

For dessert, we recommend the Nutella Dodha Lava from the old menu. It is a milk based sweet with stuffed Nutella so don’t stop yourselves!

From the new menu, do try out the special Gajar Ka Halwa called Gajrela! We won’t talk about it as after trying you will ;).

That’s all from our side on the new menu @ Kopper Kadai.

It is one of our favourite restaurants, so instead of a biased opinion we would recommend you to try them out.

Do let us know in case you do.

We will be back soon.

Till then—keep rocking, stay tuned and bon apetit!


*We intentionally left out some items as we do not comment/write about items we don’t try!*

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