Posted by Shweta Sharma on May 15, 2007 in
Bangalore This is just to continue the post on Cunningham Road, which happens to be one of my favorite hangouts not just because of the close proximity to my place but also because it still gives me the feeling of our old sweet BANGALORE. Without a second thought I would rate Casa Piccola as the best place to just sit around, sipping Irish coffee and munching fries. The place offers a variety of continental food and desserts which are quite affordable. On a non-sunny day you can just come for lunch and sit and read papers while enjoying your food. It’s a place to watch world cups since all the chairs are turned towards the TV and you have big company to enjoy the game with you. If you aren’t very hungry and in a mood for just salads, go for chicken macaroni salad (the most economical food available). 
If you want to just laze around with you friends and you happen to be a tea lover, Infinitea is just the right place for you. The ambience and music just like the tea will not let you down. It offers a great range of tea (hot and cold) and an above average range of food (continental). If you are scared of trying anything new, go for the typical masala tea pot. The different ice tea available get an 8 on 10 while I will give Lemon ice tea a 9 on 10. The small samosas are worth trying with a pot of masala tea and yes if you happen to be a momo fan, the momos available are not really great but not bad either. Try this place for a different atmosphere and of course different tea.
Posted by Vasisht on May 9, 2007 in
Bangalore Rasilas at JP Nagar in Bangalore is a well hidden (at least a year ago) gem of a restaurant in Bangalore. The settings are like that of a village – a kutcha road (the worst I have seen, even in Bangalore standards), arid shrubbery all around, houses few and far between and red dust all over you. Yet, this place stands out.
What strikes you when you enter this place is the ambiance. You are greeted by a pleasing mixture of white, black, red and chrome. And the comfy leather seating takes care of the effects of your off-road adventure. The red curtains give the restaurant a warm feel, immediately waking up your appetite.
Coming to the food, they have a variety of Indian, Chinese and Continental dishes. Some names were strange, but the waiter was kind enough to explain what they were – he knew his stuff! The owner happened to be a friend of my colleague, and we had gone as a group, and that too on the day of its opening. So, the owner was around, explaining the dishes, and suggesting a custom course for each one of us. I guess he does it till this day. The food was very tasty too, and from what I remember, not that costly (forgive my memory, I had gone there a year ago).
Getting there, that’s the problem. Rasilas is in J P Nagar 7 Block, Close to Brigade Gardenia and Millennium. There are two ways of getting there. One is through L&T South City. When you get to the gates of South City, take a left and take the next right, leading to M.S. Ramiah city. Go through M.S. Ramiah city, and you would come to a rocky road at the end. Turn right here, and travel a few blocks to get to Rasilas. The other way is getting to Inchara, and proceeding to Brigade Gardenia or Brigade Millenium from there. Rasilas is very close to these apartments.
I guess the roads would have been laid by now. I have fond memories of this place – my office farewell party took place here. It was also quite close to my office, and we went there every now and then. It is a great place, great food and great settings – I highly recommend it for everyone.
Posted by Aparna Natarajan on May 8, 2007 in
Bangalore If you are not all that hungry and wouldn’t mind a classic setting to have a quiet conversation with friends or a date, The Polo Club at The Oberoi, is the place where you should be.
The ambiance is awesome, very close to nature, literally overlooking the large banyan tree (which gets lit in the nights) and you can actually hear the water gushing in the pond alongside…and see the fish shine as they swim past you and stuff. If it is winter and if you would rather avoid the Bangalore chill, they also have indoor seating. The tables are placed a good distance from each other, which is very welcome especially when you want to escape the more usual up-tempo club scene in the city (or are just trying to gracefully accept the fact that you are too late to enter one and get decent seating!) 
This bar and restaurant admittedly has a modest menu, with a relatively wide range of starters and desserts, but only about 5 entrées (very little to choose from, really!). Lasagna is the safest bet, and tastiest too, in an extra cheesy kind of way, priced at around Rs. 475 and Tiramisu among the deserts. They sometimes have chef’s specials for a particular season, like they did this year for Valentines Day – they had a month long celebration of strawberry based desserts – all very tastefully presented and yum too.
The prices are little on the up side, but a group of three can comfortably have a fine dining experience within Rs.1500 with 1 starter, 2 entrées (unless you have a very healthy appetite, you will struggle to finish all of it), 1 desert and 3 drinks (if you are a teetotaler, the lassi is a hot favorite, and is so creamy that you can sip just on it the whole time and still walk out satiated!).
However, if you do you get there and hear your stomach growling for a sumptuous meal, you can walk a little ahead into their alfresco Thai restaurant, Rim Naam, which serves some lip smacking gourmet Thai food in the same beautiful setting.
The Polo club is open from 10 am to 11 pm. Once you are there, be prepared to bump into some business celebrities!
The Oberoi is on M.G. Road.
Posted by Navin Ganesh on Apr 28, 2007 in
Bangalore Situated right in the middle of Cunningham Road, the wavy structure of Sigma Mall does get its vote as one of the hangout hotspots in Bangalore. This is a follow-up to my write up on Cunningham Road that I had posted earlier. Anyway, I decided to write about Sigma Mall separately, because there is much that can be said about it, that you should know as you dig for new and exciting hangouts.
Initially when I saw it from outside, it did look like any other mall. The McDonald’s (which needs no introduction – as the most popular place for Burgers and Fries) occupies a chunk of the front portion. Being a weekend, I went in prepared to face the crowd thronging the place, as is the case with any of the more popular in Bangalore such as Garuda Mall and Forum. But to my surprise, it was quite empty and the perfect atmosphere for relaxing on a Saturday afternoon while doing some shopping or sipping some coffee.
Its pretty big on the inside with 4 levels, and with one look I was sure that it had almost what every other mall has, probably on a slightly smaller scale. But it’s the kind of place that works for me. I decided to take a walk around the place and found shops where people of all ages and various interests can kill time.
At the Ground Level, as soon as you enter, Bread Bazaar on your left treats you to a number of bakery stuff to munch on. Go further in and you’ve got a nice setup by Cafe Coffee Day. Its not enclosed, giving you the feeling of being a part of the happenings at the Mall. But if you are looking for some privacy, check out the Food Court at Level 3. You’ve got Louis Philippe, Reebok, Nike, Levi’s, Pepe, Provogue, etc. to check out the latest trends in apparels. You can also find other outlets of Swarovski, Oyzterbay, Blue Sky (great collection of cooling glasses – slightly expensive range) and Solitaire (check out this place for its diamonds). There are also some shops exclusively for women.
Level 1 is fully occupied by a Pantaloons showroom having a great range of clothes.
At Level 2, for people into photography, there is an exclusive showroom called G.K. Vale which I believe has pretty much everything you’ll ever look for. Next to that is a Chinese Restaurant called Nan King, which I wasn’t able to check out on the inside, but it looked decent from the outside, but I cannot vouch for the food that you get there. If any of you have tried it, please enlighten us with your experience. There is electronics gadgets store called t-base that sells laptops, computers and various other tech accessories.
Level 3 is where you can hog at the Food Court, which has outlets of a number of restaurants. I liked the ambiance of the place, probably because of the relaxing lighting. That coupled with a variety of food to choose from makes the perfect solution for a quick date. You’ve also got Food Bazaar (a supermarket) to buy out your needs without needing to go elsewhere.
And finally, Fun Cinemas is coming up. I’m not sure as to how many screens they are going to put up, but I’m sure Sigma Mall is well on its way to becoming a regular hangout to many. So if you happen to be in Bangalore, don’t miss out on this great place which houses literally everything under one roof.
Posted by Navin Ganesh on Apr 23, 2007 in
Bangalore I was at Bangalore for the weekend to attend an interview on Sunday. But it had been a while since I had gone hanging out in Bangalore. And being the rave I am for checking out new places, it was my cousin with whom I was staying, who ended up taking me to every place I had on my request list.
I, like any other visitor to Bangalore wanted to go to the ever popular Forum and Garuda Malls. For some apparent reason, they have been assumed to be the happening places. Anyway, my cousin played down my ignorance and decided to take me to Cunningham Road. I was mad at him for a while, but I slowly realized that I was in for a pleasant surprise and finally ended up thanking him for his wise decision.
Well, for a person like me, who is freaked out about crowded places, especially when I want to chill out for a while, the likes of a crowded Garuda Mall and Forum are not of much interest. We first entered Sigma Mall which you can find to your right on Cunningham Road (Its One Way). I was very happy to see a pretty much empty mall with lots of nice shops and eateries to check out. I really liked the place, and it has got everything that you would need, when you need to take a few hours away from your routine.
We then walked out to check out the other hangouts on Cunningham Road. Though I was not able to check out each place fully, I can give you an overview of the kind of places that you can find there.
As soon as you enter the Cunningham Road, you will find Café Coffee Day on your right and a little further and you have Barista to your left. A few more meters and you can find a building on the right side called Prestige Centre Point which houses Pizza Hut, Sweet Chariot Café and Aura (which is a restaurant cum bar). Keep moving and you will find Sigma Mall on your right. Directly opposite to Sigma Mall, you can find a Tea bar called Infinitea. Next to Infinitea, i.e. on the Left Side you will find a weird looking restaurant called Shezan. It said Indian, Continental and Chinese on the Door, but check it out at your own risk, and not when you are terribly hungry. And finally, after crossing Sigma Mall, you will find a Dominos Pizza outlet on your left.
I will be reviewing Sigma Mall in a separate post, as there is quite a bit to say about it. I really liked the place. So, look forward to that post. I would like to add a few words about Aura I talked about earlier. I only got to check it out from outside due to some time constraints. Its quite upscale and hugely expensive, so don’t go there unless you have a fat wallet. Also I heard it has a dance floor, but if I get a chance to review that place, will go into full detail. Anyway, the point being, it is a place worth checking out, especially on a evening when you are loaded with money and have lots of time to burn.
That’s about everything there is on Cunningham Road, but I would like to share one other place with you all. It’s this Chinese Restaurant called Chung’s. To find it, keep going straight from Sigma Mall, and take the first right. As soon as you’ve made the turn, you’ll find Chung’s on your left. I haven’t been there myself, but I’ve been told that the food is delicious and that too at very affordable prices.
Phew! That’s been quite a recollection I’ve had to make from memory. I’ve talked about Cunningham Road on the whole, but if anyone can review the places separately, it would be great to have those posts (especially reviews of Aura and Infinitea).
Posted by Gayathri Jagannathan on Apr 20, 2007 in
Bangalore Hey Bowling lovers…
For those of you who don’t want to just have food and relax but would like some entertainment thrown in, Star City at Bangalore is the place for u.
They’ve got a 12-lane bowling alley where you get 20 throws for Rs 75 on weekdays and the same for Rs 100 on weekends. The place tends to get crowded during weekends. For a bite or a gulp in between games, you get anything from cool drinks (to recover from the dehydration after bowling!, lol.. kidding) to finger chips, paneer fries (very tasty!!) and veg fried rice all at a reasonable price. Compared to other similar places, this one gets the thumbs up for its pricing and spaciousness. Apart from bowling u have arcade video games and even Karting which again are affordable. And if that’s not enough, you also have the fun world theme park right behind.
I was really lucky that my first office (just after MBA) was located right next to this place. Every other day, I ended up spending some time here after my office hours. It kinda made up for me missing my fun from college days Great fun! The crowd is predominantly working professionals who come over to chill out after a hard day’s work. Corporates can avail of memberships and so can regulars, who get a membership card and enjoy special offers every now and then.
If you are a pro, and just bowling to burn time is not your cup of tea, then make sure you look out for the tournaments and coaching camps organized by Star City.
You will find Star City on Nandi Durga Road, just off Mekhri circle. It is on the road that will lead you to the commercial market / cantonment station.
Location: Palace Grounds, Munireddy Palya, J.C. Nagar, Bangalore 560006.
Phone: +91-80-2354 3291, +91-80-2357 3287.
