Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Eat Drink Replay

'One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating' - Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story




And so I did. A series of weekends spent over..well, food! From brewpubs to midnight dinners. A short recollection of my new epicurean discoveries in Bangalore:


Toit: The long pending photo club lunch at Toit , Indiranagar. Bengaluru's apna microbrewery.Quirky beer names. Mine was called Tintin. For the more adventurous. there is a spicy beer ! Food is good too, especially starters. My pasta in pesto sauce was a little too cheesy to finish though. Perfect for a lazy Saturday lunch. I wish they had a place to crash after the beer and the food though..yawwwwn!


Citrus, The Leela: A weekend buffet lunch with a dear old friend visiting Bangalore. You may find it difficult to tear yourselves away from starters and salad section to the main course. Incredible selection of cheese. Absolutely not to miss, the fresh baked thin crust pizzas. And heavenly desserts!


Jamavar, The Leela: An ambience to die for. I think. Wouldn't matter if the food was not good enough:-). Not that it wasn't. We stuck to a simple dinner of Appam and Pachakari stew after our weekend eatathon. Worth a revisit simply for the ambience. And to do better justice to the menu:-)


French Loaf: One breakfast place with ample choice of fresh breads and vegetarian fare for breakfast , apart from the  standard English breakfast that a couple of other places in the same vicinity like The Hole in the Wall in  offer. My toast and herb omlette was quite ordinary, but I loved my friend's onion mushroom sandwich. That's some compliment for vegetarian fare!


Biso,Citrus Hotel: A saviour if you are working late and want to pop across the street from work to catch up on a midnight dinner. Limited menu but my chicken alfredo pasta was not too bad. There is a fair Indian spread for the midnight dinner. Also serves beer. Avoid the steaks. Oh, and for desserts, try the Bull's eye:-)


To more epicurean pleasures, Bon Apetit!







Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Dining at the king's table

The three day Holi weekend was completely unplanned for. I missed out on the Friday holiday on the calendar , which earlier anticipated, would have atleast resulted in (i) a trip back home to gorge on a lot of feesh or (ii) a trip to Saada Dilli/Gurgaon to catch up on the kebabs (friends too, friends too:D). So I ambled around, with books and coffee for company till Sunday evening when sudden plans for dinner materialized with a foodie friend (the kinds who can freeze on the restaurant, skim through the menu and decide on the order with expert precision , sparing people like me the effort of doing any of the above). The chosen venue was a Korean restaurant - Soo Ra Sang (which translates to 'King's dinner table' ) on Wind Tunnel road , just off Airport road.

The location is away from the normal weekend crowd , a quaint set up with a small but exclusive parking, a luxury by Bangalore standards. Paper lampshades with Korean calligraphy, bamboo furniture and a semi open air seating lend a very soothing aura to the entire atmosphere (I could even see the half moon peeping through the Bangalore skyline:-)). You can choose to sit in the low Korean style seating with cushions on the floor with a charcoal grill set up right in the middle.

We were first served the Korean style water with a dash of cornstarch.  Our order of grilled meat (Dak Kal bee and Bull Kal bee - no , not my memory of Korean cuisine,those are the notes taken down on my phone:-)) was then cooked in the grill at the centre and cut into small pieces with thinly sliced garlic and potatoes.


Next came all the accompaniments - kimchi,macaroni salad, zucchini ,sprouts,pickled radish, spiced baby potatoes, blanched spinach and fried aubergine. All delicious and can be asked any number of times!


Our last order was a plate of deji bull go gi served with a bowl of sticky rice. Absolutely yummy!



There is no dessert here and the meal is rounded off with glass bowls of cinnamon tea. Utterly refreshing and a perfect end to the delightful dinner!

Some helpful facts:
Address: Wind Tunnel Road, Off Old Airport Road
Cards Accepted: Yes
Price: On the steeper side , a meal for two will come for 1200-1400(without drinks).
Drinks available:Korean Beer


Note to self: Carry a camera next time you are out dining.


Interesting trivia on Korean dining etiqutte: Suggestions include items such as "when you see a fat cow, goat, pig, or chicken, do not immediately speak of slaughtering, cooking or eating it". Erm;-)

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Generation Flux


Read a very interesting article on the pace of accelerating change in the economy and business. And the importance of accepting chaos as a normal course of what is going to define the future for sometime to come.Very interesting perspectives:

"Uncertainty is when you've defined the variable but don't know its value. Like when you roll a die and you don't know if it will be a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. But ambiguity is when you're not even sure what the variables are. You don't know how many dice are even being rolled or how many sides they have or which dice actually count for anything."

"If ambiguity is high and adaptability is required, then you simply can't afford to be sentimental about the past. Future-focus is a signature trait of Generation Flux. It is also an imperative for businesses: trying to replicate what worked yesterday only leaves you vulnerable."

And my favorite, a quote from Charles Darwin:
"It is not the strongest of the species that survives; nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."

Read it. Chaos is here to stay. Are you a Genfluxer?