Good morning!

Every morning  there's somebody who ardently anticipates me at work. Its Misty, our office dog at Geek Creative. She's just like her name- white as mist, naughty and extremely adorable. The minute she sees me arrive on my pink electric scooter from a distance, she takes a long run up, leaps onto my scooter, licks my face, and barks as if to say 'Good Morning!' No matter how much I rub my eyes and drag myself to work on a Monday, Misty just adds the happiness ingredient to kick start my day!  She is happiness galore! Here's a picture I took on one of those mornings when she sat on my scooter and she did'nt mind the camera at all! 

Give me Mo!

I hail from Mumbai, a place that thrives on street food of all kinds - from chaat to pani puri, to Chinese Haaka noodles to pav bhaji to kulfi to the ever popular roadside chutney sandwich.
I can never forget the numerous times we have strolled out at midnight in Mumbai, just to satisfy some kulfi cravings.

Compared to Mumbai, Bangalore doesn't even qualify to contend or even come marginally close when it comes to street food; despite sticking the name 'Bombay' to all their street stall names.

But the one that broke this myth, rather- this reality, is this particular Momo stall in Koramangala. This stall deserves to be blogged about because this is the best place to have Momos in the entire city.

I am not a big 'Momo' eater and usually opt for a sandwich or a roll. But one day, I just decided to give it a go, on impulse. My already big eyes just grew two-fold in size as I bit into the first piece of this paper-thin, piping hot, soft, steamed Momo with cabbage, carrot and onion stuffing that melted immediately in my mouth and even before I could open my mouth to say 'Wowwww', I was hissing because of the sudden taste of the spicy, red chutney that he generously 'dolloped' on my plate.

When I complimented the guy who was selling the Momos, he said that in all of Bangalore, you will never find such thin Momos as they are so difficult to make as they break. And I realized it was true. Most of the Momos I have had in the past have a thick outer wrapping and have very less stuffing. So you end up eating a lof of 'maida'. Its the other way around at 'Darjeeling Stall', as he calls it.

 This stall and a big crowd, both magically appear at 6.00 pm sharp, everyday at Koramangala 4th block, 80 feet road, near Sony World Signal, opposite Hot Chips, and if you're not the first one to order Momos, then you have to wait, which feels like decades, especially if you have to stand and watch them gobble up Momos!

A lot of youngsters, single guys are spotted here, devouring steaming hot Momos, and then getting some more packed for a second helping at home. The Momos are extremely filling and usually I am full with half a plate of veg Momos. But times when I feel 'piggy', I opt for the full plate, after which, I skip dinner.

A full plate of veg Momos cost Rs 40 and the chicken Momos cost Rs. 50.
Address:  Koramangala 4th block, 80 feet road, near Sony World Signal, opposite Hot Chips.
Average Rating:
Food: 5 star

Ice & Spice and everything nice!

If you're young and you're in Bangalore, and you haven't been to Ice & Spice Truffles, then you've definitely missed out a lot in life.  Find me a local teenager who doesn't love Ice & Spice Truffles and I will give up my favourite pair of shoes. Now you  know I'm talking serious!

Nestled away in the by-lanes of Bangalore, is this chain with 3 outlets in various parts of Bangalore- 

One in Sanjay Nagar, the second in Koramangala and the third one on MG Road.

The Sanjay Nagar outlet is like a small rabbit hole with mostly outdoor seating and doodle walls. It feels like the perfect collegian hangout.

Contrastingly, the one in Koramangala looks sophasticated with clean white walls, pink bougainvillaea and blue windows as decor, which is quite a stark deviation from the previous outlet, although it caters to the same kind of audience. 

I am yet to visit the outlet on MG Road. 

Talking about the menu, if you're in the mood for some comfort food, then this is the place for you. Yummy burgers, sub sandwiches, pastas, smoothies, cold frappes, and a never ending list of desserts for you to devour await you at Ice & Spice Truffles. 

The last time I frequented this place, I had a veg club sandwich (see picture), which was a perfect portion, but was slightly sloppy and a tad bit sweet for my liking; but it came with some fresh coleslaw and chips and I wolfed it down in no time. 

But my all time favourite dish is the veg sub with Jalapenos, Feta and Salsa with chips (see picture).  I am a big feta cheese lover and unlike most restaurants, they are quite liberal with the Feta. They definitely have one happy customer!

Coming to their speciality which is desserts, let me tell you that I love their desserts so much, that I can close my eyes; point a finger on any dessert on the menu, and its guaranteed to be a winner! But the one that steals the show is the Blueberry Cheesecake! You can jolly well throw your diet plans out of the window.

I have been to the restaurant for the third time, and I don't remember paying more than 700 Rs for 3 people, so now my wallet is happy too! 

Ice & Spice is perpetually crowded, both inside and outside. But then again, its a sure sign that the food is really worth the wait!

I wouldn't rate this melange of a cafe and a restaurant as outstanding, but its definitely one of the places where I would like to go on a lazy Sunday, that is, if I can beat the queue!

Outlet addresses: 

Koramangala: 28, 4th 'B' Cross, 5th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore. 

Tel: 080 41466565, 080 41536565

Sanjay Nagar, 80 Feet Road, RMV 2nd Stage, Sanjay Nagar, Bangalore.

Tel: 080 23410222, +91 9611198000

MG Road: 22, St. Marks Road, MG Road Area, Bangalore.

Tel: 080 41121160, 080 32507859

Average Rating:

Food:          3 stars

Ambience: 3 stars

Service:      3 stars

The new- age rakhi

In my last post, I was talking about how shop keepers, too, have to be innovative all the time, however small or big the products are. The traditional rakhi which is to be tied on the brother's wrist in return for a promise of keeping the sister safe from all trouble, has moved from it being made from a simple white thread with a small coloured dot; to multi-coloured, big dialed rakhis; to fancy, expensive rakhis with zari and sequences; to 'designer rakhis'; to rakhis with cartoon characters like Spiderman, Chota Bheem, Doreamon, Shaktimaan, Hulk, etc. As a kid, I remember going to the store to buy rakhis for my brothers and always buying some simple white rakhis for my mother, along with ours, which were slightly more colourful, but still traditional, elegant and simple. This time, I had stopped at a small general store selling rakhis to buy some for my brothers, when I noticed a kid throw a tantrum, park himself in the middle of the road, and wailing until his mother, out of embarrassment, succumbed to the demand, and got the boy a Ben 10 rakhi, which, I over heard, he wanted for himself. He didn't even have a sister! I wonder if there will be any tradition left for this new generation which will be pure and simple, untouched by unnecessary adaptations and tricks by marketing companies.

Sweet innovation!

The other day, I walked into a local mithai store right opposite my office just to buy some 'farsaan' (salted munchies). What took my attention away was what was displayed in the glass cabinet. Sweet toothed that I am, my eyes immediately caught the label that read 'Bournvita Barfi', 'Horlicks Pedha', etc and my eyes gleamed with delight and my face lit up with a smile! I, being in the creative industry, always thought that we probably were the only ones who needed to be compulsively creative all the time, until I saw this. It made me think how every person has to be innovative at their job, no matter what kind of job it is. It has to be new, interesting, innovative, with constant variety and has to catch the consumer's attention. Just to appreciate the creativity, I almost bought a piece of the new mithai, when I got a phone call asking me to get 'Diet chiwda' on the way!

The 10,000 mark :)

Proud moment as I reach the 10,000 views mark. For once, zero makes me happy, and with so many today, the happiness factor has just shot up! Thank you readers and fellow bloggers for your encouragement. Hope to add many more zeros to this! :)

100 feet under

We had friends from Mumbai visit us on a weekend and we wanted to take them out to a really nice place for lunch. I had been to the 100 feet restaurant on 100 feet road, Indiranagar before for a client meeting, but did not have anything to eat as the conversation was for precisely 10 minutes, and despite it being lunch time, I had to use common sense not to order. "Never mind. Next time", I said.

 The next time happened this time, when we decided to take our friends there for lunch. I was sure of the ambience. I wasn't sure of the food! Well, you never try, you never know!

 When we reached the restaurant, we ordered a mocktail, and a Gin 'n Tonic to begin with, before ordering the main course. It took them more than 45 minutes to get it!!! Wonder if they sent their staff to the market to buy it! Thankfully, we were not so hungry and we skipped the starters, which would have taken forever to start (pun intended).

They had a Greek Food Festival running there- which wasn't particularly Greeky! Never mind.

 We ordered a Margarita pizza,a Greek Salad, a fish dish and another dish between the four of us. Needless to say, it took them a decade to bring the food from their kitchen to the table. I could have flown to Mumbai in that time! We waited more and ate less, simple because by then our appetite had died and the food wasn't worth the price.

 Oh! Did I mention how unreasonable expensive it was- considering that they even got the CHEESE on the Margarita wrong!!! We paid almost around 500rs for a plain cheese pizza, in which, there were precisely two tiny pieces of tomato!

 I won't complain about the Greek Salad. It was nice, but again, having just a few pieces of veggies and bits of lettuce for around 500 rs, topped with pathetic service doesn't do justice and makes you feel like you've just been robbed.

 We had looked up the menu online, and no prices are mentioned either on Zomato or on their website. For that matter, I feel like throwing a 'tomato' at 'Zomato' for giving it a good review!

 This place needs to dig a pit 100 feet deep and build a restaurant there, as thats where its place is. The phrase, 'Never judge a book by it's cover' holds true for this place.

 Tell you what, the worse part is, I'm not sure if even the Gin was what it should have been, considering that I didn't even feel marginally happy after having it and Jin doesn't like it if the Gin ain't up to its mark :P