Eating in Bangalore Part 2

Patrick Bangalore, Food, Life in India, Restaurants

A few more places that we’ve eaten at:

  • Ginseng – Located in the Royal Orchard Hotel off airport road, this pan-asian restaurant focuses mainly on Thai and Chinese food though also offers a couple of Singaporean offerings. It’s generally on the more expensive side (for India), with starters, a main and some beers costing about INR1200 per person. Food quality is very good though and despite the curries not being as hot as they could be, definitely had a good kick to them. The restaurant itself didn’t get as busy as it could have while we were there. In fact, only one person occupied a single table (out of the thirty or so) when we arrived though filled up in the next couple of hours. I’d definitely come back here and try the Singapore Chilli Crab at only INR700.
  • Mainland ChinaSethji Home Made Foods – A great local place that offers some great varieties of paratha. Very cheap at only INR40 for a couple of fresh paratha’s with some sauces to dip them into. As hinted at the name, it feels like one of those local restaurants someone is running out of their own home. Definitely recommended for some nice fresh food. Found at: 2148 8th Main 2nd Cross Opposite KEB Hal 2nd Stage Indiranagar, Bangalore East.
  • Mainland China – Chinese cuisine with an extensive food menu (almost like a book!) with a list of interesting cocktails as well. We ate at the two floored one, that was actually not too bad. Lots of different dishes to choose from here, with lots of meat, vegetarian, rice and noodle dishes. Price per head for a large meal including a couple of drinks ended up around INR650. We ate at the one located here: Golden Lights, No.4032, 100ft Road, HAL-II Stage, Indranagar, Bangalore.
  • Brio the cafe Bistro – Found at a Crossword bookstore, this cafe has a couple of outdoor tables where you can drink some of the very milky coffee and tea with some cakes or biscuits. Very much set up in a Starbucks style with lots of cold drinks and many things with a light coffee basis, but probably missing out. Sitting outside is quite nice. I think this is the one we went to: 12th Main Road, 5th Cross Road.

From Bangalore to Mysore

Patrick Life in India, Travel

St Philomenas ChurchEvery immersion class we run, we take the students sightseeing to an area outside of Bangalore called Mysore. Since it was my first class, I went along with all the students from this class that, although ending in a very long day, was very fun.

Mysore is famous for many different reasons and is considered the cultural capital of the state of Karnataka. Our trip happened to be in the midst of one of the many festivals, this one celebrating the goddess Chamundi slaying the demon Mahishasura. During this festival that lasts for ten days, the Mysore Palace and its 100 000+ light bulbs are turned on all night and many other celebratory activities take place in its grounds.

Mysore PalaceThere are plenty of places to visit in Mysore, and we managed to hit quite a lot of them despite all the traffic between each of them. After a three hour bus ride, we arrived at St. Philomenas Church, a fairly newly built church constructed by the Portuguese and is apparently one of the largest churches in the country. It even has a small catacomb that you are allowed to walk through.

Cows RoamingWe then met our local tour guide, who also happened to be born and raised in Mysore, at the famous Mysore Palace. It’s a very large palace, surrounded by an imposing four gated wall, and filled with lush gardens including a beautifully kept rose garden. You’re allowed to take pictures inside the palace grounds but you’re not allowed to bring your camera or your shoes inside the actual palace building. There’s a convenient booth for you to leave your camera near the entrance, and a very busy shoe counter just outside the palace entrance. The palace is amazingly decorative inside and is influenced heavily by Hindu beliefs, with many of the gods and goddesses intricately carved in all of the doors, ornaments and hangings. There are some very interesting paintings, plenty of artefacts and the large and heavy gold throne of the King.

Coconut GraveyardWe eventually made our way to Chamundi Hills that gave us a great view over the entire city. It’s also home to a statue of the demon Mahishasura that the goddess Chamundi slayed and a Hindu temple for the goddess. We didn’t enter the temple up there, choosing to walk around watching the way that cows would roam free, monkeys indulge in many of the scraps and just take in the general atmosphere.

Flowers at KR MarketAfter a quick visit to some local markets, we headed for our final destination, the Brindavan Gardens. Cantered around a major lake, the Brindavan Gardens house a musical fountain very much like the show that you might see in front of the Bellagio though set to some Indian music. A lot of the locals enjoyed the show and even though it lasted for half an hour, I found it slightly disappointing.

It was an exhausting day, starting at 7am and ending at around midnight by the time that we came back. The three hour trip back to Bangalore went by really quickly with a really great game of charades.

The Leela Palace Champagne Brunch

Patrick Bangalore, Food, Life in India, Restaurants

Outside in the gardenThe Leela Palace is one of the most expensive hotels to stay at in Bangalore, apparently costing up to USD500 equivalent night. Internally it’s spectacularly decorated with rose coloured marbled columns holding up the high ceilings. As you walk into the complex, it’s easy to realise this is not your average hotel as you’re stunned with the smell of fresh rose petals.

The Leela Palace is known for many things including its library room (to be covered in another entry) and its famous Champagne Brunch at their restaurant, Citrus. At INR2000 (£26) per person, this meal is comparatively much more expensive as a place to eat though is well worth the money for a special occasion.

BreadsIts food range is unmatched by other restaurants in Bangalore, offering salads, soups, cold plates, Indian food, Chinese food, grilled foods, Japanese food, a number of Western dishes and an entire bar of desserts on offer. They even offer a specialised kids food section, at the perfect height for a very small child.

Better yet, you can order pretty much any sort of drink you like although Indian champagne is the standard drink offered to everyone. Although I’m not a huge fan of champagne, the drink on offer is actually very drinkable. Looking around, there’s nothing stopping you from ordering alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, different types of lassis, other soft drinks and bottled water as well.

DessertsI’m typically not impressed by service in places like this, but the waiters tended to come by enough to fill up our glasses, take away our plates and generally be around to ask for other drinks without being excessively “in your face”. We stayed for a decent three and half hours enjoying the alfresco dining and the cover band dishing out live music and managed to not stuff ourselves too much.

It’s a great experience that I think you have to do once, and although apparently the Olive Beach offers a better brunch buffet, Leela still offers an impressive experience.

Location: At the Citrus restaurant found in the Leela Palace

Details: Champagne Brunch at Citrus
Found at: >Citrus Restaurant, Leela Palace, 23 Airport Road, Bangalore, 560 008, India
Cost: INR2000 per person includes all food and drink
The Kua Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Baby Steps

Patrick Life in India

One of the first lessons you learn in Bangalore is how to cross the road. Now that may seem like a pretty trivial task, but when you have plenty of bikes, cars, and buses hurtling in your direction without stopping, you really do have to be pretty aware of what’s going on. The traffic is pretty much like a very noisy sea, with the honking of horns replacing the sounds of waves crashing.

Corssing the Road

Don’t even think that just because you happen to be standing at a zebra crossing or even a traffic light that cars will stop for you. The trick in India is to cross when there is a break in the traffic, and just go for it. Don’t let a single motorbike make you hesitate, as they will generally go around you. Don’t assume the same for the buses.

Also don’t forget to have a good chuckle as cars and bikes overtake the tractors pulling a truckload. It’s not as hard as it seems as long as you’re patient enough. The morning and evening traffic on Airport Road is notorious for being super busy all the time.

Eating in Bangalore

Patrick Bangalore, Food, Life in India, Restaurants

Well I’ve arrived and it’s been pretty much, eating, sleeping and lots of teaching. It’s great hanging out with all the students (from all our various offices) and even though we don’t seem to leave the complex that much, there’s still so much to do.

Eating out in India is very easy and is relatively cheap for what you can get. Here’s a list of some places that we’ve eaten at and a brief review about them:

  • Bombay Post – Located opposite the Diamond District in a complex that also hosts TGI Friday’s and IndiJoe. It’s a much more upscale Indian restaurant with a wide variety of dishes. I think it tends to focus on North Indian food though we had a plethora of dishes with plenty of rice, bread and various starters. I think between the 9 or 10 of us, it ended up being around INR6000 for both food and drink (Kingfisher beer)
  • BBQ Nation – I think there are several of these restaurants that specialise in serving grilled shish-kebab like foods at the table. Waiters place a charcoal grill into the middle of a table over which they continue to bring pre-grilled sticks of meat and vegetables to continue cooking at the table. They also bring around various curries, tandoor foods, bread and rice to the table in addition to a full buffet covering even more curries, salads, soup and bread. Also on offer is a dessert bar including combining traditional Indian and westernised desserts. I’m not sure how much this one is.
  • IndiJoe – A restaurant located in the complex containing TGI Friday’s and Bombay Post, serving continental food including tex mex, Chinese, Thai, mixed grills, pizza and pasta. A Two for one drink offer continues until about 8pm. Most meals average around INR600 in addition to drinks.
    Gregory’s – An English pub located in the Royal Orchard Hotel serving Chinese, Thai and a small amount of English food. This place tends to attract a more westernised and business crowd, including a couple of plasma screens showing European football. Meals average around INR400 with a pint (330mL) of beer starting at INR120.

Counting down the days to India… 5 more!

Patrick Life in India, Travel, UK Life

Despite being disappointed with the opportunity of heading to India at the start of this year, I knew that another opportunity would come around, even if I had to create it myself. Fortunately my work has been very accommodating and I will be leaving London for a few months and work out of one (or maybe even two) of our offices in India. The main office is based in Bangalore, one of the hubs often described as India’s silicon valley.

I’m very much looking forward to the very different culture, working in a new environment that will help me appreciate all the things here in London and help me appreciate a whole new life as well. I’m hoping to fit a little bit of travel in although I’m not sure how that’s going to fit in with the nature of the work I’ll be doing, requiring a pretty regular running schedule during the week.

I’ve got all the necessary items now – my passport’s got the visa, I have a plane ticket, my immunisations pretty much taken care of, and all the details of arrival all planned out. It’s going to be hectic as soon as I arrive, at the very early hours of 4:30am Sunday morning but I’m looking forward to the opportunity. See you all in a while!

Moving Out and Moving On!

Patrick Coaching, Life in India, Travel, UK Life, Work Related

The biggest news I have this week is that I’m going to be living in India for about 6 months starting from January. I’ll be taking on a new role with other instructors running training and induction classes for people that join Thoughtworks. I’m really looking forward to the experience and I have a lot of support from my work colleagues and sponsor. I hope the people I will be working with will be able to capitalise on all my experiences I’ve had working on the many projects I’ve been on, and I think I will be able to refine a lot of the techniques and approaches I use when coaching teams and pair programming with people. I will also get a huge kick of working with people that are genuinely interested in learning and sharing and like most projects I’ve been on they’ll no doubt be plenty of fun along the way.

It’s a big change for me once again after moving to the UK, but I do plan on returning to the UK after six months and going through the paces again to find another place to live in London. It’s an exciting time and though there’s plenty of stuff to fit into the week before Christmas, it’s going to be completely worth it.