“Eat’N’Drink” is arguably the best chai kadai / tea shop in the world. They’ve got over thirty items on a menu that covers some great variations on Chai, Coffee, Sandwiches, Bunwiches, Samosas, Vadas, Bondas and …  a Kerala Banana Fry that’s a complete meal in five inches.

There are two things that really make this a great stopover*. One : the taste factor which is 10 on 10. Two : the price factor, which is absolutely drop-your-jaw. Who’s it run by? No marks for guessing: a bunch of enterprising, young Malayalees:)

While regular chai is Rs 3 a cup, Ginger, Lemon and Special Chai are Rs 5 for a small cup and 10 for a larger cup. Black, Ginger and Mint Coffee come at the same kind of pricing. A “Bun Omlet” as they spell it, is Rs 10; a “Double Bun Omlet” is Rs 15. A Vegetable or Egg Sandwich is Rs 15. A cup of Maggi Noodles is Rs15. Vadas and Bondas are Rs 5 each; Egg / Veg puffs are Rs 7 each. Check out the Vermicelli Sweet Milk (also 15) if you want something that tastes like Kheer.

Location : Kammanahalli Main Road – a little past Sathya Hospital, if you’re driving towards the Ring Road. Just look for a huge Banyan Tree to your left and go roughly 30 yards beyond that. Eat’N’Drink is a corner shop, to your right. (I think it’s across the road / opposite Kanti Sweets.)

* Open from 5.30 am to around 11 pm. This is a stand-by-the-counter-and-drink-your-chai kind of place. The interiors could be a wee bit smoggy, if you’re the fussy type. My advice : forget the fuss and enjoy your Chai and Kerala Banana Fries.

Google Maps Link

This is Dr Jaiprakash, my regular chai buddy
at this chai kadai.

Karnataka Wine Board had a concerted effort to promote wine tourism, a very first a three day wine festival which was organized in Lalbagh this weekend, people took this opportunity to test and buy different types of wines from leading wine manufacturers like Grover, Kinvah and Naka…

The State wine policy allows individuals, groups, companies and to organize wine festivals. However, there’s a strict no-no to fortified wine (alcohol-added wine) during these festivals. Karnataka has 600 acres under grape cultivation, with Nandi Valley in Chikkaballapur and Krishna Valley in Bijapur with the highest cultivation.

Lalbagh is housing mango and jackfruit festival till 15th June 09, number of varieties of mangos and even jackfruits( I never knew there exist varieties in jackfruits until I visited) the famous glass house..

There are quite a few stalls sampling the mangos and selling them at an affordable price…I was glad to see ( and taste few of ) the varieties like Langra , Nekkare, Arka Puneeth, Arka Arun, Totapuri, Amrapali, Sendhuri, Dashehari , Kesar, Rasapuri to name the few along with popular Badami & Alphonso…

“Kindly pay cash to cashier only.” Who else would you pay cash to?

Typically, most South Indian restaurants – the smaller ones – have a cash counter at the entrance. So you decide what you want to order and pay up in advance. What the restaurant owner doesn’t want you to do is pay the chap at the food counter by mistake. That’s when you might get what you want, but the owner doesn’t get the money.

Another sign I’ve seen at a restaurant – which I must shoot one of these days – is a sign near the wash basin, just under the mirror. It says,  “Please don’t comb your hair here.”

There’s possibly good reason why that sign’s out there. I have seen teenagers take a good 10 minutes getting their locks in place, while other people are patiently waiting to wash their hands, after a good masala dosa.

But how do you know where the wash basin is, if you’re new to the restaurant? Just look for the sign that says “HAND WASH”  with an arrow pointing you in the right direction.

The annual mango party is back at Ranga Shankara and will be held on Saturday May 23rd from 2 PM to 6 PM. A one of its kind event in the country dedicated to the Mango, one of India’s special gifts, Mango Party is all about celebrating the mango every year in so much abundance and variety.

Keeping in tune with the Indian tradition wherein the mango is seen as a community fruit, Ranga Shankara has celebrated the Mango Party annually with great zeal involving large numbers of people. With the theatre community being in attendance one can look forward to spontaneous songs, scenes and entertainment.

This year there will also be special entertainment for children and others in the form of mango stories by Padmavati Rao, mango games, Paint-a-mango, on-the-spot story writing contests, best mango recipe (send your recipe to rstheatre@gmail.com to enter the competition) and much more.

The party is open to all. All one needs to do to enjoy the party is bring a kilo of mangoes and eat as much as one can from the pool. Ranga Shankara will strive to bring as many varieties as possible to the pool.

–
Ranga Shankara
36/2, 8th Cross
J P Nagar, II Phase
Bangalore – 560 078
P: 080-26493982 / 26592777
E: rstheatre@gmail.com
W: www.rangashankara.org

Served on a banana leaf the north kanara meals are a pleasure to enjoy. This meal is popular for soft and tasty Jowar (Sorghum) roti served with a brinjal curry, cucumber and onion raita (salad) in Curd, greens & lentils curry.

Once you enjoy the Roti’s, then it is time to enjoy steamed rice served with rasam or drum stick sambar a yummy affaire for sure. Not to miss the curd served in earthen pot, a masala buttermilk and various pickles and chutney powers kept on the table….satisfaction guaranteed!!

Place > Kamats Yatri Niwas @ Gandhi Nagar, Majestic area
Cost > Rs.100 + taxes for regular ( seen above) meals… (unlimited)

A few days ago, we took one of our binge breaks during lunch for an unlimited thali. And the name on top of our list was the restaurant at Brindavan Hotel. Easily among the best places for a vegetarian thali if you can manage a “post meal snooze” that is inevitable.

The taste here is truly typical of a “Bangalore/Mysore” thali, if there’s one.

You start your “session” with a banana leaf that has at least four vegetable “kootus” and “poriyals”, along with soft, fluffy chappatis (you can eat as many as you want.) You then have the sambar, rasam and curd sessions with rice – again unlimited. Another highlight here is this chap who keeps floating around with a tray of appalams – catch his eye and he’ll hand out an appalam and a smile.

The interiors here resemble a military mess, with marble top tables; nothing’s probably changed for the last twenty years. You need to buy a lunch coupon first at the counter at Rs 70 per meal. (Was around Rs 50 not too long ago, but still worth it if you can do justice to the “unlimited” aspect of the meal.)

Brindavan Hotel is near the traffic lights at the MG Road / Brigade Road intersection. Coming in from Mayo Hall, you need to go past Shankar Nag theatre and turn left into a narrow lane after the gas station (well before the traffic lights.)

Brindavan was among the top 10 restaurants last year
in the Times “Dosa Coffee” contest.

Brinjal, badanekayi, is the king of vegetables which comes with its own crown! This is an event that will celebrate the diversity of Brinjals and contemplate our role in protecting it.

Don’t Miss the first-ever Brinjal Festival in Bangalore

Venue: MHS Hall, Lalbagh (Double road gate)
Date/Time: April 5th Sunday, 11am – 7pm

Good Food, Healthy Food, Safe Food… should be a primary concern of all of us. The Brinjal festival is an attempt to bring a better consciousness and respect for our rich diverse food. Genetically Modified (GM) food crops pose a grave threat to the diversity and to our health as consumers. Let us all make informed choices about food, one of most fundamental necessities.

What’s in store?

* Food Stalls with brinjal specials for you to savour
* Cooking competition for innovative Brinjal dishes
* Drawing competition and more fun events for kids
* Brinjal Diversity Exhibition showcasing more than 30 varieties of brinjal
* Screening of Mahesh Bhatt’s film Poison on the Platter
* Awareness campaign about GM foods and the risk to our health and environment.
* Meet scientists, farmers, doctors and Ayurveda practitioners and some well known celebrities.

To register for competitions, visit http://bangalore.aidindia.org/cms/?q=brinjalMela.

For any queries:

E-mail: brinjalfest@gmail.com

Contact:

Sejal – 9901201279 (sejalrparikh@gmail.com)
Siddesh – 9880600840 (tosiddesh@yahoo.com)
Pulkit – 9916173750 (pulkitparikh@gmail.com)
Guru – 9845294184 (mguru.aid@gmail.com)

Organized by

Association for India’s Development (AID)- Bangalore
Sahaja Samrudha
Samvada
Jaivika Krishi Society (JKS)
Mysore Hoticulture Society (MHS)

Tickets are priced at Rs.350, and are available at Ranga Shankara,

www.rangashankara.org

2659 2777 and 26493982

and at

www.indianstage.in

Click

here

for more details

Eat like the French is a unique multi-dimensional theatrical experience, comprising of a play with food as its central axis, and a post-play food and wine tasting event to complete a tantalising experience. The play ‘12000 little pies and other delicacies’ is an adaptation from the book, The Physiology of Taste by the 19th century writer, epicure and gastronome, Brillat-Savarin.

Sustained by four greedy women, or ‘gourmandise’ from the book, the play attempts to unravel the perception of the French as a some what snobbish and high browed race and their pseudo scientific relationship with the culinary arts. The play is as much about sensuality as it is about food. The enticing narrative is peppered with vivid and humouristic descriptions of exotic recipes, their preparation, and the effect they have on the human spirit, mind and body – and is relayed through a delightful smogasbord of dialogue, costume, music, and imagery.
Set in an era when French society was moving on from the cultural and socio-political chaos and structure of the past, the play offers Brillat-Savarin’s ideas on food preparation and its role in life and philosophy. And in doing so educates the viewer about the true nature of gastronomy, which is essentially the point where food fuses with the fine arts.

The language of the play is eloquent, subtle and titillating with dollops of humour that is compatible with delicacy and promises a feast to the senses unmatched by anything an audience has experienced before.
What is distinctive about the adaptation is the oral transmission of a speech that is addressed more to the senses than the intellect, whilst always maintaining a decorous sensuality. It weighs all the elements that contribute to the pleasure of tasting and all that results from it.

Stimulating the taste buds of the audience by some savoury evocations of delicacies, the ‘gourmandes’ inspire and educate the audience about an art of living, a way to think, and a culture that seeks a greater satisfaction of the senses and the spirit. The momentum built through the play gently unfolds as a palette of feelings inherent to the pleasure of eating and inevitably leads to intimate sharing and conviviality.

A unique workshop, tailored exclusively for those who have always wanted to run a cafe, an eatery or a specialty restaurant. Moderated by Madhu Menon of Shiok, the workshop will cover all aspects of what it takes to be a budding gourmet entrepreneur. A never before opprtunity to minimize all your risks before you actually start out. The course covers everything from cost analysis to crafting profitable menus.

Dates: 21st and 22nd Feb
Time: 11 AM to 6 PM
Course Fee: Rs.4500
Venue: Shiok
Website: www.ireboot.in
To register, call 9663857828
Venue: Shiok Restaurant, Indiranagar/Koramangala

Contact Mukta Darera on 98862 95353

or email your details to

mukta.darera@ireboot.in

The workshop content will roughly be as follows:

Introduction:

a) 10 minute Q&A session to understand people’s motivations behind attending the session, questions they may have, their ideas of what owning/running a restaurant means

Day 1:

1) Why start a restaurant?
– Misconceptions and pitfalls
– Opportunities
2) Types of restaurants – differences
– Fast food
– Franchises
– Fine dining
– mid-range casual dining

3) How to come up with a restaurant concept
– Market analysis
– fixed costs and variable costs

4) Costs of various kinds of restaurants

5) Menu planning and food costing

6) Staffing
– What kind of people you need for various types of operations

7) Equipment requirements
– Kitchen
– Crockery and cutlery
– Glassware

8) Statutory licences and other paperwork
– Different government departments
– VAT, BBMP, PF, and other registrations

9) Putting it all together – project management guidelines
– Hiring consultants
– Hiring architects
– Planning various stages of the project
– Typical timelines involved

10) Q&A session

Day 2 will be an interactive session on a typical restaurant set up every day, how to handle common tasks like receiving customers, seating them, taking their order, placing order with kitchen, handling difficult customers, etc.

If you want more details, log on to

www.ireboot.in