Whip up your own cafe!

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

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As a proud resident of Malleshwaram a few years back, the only the other place I ever wished to live in was – you guessed it – Jayanagar 4th block. For vegetarian middle-class souls, these two areas in Bangalore are worth Paris, London, and New York rolled into one. And not without reason. There are few such places in this universe where one can go around with a list of tasks and get them all done in a single walk. From getting clothes altered, to sipping a cup of coffee and tucking in an idli or two, to saying a hello to a desired God there is a little bit of everything for the mind, body, and soul.  Because of the restrictions of space and patience of my readers, I am going with my  gut feeling and writing about that one thing that you, my readers can never have enough of – great food that is light on the wallet. (more…)

I was at VV Puram a couple of days back & decided to visit the famous area near VB Bakery to eat something. This area is called by different names. Some call it Food Street & others like my friend who resides in that area calls it Circle. It is basically one small stretch of road where hawkers & small hotels sell varieties of food ranging from capsicum bajjis to ‘obbattu’ to the regular idlis & dosas. This specific area has been written about previously as well in Metblogs. (you could check those posts by searching for ‘street food’)
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Elsewhere on this blog, in a different post, a reader had commented about Veena Stores in Malleshwaram. When yours truly was passing by the place, it struck a tiny bell. However, due to circumstances, I could not stop to check out the place. Managed to take a pic, though. From first impressions, the place – no more than a hole in the wall, it appeared – strikes you at first go as a) it attracts customers from all strata of society – from the arriviste / nouveau riche right down to the humble daily wage earner, as represented by the SUV and the bicycle in the pic below and b) patrons seemed content to stand outside, oblivious to the heat, dust and passing traffic, sporting very satisfied looks as they ate!

Obviously, it called for a repeat visit. And that opportunity came by during the previous Saturday when your’s truly made it a point to stop and visit this well known and highly recommended place.
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When it comes to Hotel tariff’s, The back office rush to the city from Global MNCs has resulted in placing Bangalore among the top 5 expensive cities in the world!! says a report.

• Moscow remains the most expensive city with average room rates of 236.06 pounds (Rs 19,433).
• New York City at the second slot (180.29 pound),
• Dubai (166.73 pound),
• Paris (165.84 pound) and
• Bangalore, which has an average room rent of 162.04 pounds (Rs 13,341) for the first six months of 2007.

The rise in rates have been fuelled by a limited supply of hotels with rooms moving in the upper end of the market to meet the demand from the expansion in the banking, finance and IT sectors.

Let me warn you, don’t compete the infrastructure here, nor even the per capita income!! The city seems to have has just started earning to spend!!

Off late, as we reported about Instant meal solutions from MTR, the brand itself created the news today…

MTR Foods Ltd, was acquired by Orkla SA, the leading Norwegian branded food major, for $80 million (Rs.3.52 billion) in an all-cash deal. The deal, signed Feb 9 in Singapore by MTR Foods chairman Sadanand Maiya and Orkla Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of the $8.8-billion European firm, is subject to the Indian regulatory approvals, including the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
Mr.Maiya, who holds 40 percent of the company’s equity, and his friends and relatives, who collectively hold 19 percent of the total stake, will exit the business in phases.

Another Reason for us, The Bangaloreans to be quite nostalgic about!! humm!!

Day long shopping at MG road / Brigade Road…Scorching sun, after a while one gets tired and looks out for bit relaxation and Food to fillin…
When the criteria for the place is cool, relaxed atmosphere,great food…and with a polite service….The name which comes to my mind is Coconut Groove on Church Street…

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If you happen to be in Whitefield and are hungry, the great luncheon is awaiting you in Flavour @ Radha Hometel, a Sarovar group hotel that combines the best in terms of pleasure and leisure, providing to its patrons that special Indian Hospitality. The hotel intends to provide finest hospitality service to the IT hub in Bangalore….

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When my son had to travel to the West Indies for over 45 days he was just recovering after a bout of jaundice. So I was worried about his diet but he said ” Ma, don’t worry I am filling my bag with MTR’s ‘ready to eat’ things. ” Oh, what a relief that was! and I knew there was no danger to his health.

MTR is the popular short name of Mavalli Tiffin rooms established in 1924 in bangalore by Mr. Yajnanarayana Maiyya.When he toured Europe for the first time, he was impressed by the clean restaurants there and hygiene has been a major selling point of MTR for the past half century ever since. It remains in the same place till today where it is almost easy to miss the innocuous building which reflects none of the international fame it has achieved today. Just as the address has remained the same, the quality of food has remained the same and the owners refuse to compromise on quality for larger reach. In 1976 they started packaging the Rava idly mix thereby becoming pioneers of packaged food. In fact the Rava idly was invented by the cooks of MTR when they were faced with rice shortage during World war 2.
Their foray into packaged food and instant powders that started in 1976 with the instant Rava idly mix and has slowly expanded today to 11 food product ranges: spices, instant mixes, ready-to-eat foods, ready-to-cook gravies, frozen foods, papads, pickles, chips, pastas, snacks and ice creams.
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– An afternoon at Villa Potipatti, a heritage property at Mallesnwaram

(With additional inputs and photographs by Anita)

Lunch and dinner served in the shade of a huge mango tree in the garden of an old style bungalow on a mild, wintry Sunday afternoon. No loud music or huge crowds or long waits for a place. The only noise you can hear is the sound of chattering squirrels on the trees with a bird periodically trying to get in a word edgewise.

The lovely courtyard where you can relax with your meal under the trees

The meal consisting of soup, salad, main course (choice of vegetarian and non vegetarian available on the daily menu) and dessert is priced at Rs.350 plus taxes.

Sounds tempting?
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