Amidst all the concrete in Bangalore there are a few places where one can sit under a tree & eat a snack. Eating under the trees breaks the monotony of four walls, crowded tables & breathing the AC air. But in the concrete jungle that Bangalore is there are only a few such options.

A true experience of eating under the trees is the Airlines Hotel on Madras Bank Road (which is off Lavelle Road). Three huge trees & numerous other smaller trees & plants provide the shade over the tables. The best time to visit of course is in the evening when the gentle breeze shakes up the leaves & creates a ruffling sound.

Ordinary tables & chairs are lined up along four rows & are spread across a good area. The food there is the regular fare, i.e. the dosa, idli, rava idli, chaat & coffee-tea type. I would give the food there a fair rating & recommend this place exclusively for the eating under the tree experience. By the way, at Airlines Hotel one can also eat in the luxury of their cars. So that makes it one of those drive in hotels as well. This is probably the downside to this place. Too many cars are coming in & going out of the gate every other minute causing a lot of honking, commotion & noise. The other downside of this place is the fact that the main road is just next to the eating area & hence there is a lot of traffic noise in the background as you eat. At least the traffic noise is cut out when you are eating in an indoor place.

But another place that provides a good eating-under-the-tree-experience is the cafe in Alliance Francaise (Thimmaiah Road, Vasanthnagar). The cafe has two portions to it, one inside under a concrete roof & the other is outside in the open, under the trees. Unlike the Airlines Hotel this cafe is a pretty quiet place (no traffic noise) & is an experience. Huge bamboo chairs provides for the seating outside. The food is a mix of bakery fare like cakes, croissants, packed chips & the like and somosas, kachoris, rolls & coffee. Downside, the cafe closes by 7:30 PM

Yet another place that provided a real snacking under the trees experience was the Karantaka Chitrakala Parishad Canteen (Kumarakrupa Road). But the canteen has since moved to another place in the campus, which although is still under two huge trees the earlier charm is missing. Add to that the construction activity that is on in the vicinity & it becomes double sad.

For someone like me who eats regular fare & rarely tries something new, it’s the extras along with the food that makes it special and by extras I mean the three Cs. Crowd at the hotel, the company you have & the conversations you make. And along with all that if you are eating under a tree, umm…very nice.

In Bangalore snacking under the trees is only a here & there thing. Bangalore being the garden city more such options would be in order.