Rajdhani Thali -> Get Ready to be ‘Aam’ified

Did you know that over 250 varieties of mango are grown in India, and that we produce slightly more than 50% of Mangoes in the World?  Amazing statistics, and no wonder, come summer season, and we are scrambling across markets to find and eat our favorite mango variety. It is then appropriate that, Rajdhani celebrates the season with its ‘Aamlicious’ Thali.  Here is the review for it.

It is a given, when you are at any Thali Restaurant, that you would probably be overeating, and more so with Rajdhani, given the huge variety of dishes to savor. We were prepared to have a lot of food as we embarked on our mango discovery journey here..

Drinks:

·     Mango Lassi: Sweet-n-Sour, thick and delicious, but a tad heavy to start off a meal.

·     Mango Thandai: A fav. Holi and Shivaratri drink, this version with mango wasn’t particularly great, but not bad either.

·     Kairi Panna: This was my personal favorite from the lot. The sweet-sour of raw mangoes in a refreshing drink, this went well with the meal, being light as well as a change to your taste-buds

Starters:

·     Aam Khasta Kachori: Crispy kachori with a hint of mango, made this a nice eat.

·     Mango Dal Dhokli: Starter of the day for me, this was almost like a chaat, with a tangy sweet-sour base and pieces of daal-dhokli and aam slices. Amazing flavors in this one!

·     Mango Ring Dhokla/Kairi Kanda Dhokla:  Two versions of the classic dhokla. The rink shaped one with ripe mangoes and the regular dhokla with the falvours of raw mango. A good touch to a traditional Gujarathi dish. Liked this!

There were several other starters/chats as well, such as the Mango Khichiya Chaat and Mango Karkara Roll along with several varities of Chutneys like Mango Choonda and Papad Churi.

Mains:

At this point, we were almost full, given the immense varieties of appetizers that we had, but we ploughed on. Here is an extract:

·       Khaata Moong: Regular dry, boiled moong dal and hints of raw mango, this was a nice light mains dish.

·       Arbi Kairi Nu Saag: Arbi or Colocasia, is not liked by many, due to its slightly slimy texture. However, cooked properly, it can be really tasty. I was pleasantly surprised by this Parsi dish which had spinach and raw mango, to heighten the flavors here.

·       Kanda Kairi Subzi: Assorted veggies with the tang of raw mango, this would go great with any of the rotis available here.

·       Mango Kadhi: Being such a staple dish in most Rajasthani, Gujrati and even Maharashtrian households. Experimenting with Kadhi can be tricky. This version here, was a hit and a miss, it was liked me several people and disliked in equal number. ME, being a mango fanatic, liked it!

·       Mango Surti Dal: An Indian meal can rarely be complete with a daal to accompany it. This lovely daal was the perfect foil to the tangy, spicy dishes preceeding it, and I relished it with the Mango Pulao.

These were served with Kairi Thepla, Khoba Roti and Mango Vegetable Pulao and each of them went well with several of the dishes from above. A decent main course, if you are a Mango fan and haven’t filled up too much on the starters.

Desserts

It is hard to be enthusiastic for desserts after such an enormous meal, however, some of these were so good, that we had them despite being full to the brim.

•    Aamras: Truly a nectar for the Gods, Aamras is pureed mango pulp with a hint of cardamom, sugar or jaggery and sometimes a bit of milk. The aamras at Rajdhani was truly divine and I could have an entire meal made up of this alone.
• Hapus Jalebi: Be prepared to be amazed, as you find pieces of fresh, sweet hapus(alphonso) mango pieces inside a crispy jalebi shell. This is the first time I had a ‘stuffed’ Jalebi, and I habe to say, I was really impressed.
•  Angoori Applet Kheer: After the extravagantly sweet desserts above, this one paled in comparison. It was a standard kheer with tiny apple slices, and grapes, and I would rate it as just average.

Verdict:

Rajdhani has been a pioneer in popularizing the Thali concept across India, and while I respect their decision to go with a Mango-Based Thali, it can be overwhelmingly sweet for someone looking to have a regular thali. There are mostly 2 predominant textures in this thali, sweet and sour, which throw the balance right out of the window. While the individual dishes are really good, a more careful approach to get the right balance in this thali is required. But the thali is still worth it, and more

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The Monsoon - Park Hotel

Often, when visiting 5-Star hotels, we are overcome by an overwhelming desire to have everything served in a fancy way, maybe a gimmick or two, and all the bells and whistles that we have come to expect from modern experimental cuisine. I personally prefer to call this, ‘Five-Star Myopia’. While presentation is an integral part, I would never sacrifice good taste over a few superfluous add-ons. The Monsoon at The Park, Bangalore is the all-day dining arm of this hotel on MG Road, and while the thrill factor might be low here for some diners, what I did get here was well-prepared and authentically cooked food with a super clean presentation. Here is how my visit there went:

Location/Ambience:

Situated right opposite the 1 MG Road mall, this The Park Hotel is hard to miss. The Monsoon has Café like vibes, and is a relatively small dining space beside the other more popular eating arms of the Park, such as Italia and I-Bar. They have both à la carte as well as buffet options,but I prefer ordering items that I like off the Menu. However, I did sample some of the buffet offerings as well. The lighting is subdued, the serving is unobtrusive and the tables spaced a little too close for my comfort.

The Experience: 

I was in the mood for some good Wine and I found that they have a decent selection of wines, both from India and Abroad. While it is always easy to order any wine that you like, sometimes it takes careful planning to order something that pairs well with your food. I decided to go for a Chardonnay from the Chablis region of France, the Albert Bichot Chablis Les Vaucopins Domaine Long-Depaquit 2012. Yeah, a mouthful to pronounce and hard to remember, but the wines from Chablis are renowned from having excellent aging capabilities and this lovely full-bodied Chardonnay was no exception.

To begin our dinner, we ordered the seafood bisque. It arrived just after our wine bottle was opened, and the timing was perfect to pair these two. The bisque was beautifully made, with shrimps, clam shells, oyster shells and had a rich-slightly creamy flavor. The dull acidity of the Chablis was the perfect foil to this wonderfully-rich soup, and our dinner was off to a fabulous start.

While we were waiting for the main course to arrive, seeing the nice salad section in the Buffet area, the Wife had a sudden craving for some crispy greens. A quick assembly of crispy iceberg lettuce, grilled chicken, bell peppers, jalapenos and a light lemony dressing resulted in a delicious pre-mains snack. Recommended: The Salad section in the lunch/dinner buffets

For the mains, we had ordered the Grilled Salmon Steak and the Chateaubriand. The salmon steak was a beautifully grilled Norwegian Salmon, with a light lemon and caper sauce, some grilled veggies and mashed potatoes on the side. The steak was done just right, with a crispy skin on the outside and a lovely pink color on the inside. Thumbs up to this dish.

The Chateaubriand steak is a dish which is open to interpretation when it comes to the sauce, but it should essentially include a thick-cut from the tenderloin fillet. The dish that I had was prepared along the traditional lines, with a well-done steak, a lovely-thick well-reduced sauce, grilled veggies and mashed potatoes on the side.

The lovely clean plating on both the above dishes was something that we felt more restaurants should follow.

For dessert, we went with the Signature Mud Pie with vanilla ice-cream. This was probably one of the best mud-pies I have had in Bangalore, and was an experience you should definitely have, if you ever visit Monsoon. Again, the simple plating did not prepare us for the decadent mud-pie that we bit into. A slightly-thick crust, and as we cut into it, a spurt of hot chocolate trickled out, and as it swirled around on the plate, melting the lovely vanilla-bean ice-cream, we were in dessert heaven. A few seconds later, a nearly-white plate was could be seen, and it was hard to tell that this was where a mud-pie had been served. A testament to the amazing preparation that we had.

Verdict: If you can ignore the slightly cramped seating, and an average ambience, you can actually enjoy an amazing meal here at the Monsoon.

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Flechazo - 'Mediterranean' + 'Asian' Cuisine

My initial reaction when I heard about Flechazo was, “Another buffet place near Marathahalli?” However, a couple of visits later, that impression changed completely. Here’s why:

Location/Ambience: 

Located on the Outer Ring Road, on the opposite side of Durga Petals/Alpine Eco apartments, and adjacent to a HPCL petrol bunk, this place can be spotted from the road as well. It is on the second floor and shares space with a Nissan showroom which is on the ground floor. The seating at Flechazo is indoors, and though they can accommodate a lot of people, seating doesn’t feel cramped, and the place is airy, the décor though not over the top, keeps in rhyme with the theme (Flechazo- Spanish for Love at First Sight). The buffet is well spread out throughout the breadth of the place, which makes sure that there are fewer bottlenecks, which shows that the plan was well though-out. Food: This place started out with serving Mediterranean Food, but it now serves ‘MeditterAsian’ food. This eatery sets its food distinctly apart by offering things that people like, but with a twist. It has a huge variety of food, and you get to walk around the various counters, and sample food, almost like you are exploring street food in Thailand. Here is the food breakdown by course, but note that their menu changes every week, and you might not get all the items mentioned below. 

Starters: 
These are served at the table, and though the variety is not huge (3-5 for veg and non-veg), the taste more than makes up for it. My personal favorites were the cottage cheese in BBQ sauce, and the mutton seekh kebabs. The hummus and pita tasted good, and were spot on, in terms of authenticity.

Counters: 

They have a live-counter, where some of the items come to you via a conveyor belt. Nice concept, and the items include a very forgettable Sushi (Both veg. and non-veg), Pani Puri with options of filling, including sweet and sour, chaats (which were decent). There is a soup/salad/sandwich counter at the very corner of this place, near the Main Course, which is deserted most of the time, and I didn’t try anything from here. My favorite counter though was the mutton keema/pav one, where buns are toasted in butter, and served with a Bengali rendition of the Mutton keema or mutton ‘chaap’, as it is called.

Desserts: 

This deserves a special mention, because they have such a large variety of very-good tasting desserts, unlike other buffet places. Where do I start, their Mango Lassi Tiramisu, the French Floating Island with anglaise, the hot, crispy jalebis and many more were great! A pleasant surprise was the presence of macarons, which were really well made, and looked beautiful too! Last, but not the least was the ever-famous Nitro infused ice-creams, and we were lucky enough to try all their flavors. A bit of theatrics always helps, but the ice-creams themselves were very tasty and I ended up gorging on these, including my top favorites, the Pan-Shot and the Kala-Khata flavours.

Drinks: 

Another surprise was the taste and variety of their cocktails. I tried a couple of their signature cocktails, A juicy scandal, and the citrus interfusion, which were beautifully presented and well-made. A buffet pace serving good cocktails is definitely a rarity, but Flechazo pulls this off with elan!

Service: 

The service here is very good, and the servers try their very best to understand your inclinations and recommend items accordingly. And especially, the warmth of the service is something which will remain with me for some time to come. Verdict: A team party in the offing, or if you are just ravenously hungry, this place will manage both these situations, as long as you book in advance. Great Service, excellent food and amazing desserts, make sure that this will definitely be a buffet place to watch out for.

P.S: They also have the concept of make your own pizzas, where you start with rolling the dough to taking out the final baked pizza from the oven. Try it out, it’s fun!

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