"Graze"-ing is acquired taste

After all, we aren't cows! Lame jokes apart, Graze is the new address in Bangalore for "dining on the lighter side of European cuisine".

We are somewhat resentful of the place, because it replaced our favorite bar in town - Jockey Club in Taj Residency. Graze is a minimalist and smaller place - not as spacious and plush like good old Jockey Club. When we got there, it was full - a considerable number of them were foreigners - maybe folks staying at the hotel.

Anyway, we were shown in and asked to occupy an extremely cramped table. By then, the ever resourceful Y found us seating at the dining bar facing the bustling open kitchen.

We were the only people at the bar counter. That pretty much set us up for the evening and we had a great time looking at the chef and his staff create some extremely good looking dishes.

As for eating them, well - that’s a different story. For me at least. Y is very adventurous and is open to trying all foods.

Basically this meant that I couldn't enjoy the foie gras and some shell fish based appetizers at all. We drank a couple of imported beers. Asahi was one of them - very light.

The main course was better. I safely ordered roast spring chicken that was done a tad too dry. Y had some excellent lamb chops. The dessert - more than anything was stunningly pretty. I had a chocolate mud cake with 'crème Anglais' and I can't remember what Y had.

The service was brisk and non-intrusive.

Through out, we had a great time watching the kitchen staff at work. Especially the 'make up man' - I think called the Expediter or Announcer, who finished the dishes. He was a delight to watch - working away diligently at the most sparkling and spotless table of the kitchen.

When we were done eating, we had the Chef saunter across to where we were sitting asking us how we liked the meal. I told him about how the chicken was dry and he said, "Yes madam, I too like my chicken juicy and tender but our Indian guests keep asking for it to be sent back to be over done. Also because of my fear about Chikungunya, bird flu etc, I have instructed for the chicken to be well done. Next time you come by, I will take care to have it made to your liking".

!! Fears of Chikungunya after a Rs 4500/- meal and veiled racist comments about Indian dining preferences!

The conversation actually went on to the foie gras and the chef remarked about what an exotic delicacy it is, how it is his personal favorite and that I didn’t have "the tongue for it" - meaning taste for overfed goose liver.

You know, I wish waiters and chefs didn't indulge in small talk - at least with me!

Well, Graze is a smart looking place and expensive. The service and ambience has the usual quality of a star hotel.

As for the taste, I would like to reserve my judgment. I didn't enjoy the meal. Even Y gave it thumbs down.

Who knows? Like the chef said, may be I don't have 'the tongue' for it. Or maybe, we just miss our good old Jockey Club - a place where many an evening was deliriously well spent.

Then again, we eat out a lot and maybe we are right.

Tchi - Good food and that's about it.

Tchi is a Chinese/Thai restaurant tucked away in a quiet interesting corner of Queen's Road - Edwards road in Bangalore. Its a house converted to a restuarant.

I have been there three times now. The very first was just two days after it opened. The bar was not yet functional.

The service was a bit tacky - 'perhaps because of the newness/earnestness ', I thought. The most noticeable factor was that - the waiter doesnt rest till he has hounded you multiple times to take the maincourse order - after you have ordered the soup. The funny thing is - this repeated itself all 3 times!

The food was delicious. Priced a little above average, the portions were very satisfactory and preparations very tasty and balanced in flavors.

The second time around again - great food and tacky service. The head waiter wouldn't rest till he forced out a complete order from us and another waiter spilled wine on our tablecloth. Minor glitches I suppose - but the stuff that separate the classy from mediocre is what I would say.

This third time last month was the worst - their valet service was not present because 'the boys have gone for parcel delivery'!

This time around, they had some extremely bad acoustic live music. Seriously, the place could just do with some soft instrumental music in the back ground.

Of course - the usual: great food and off service.

What finished my experience with Tchi was they way they dealt with the bill. Suddenly, they were not able to accept credit or debit cards! Their 'server' was apparently down. We paid up a bill of Rs 2000+ in cash - rather unexpectedly and headed out looking for an ATM to replenish our cash reserves to last for the weekend.

To conclude. like my title says - good food and thats about it.

And frankly, Bangalore has such a vibrant eating out culture, I could easily give Tchi a miss and not notice it at all for the rest of my eating out here.

And thats what I am going to do. :)

Sumptuous Tuesday At Barbeque Nation

After bleary eyed and somewhat blue-ish mondays, tuesdays are always good for me. Happy things happen and I am usually productive.

Today, I came to work on time, am getting stuff done and best of all - went to Barbeque Nation for lunch today with my office colleagues.

This is a very busy place on all days (reservations are a must) and the the grill + buffet idea works very well for an office lunch. The grills are interesting and having one at your table is a first for Bangalore.

This is the third time I am visiting the place. And this time around, the non-vegetarian grills were reduced to 2 from 3. I hope it was a one off today. The buffet is regularly refilled and so far has maintained a consistent satisfactory quality.

There are 2 or 3 non-veg grills and 3 veg grills served at your table with a variety of sauces and marinades. There is the excellent gilafi kulchas to go with the kebabs. A complimentary mocktail or a pint of beer is also part of the buffet.

Then you could proceed to the buffet that starts with 2 soups and a good quality salad counter. The main course for the non-vegetarian has 1 fish, 1 chicken, 1 meat main course and a meat biriyani. There is typically a paneer dish and 2 other vegetarian main courses, a pasta, plain rice, dal, curds in the vegetarian section. Of interest are also the pickles and chutneys kept in a corner. Indian breads ( rotis, naan and kulchas ) are served at the table.

Finally, the dessert counter has 2 or 3 pastries/puddings , 2 Indian sweets (Gulab Jamoons always), fruits and ice creams. Its pretty good.

A good buffet - but sometimes the queues are long.

All this for about Rs 282/- inclusive of taxes. For lunch. For dinner, it is Rs 400 + taxes. The number of grilled kebabs are increased - 5 vegetarian and 5 non vegetarian.

The restuarant has 2 more levels which open for dinner only, I think. The 2 nd floor has a view of the Airport Road flyover which I thought looked pretty good. The first time I went there was for dinner and there was some good live singing on the second floor.

Thats it - Barbeque Nation is a fixed menu place - lunch and dinner - every day! :)

Barbeque Nation is busy at nights too. So, it is not exactly a great place for a quiet, intimate and paced meal. But its still great value for money and is a must try - at least once.

Oh they also have valet parking.

As for our lunch, the food was great and the company fun.

It was also a much needed respite for office cafetaria food.