Relishing European flavours at Café Mezzuna

It had been a long week and I desperately needed something to pep me up a bit. What a better mood buster than some lip smacking food, right?

Deciding the place where I would pamper my taste buds wasn’t that difficult as there was this one café I was hearing good reviews about and was for long on my wish list. Becoming the next big thing in the café scene in Bengaluru, Café Mezzuna was an absolute delight!

Ambience

Located on St Mark’s road, Café Mezzuna is easy to spot. A little ahead of Truffles, a big black hoarding reading out Café Mezzuna is something you can’t miss. A basement level with minimalist furnishing, wooden décor, white walls and crockery, the ambience of this place is indeed quite lovely! With options of indoor and outdoor seating, the café is spacious, decorated with artistic wall hangings and has a feel good aura. Yes, this place does get very crowded, however even in all that noise of conversations and music; you can enjoy a good meal and not feel agitated with all the commotion around you. Casual seating in a cosy dining environment is what stands out here.

We opted for the outdoor seating, where a bed of artificial grass was laid out. After getting seated comfortably (changed tables twice) and having a look around the café, I went through their extensive menu.

Menu & grub

Their bar and food menu is very elaborate. If you want to drink and have some starters to go with it, you can do that or if you want to have a proper continental meal, you can do that as well. Since I was very sure that I wanted to relish some good food and have a proper meal, we started by ordering for mocktails and starters.

Watermelon & basil crush, CNC (Cucumber frappe spiked with cumin) and the ginger twist was what we ordered from the mocktail menu. The first two drinks were absolutely refreshing, especially CNC. The mix of cucumber and cumin gives you a kick which energizes you. The ginger twist was just okay, wasn’t too great for me to sing praises of and it wasn’t bad either. It was just another drink!

CNC, so good!

Ginger Twist

Watermelon & basil

I started my food tasting-pampering session with appetizers – Spinach – cheese sambousek creamy garlic dip and Potato leek cheddar croquette, smoked paprika aioli. Both the dishes were delicious! The spinach and cheese sambousek was cooked to perfection. The crispness overpowers the taste of the spinach which is the filling hence for people who aren’t a big fan of green vegetables can still enjoy this dish! The croquette was fried well and had a beautiful texture. When the texture looks so good, it’s just all the more appealing to me!

Potato leek cheddar croquette, smoked paprika aioli

Spinach – cheese sambousek creamy garlic dip

While stuffing myself with the appetizers I was quite pleased, my mood was getting better.

In the main course section, you have an array of dishes to choose from. Pizzas to wraps to burgers to risottos, they have it all. I decided to go the Italian way and ordered for a plate of pasta and pizza!

A large-sized thin crusted pizza made its way to our table. Fresh tomatoes, basil, buffalo mozzarella and roasted garlic as the toppings, the pizza didn’t impress me much. For some reason the base of the pizza was wet. Probably the plate wasn’t wiped properly before serving pizza in it. I don’t really know why the base was wet and there was water on the plate but that ruined the pizza for me completely. Moreover, the garlic wasn’t roasted; it was just plucked out and put on the pizza directly, plain. The pizza was just plain bad. Period.

Pasta on the other hand, got me peppy and chirpy again. Yes, this one was not only well cooked but the flavours were so sharp that it just awakens your senses! This is the kind of food I look out for.

We ended our meal with Orange crème brulee, almond biscotti. If you need a sugar rush, this one will seal the deal for you! This dessert is for the sweet tooth if you don’t have one, opt for a different dessert. That said, the crème brulee was delightful! With this thin sheet of caramelized sugar and the almond biscotti, the dessert was top-notch.

Pasta be so yum

Orange crème brulee, almond biscotti

Service & Pricing

The boys were very attentive and it was a no-nonsense service. Very obliging staff and accommodative to your needs.

Pricing is very reasonable! We enjoyed all this and paid less than 1500/- which left us stunned. And this was with all taxes included.

Apart from the pizza, the food overall was good. Yes, they don’t really pay much attention to the presentation of the food but the taste makes up for that. The ambience is beautiful and in the plethora of café’s Bengaluru offers, Mezzuna finds itself in the top of must visit cafes for two reasons. One, their ambience and two, the variety of European flavours they have to offer!

Quick bites:

Rating – 4/5

Cost for two – 1000/- inclusive of taxes

Why you should go here – To enjoy the ambience and treat yourself to some European food

Location - St. Marks Road, 15/16, Ground Floor, House of Lords

Landmark – Building next to Chianti or a little ahead of Truffles 

Travel story: Kolkata - City of joy, food and love

Because in Kolkata, life comes to a standstill.

What are your first thoughts when you think of Kolkata? Mine are fish, rasagulla and narrow dirty crowded lanes with people busy chit chatting. And of course, yellow taxis, the sight of it always makes me smile.

Taxis remind me of the ‘n’ number of modes of transportation available. From underground metros to Toto’s, it's just so fascinating.

Many asked me why I chose to go to Kolkata for my weekend gateway, and honestly I was quite taken aback by this. For me, vacations don’t necessarily have to be beach spot where you get to see the sunset or exotic locales.

I have always been intrigued by the way of life in this city, the atmosphere and the much spoken about Bengali cuisine. Also, since I have never visited this place and food being my weakness, I packed my bags and went there, kick-starting my 2016 travel journey!

Food..Food and Food! All I saw was food around me and all I wanted to do was eat. That pretty much sums up my two-day trip to the city of joy! Very aptly named indeed, joy = food, right? To everyone’s surprise, I managed to see a lot of places as well, Howrah, Victoria memorial, St Paul’s Cathedral, Mother’s Wax Museum to name a few.

Kolkata is a city of contrast. While one side of the city is oh so plush, sophisticated and has such well-designed buildings and, on the other hand, there are slums, narrow lanes, clustered and broken houses and everything that you would normally see in pictures when you Google for Kolkata. In a way, every city has these two sides; however the contrast in Kolkata stands apart. I was staying in the modernised part of Kolkata which has such lovely wide roads, high-end restaurants and well-structured localities.

I was appalled and kept saying this to Durai and Sneha that I have seen a completely different Kolkata in pictures. It was a good sight, yes, but I was curious to see the other side of Kolkata as well which isn’t that developed and that is when Durai and Sneha took me to Shobabazar. And my, this is where you feel Kolkata. Apart from savouring authentic Bengali cuisine, these areas are where you get the true essence of Kolkata.

When in Kolkata you can’t miss out on the scrumptious food they have to offer. From sweets to Bengali delicacies, you just can’t get enough of it. For most of us having Kachoris for breakfast isn’t our first option, hell it’s not even in our breakfast menu but in Kolkata, club kachori is probably something everyone devours themselves in for breakfast. Club Kachori is the miniature version of kachori we get here in Bangalore. Served along with aloo curry, it’s absolutely delicious! And yes, I did try my hand on other things which are commonly offered across breakfast spots in the city. Dhokla, jalebi, dosa, bread pakoda and the list goes on. My favourite meal was at Bhojohori Manna where I relished the classic Benagli cuisine, vegetarian of course! :P

There was just so much food on the table and if not for Sneha’s guidance I wouldn’t know where to start. The meal had few things which I loved like the luchi and channa dal and few things which I didn’t really enjoy one of them being the chutney. Yes, that is a very important component of any Bengali meal but unfortunately, it’s not something which I liked much.  

Bengali meal is a ritual in itself, which I don’t mind following at all. The meal is all the more appealing when you follow the ritual.

Roadside Chinese food, puchkas, rasagullas, sandesh and other sweets were some of the other things I treated my taste buds to. What leaves you stunned here is the variety of sandesh you get, so many flavours, and all of them taste so good. While relishing on all this, I realized if you don’t have a sweet tooth you miss out on so many yummy treats!

And yes, in all this I did visit two restaurants, one was Rang de Basanti Dhaba which serves you some impressive north Indian dishes and Bon Appetit, a tiny café with a homely ambience, I absolutely loved that place. Didn’t try out a lot of things but I spent a good amount of time enjoying Maggie, black forest shake and mango sundae.

What else did I like about the food in Kolkata was the tea! It’s true, the way you drink tea makes a lot of difference. Served in tiny matka’s, the taste of tea heightens. Sharma tea stall and a stall at Ramakrishnapur ghat is where I enjoyed this lovely matka of tea.

Ramkrisnapur ghat reminds me of the Howrah and river Ganga. It’s a lovely sight you know, both the Howrah bridges (one of them looks similar to the Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai) and the sight of the river with Kolkata landscape overlooking it. Stunning, I must say.

After two lovely days of being in Kolkata and soaking into the joy this city has to offer, I made my way back to Bangalore with two big boxes of sweets and one big box of rasagulla. It’s been two days and yes I am hungover. Even after all the chaos of losing my phone, the trip turned out to be lovely. I crave for all the food that I ate there and the relaxed atmosphere.

Vir Sanghavi said it rightly 'if you want a city with soul, come to Kolkata' and I couldn’t agree more with him.

P.S: Street photo courtesy - Durai Subramanium 

The best of red velvet in Bengaluru!

Audrey Hepburn once said; “Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people, it does for me”. I couldn’t agree with her more!

Chocolate will always have a special place in my heart but after a long day at work (which I have been having a lot lately) if there’s something that brightens me up immediately is the flavour of red velvet in my mouth.

Traditionally, a red velvet cake is iced with French style butter. Variations of this cake can be made by trying out different frosting styles like cream cheese or butter cream, either ways, it’s yummy in the tummy.

I admit it; I am in love with this flavour, like head over heels in love with it. Love to an extent that it’s an obsession, hence every time I visit a restaurant and if I see red velvet being offered in the dessert section of the menu, I have to have it! Having tried out so many varieties of red velvet across restaurants/ cafes in Bengaluru, if I had to list out my top 5 these would be my pick:

5) Red Velvet Cake – Creame and Crust

Soft and spongy, the buttercream is absolutely delicious. Mouth-watering to looks at, one bite of this cake and you will experience a sugar rush like never before!

Want some?

4) Red velvet rose cake – Cupcake Noggins

This cake is absolutely divine! After staring at it for a good 30-45 minutes with a heavy heart, I finally decided to cut the cake and have a bite of it and oh it was heavenly! Sometimes you have those moments where you just can’t get over how good something tastes? I had one such moment after having a bite of this red velvet rose cake. 

Beautiful, isn't it?

3) Red velvet cake – Arbor Brewing Company

One of the most popular pubs in the city of Bengaluru which is known for the variety of beer served also serves one of the finest red velvet cake. Looks oh so pleasing to the eyes and when it comes to tastes it's top notch as the flavours burst in your mouth. 

That cream *slurrp*

2) Red velvet cake – Truffles: Ice N Spice

     Truffles, known for its burgers and pastas, this place also serves a variety of desserts and one of the must haves here is the red velvet cake. 

Makes me go nomnom

1) Red velvet cupcake – Glen’s Bakehouse

Glen’s serves the tastiest red velvet cupcake in town! So soft and moist, no one can just have a bite of it because; it leaves you craving for more. 

     

Yummy or what?

What are you waiting for? If you haven't tried these yet, you are missing out on something very delicious! Also, do let me know which place serves the best red velvet cake according to you in the comments section below. :)

It’s a pizza affair at Onesta

What are the little things in life that make you happy? If you ask me, I’d say the smell of mud when it rains, sloppy kisses from Bruno and a cup of hot tea. I call them my little joys! Yes, there’s more to that list and having a pizza loaded with cheese definitely makes it to the top 10.

Winter is here and the joy of eating hot samosa and pakodas, biting into a crunchy pizza and drinking hot chocolate will be heightened. There’s nothing more you’d want to do apart from indulging yourself in a culinary escapade when the weather is so pleasant.

It’s been a long festive weekend and after relishing all the Diwali sweets, I decided to pamper my taste buds to pizzas.

Onesta is a recent entry in the pizza café market in Bengaluru and has created a buzz. Apart from my cravings, the entire buzz made me very curious me and that led me to Onesta.

Ambience

At first look, the place comes across as cramped up. With the way tables and chairs are lined the spacious café seems like it’s not so spacious after all. The décor is unexaggerated and plays with colours of nature, green and brown. Plants beautify the outside seating ambience while the inside seating area is what one would call elegant. There is nothing creative about the décor but like they say simplicity does wonders and Onesta echo’s just the same.

The atmosphere here is buzzing with conversations making it difficult to hear the music in the background, but you know what? I didn’t mind that at all. The laughter and conversations made this place come alive! 

My only concern here was the table we were given. So the table for two here is very small and half the table is already occupied with the placards, spoon stand, water bottle and other things making it difficult for us to adjust our plates and dishes on the table. There was hardly any space on the table and I feared that something from the table would fall if we weren’t careful enough.

Grub

The menu offers you with bruschetta, lasagna, a variety of pizzas (veg and non-veg), drinks and desserts. What disappointed me a little was that there was no garlic bread on the menu. Call me traditional but if I am having a pizza I would like to start by munching on garlic bread first.

We spent some time on deciding which pizza to order and then finally asked for – Pesto & red pepper and Cream roasted veggies. Apart from that we also ordered for Roasted broccoli and cheese bruschetta and Green apple cooler.

As we eagerly waited for our pizzas, the staff served us bread and mayo. I wasn’t too keen on having the bread but since our pizza was taking time, I thought why not just take a bite while I wait to satisfy my cravings. And my, the bread along with mayo tasted delicious! The mayo was oh so yum; I would give it a full ten on the taste test.

As we toasted our green apple coolers, our pizzas arrived and we faced a problem. No place to keep two pizzas on the table! Somehow we managed to rearrange the stuff on our table and found enough place to keep the pizzas.

The cooler was refreshing. We sipped it as we munched on our pizzas and concluded that nothing better would go with it!

Green apple cooler..oh so refreshing!

The cream roasted veggies pizza is loaded with cheese (just how I like it) and dressed with marinated vegetables. How did it fare? Well out of all the pizzas we ordered this one took away the cake. Crispy and cheesy, tasted just right and I was in heaven!

Cream roasted veggies pizza

The Pesto and red pepper pizza didn’t impress me much probably because there was just way too much pesto. I didn’t get to enjoy the crispness of the crust because the pesto overpowered it and felt like I was having bread and pesto and not a pizza.

Pesto and red pepper pizza

Bruschetta, however, was nothing special but the toppings, roasted broccoli and cheese went very well with each other and managed to bring back my cheer.

Roasted broccoli and cheese bruschetta 

We decided to go for another pizza and settled for Farmhouse special as pizza Italia was unavailable. This one is quite similar to the ones you get in Pizza Hut/Dominoes. It passed the test but didn’t really impress me as much as cream roasted veggies did.

Farmhouse special

After the pizza, I headed towards the dessert counter and asked for the Black forest pudding. Delightful to look at, I enjoyed the freshness of the cream the most. Spongy layers of chocolate and the fresh cream makes this one a must have at Onesta. 

Black forest pudding

Service and Pricing

The staff is hospitable however service takes time. The place is usually crowded hence this can probably justify the delay.

The pricing is what is very attractive about this café. You can enjoy a sumptuous meal and not burn a hole in your wallet. A perfect place to go if you are on a budget and, have to treat a huge group of people.

Verdict

When it comes to food, with not much attention paid to the presentation the flavours are right however they won’t blow you away. The pricing is another aspect which is a crowd puller.

However, for someone who dislikes loud and cramped up places, Onesta will not impress you but, if you are someone who just can’t do without pizzas, this place can become your second home.

Quick bites

Rating – 3.5/5

Cost for two – 600 - 800/- inclusive of taxes

Why you should go here – To relish pizzas and desserts at a reasonable price

Location - 562, 8th Main, 4th Block, Koramangala 4th Block, Bangalore

Bookmark us on Zomato

Food for Thought: Skinny girl who is a foodie

I am a foodie but, there have been several occasions where I have been questioned and got surprised looks from people on mentioning that. Why? Well, because I am skinny. I am one of those individuals on this planet who can eat like a pig yet, never gain weight. This has been the story of my life.

The good part of being blessed with high metabolism is that I can eat all I want without any fear of gaining weight. The bad part? Well, it’s all those comments you get to hear.

No, this isn’t going to be a blog post where I crib and cry about those comments I hear but, rather introspection. (Ok, I might crib a little, just a little)

Someone can be a foodie only if they are fat? What kind of logic is that! Being a foodie has nothing to do with one’s weight! You might weigh 100+ kgs or just 50 kgs, being a foodie has got to do with your love for food, and mind you it’s not necessary that that love for food should be physically seen in the body. That is the most ridiculous thing ever if you ask me.

Getting shocked/surprised look when you eat more than everyone at the table is something I have faced so many times and those looks are followed by statements such as – ‘Oh my god, you eat so much, where does it all go?’, ‘how can you eat so much’, ‘I am surprised you managed to finish that’ and, I could just end up writing a book on the various comments one gets. What I don’t understand is, people have a problem if a skinny person eats a lot and they have a problem if they don’t eat a lot, I mean come on, make up your mind people!

Being skinny doesn’t mean you can’t eat large portions and being skinny also does not mean you don’t enjoy the food. The whole point of being a food enthusiast is that you enjoy and relish food a little more than others do and by doing so if one does not put on weight, well that’s just a bonus.

This leads to one of the biggest misconceptions among people about foodies. A lot of them think being a foodie means someone who eats a lot and is always ready to experiment with their palate. Well, probably this is where the problem arises from. Foodie is not just someone who is always up for trying out various cuisines, but a foodie is someone who has an ardent interest in food and seeks out new experiences and learning when it comes food and beverages. Yes, I agree that in recent past the word ‘foodie’ has been used exhaustively to an extent that it has lost its meaning hence, I have settled for calling myself a food enthusiast and just not a foodie.

Like Julia Child once said, ‘people who love to eat are the best people’, and I couldn’t agree with her more. And, if I had to sum up all my thoughts in a sentence it would be, don’t judge people on their interest in food and their love for food basis their body weight, instead eat and make merry and continue to spread the love for food. Sounds good, yeah?

Let’s do Mexican – Chinita Real Mexican Food

I have realised that good food is probably the solution to all life’s problems. Well, at least most of them. And for me, a plate of lip smacking nachos can do the trick.

I completely agree when one says, ‘life without Mexican food is like no life at all’. If you ask me, it’s difficult to find a cuisine which is as colourful as Mexican food. One look at any of the Mexican dishes and it evokes feelings of happiness because it is just so vibrant to look at, full of life.

Yes I know, I am going overboard here, but if you are someone who loves colours, you’d understand what exactly I am trying to say here.

Chinita is one restaurant I had heard raving reviews of since it started. Serving Mexican food, I was obviously very keen on trying this place out with a tad bit of nervousness. Nervousness because, it has so happened to me that every time I hear excellent reviews about anything, be it restaurant/movie/book, anything at all it has in fact disappointed me. My expectations get really high and when it does not match up to it, it is indeed very disappointing. Hence, I have always tried to not raise the bar high no matter how good people tell me something is. So, did Chinita live up to my expectation? Let’s find out.

Ambience

Chinita is a small place packed with wooden tables and chairs. A huge blackboard on one side of the wall and a few plants on the other side, and that’s it there is nothing more to the ambience. Was this disappointing? To an extent, yes! I expected the place to be more lively and appealing. Well, the place is lively with conversations but there is nothing really about the ambience which makes you go ‘Ah, this is nice’! This doesn’t imply that the ambience is bad in all, it’s decent but could have been better.

Food

No brownie points for guessing what I started my meal with, nachos of course. One look at the menu and the first thing I placed an order was for that.

Serving real Mexican food, being a vegetarian what I really liked about their menu is the fact that they have really tried to include 2-3 vegetarian dishes under each category. From enchiladas to burritos to tostadas, they have it all. Hence for someone who really wants to explore Mexican food, Chinita is could be a place to try out.

Virgin Margarita and Iced Café Con Leche graced the table first. Margarita was well, Margarita, the same old taste. Iced Café Con Leche, a fancy name for a simple cold coffee drink with ice cubes in it. Then came the nachos and oh the happiness on my face!

Virgin Margarita 

Iced Cafe Con Leche

The nachos looked so tempting. Beans, onions and cheese being the main toppings it looked absolutely mouth-watering. Did I like it? No, I loved it!

Yes, the beans were a little spicy but, the chips were nice and in all it left a lingering taste in my mouth, hence no complaints.

Nachos be like #nomnom

Next up was Tostadas, the Soyrizo and Potato one. We were served with two corn tortilla chips which were dressed with pico de gallo. Pico de gallo, also called as Salsa Fresca is a Mexican dish which is nothing but an uncooked salad. Chopped vegetable mixed together were the toppings of the tortilla chips along with sour cream, potato mix and tomato salsa.

The dish looked colourful and inviting but, one bite and it left me not wanting to have more. The chips were fine, so was the pico de gallo but what spoiled the broth was the potato mix. It had an ugly taste to it which forced me to remove all the potato on my tortilla chips and have it just with the Salsa Fresca.

Tostadas

This did ruin my mood a bit but I was hopeful that the chocolate chilli cake I had ordered for would do some magic! As delicious as it looks, the cake was just alright. It tasted like the usual chocolate cake and once you were done eating that piece of cake that’s when the taste of chilli peaks. So it tastes all sweet when you start eating the piece cake but gradually that sweet becomes spicy. Interesting change of flavours in the mouth but, the fact that it didn’t really excite me makes me say that the cake was just alright!

Chocolate chilli cake

Service and Pricing

The service was attentive and the waiters did take the initiative several times to check if we were enjoying our meal. This is something I really appreciate.

I am a little dicey about the pricing here. Seems reasonable at first look but then if you are looking at enjoying a full-fledged meal and just not a snack, then it could come turn out to be a little more than a reasonable affair.

Verdict

I have mixed feelings about this restaurant. I wasn’t quite happy with the ambience and the food was average. Service is probably the only thing I would give this place a thumbs up. However, having said that, I wouldn’t deny the fact that they are indeed serving some real Mexican food. For someone who enjoys Mexican food, you should give this place a try and for people who don’t I would suggest to give it a miss.

Quick Bites

Rating – 3.5/5

Cost for two – 1500/- inclusive of taxes

Why you should go here – To taste some authentic Mexican food

Location - 218, near BDA complex, double road, Indiranagar, Bangalore