Carnival de Goa

Carnival de Goa has been on the list for so long now. Either it was the distance or the timing, we never made it here earlier. But this time, when hubby and I had to meet a friend for lunch, we decided that Carnival de Goa it was going to be. With mommy time around the corner, I was not sure when I would find the next opportunity to travel for a nice meal considering I don’t stay anywhere close to the city.

At the entrance - the welcoming Goan tiles

 
Goan food has been a favourite for several years now, but I had not really found that one place that sold that authentic taste one finds in Goa. My search ended here. Carnival de Goa brought that exact Goan taste to Bangalore. To say that I loved the place is an understatement.

Situated close to the Gurudwara near Ulsoor lake and above Grill House, parking is not a hassle. Entering the place on the second floor, a tiled board welcomes you reminding you of old Goan homes. There is a choice of indoor or outdoor seating. Considering the busy street downstairs, we picked the indoor seating. A good choice considering there was a ‘one-man band’ singing there. With all the old English folk and country songs, the experience was definitely Goan. The ambience is good and the famous Mario Miranda- like caricature art work adorns one large wall.

Margarita

 

Ginger Fizz

I liked the menu. It wasn’t cluttered with non-Goan options. Clearly this place means serious business. The bar menu had a good choice of mocktails and cocktails. It was a day of ordering all the old favourites. We went in for a Virgin Mary, Ginger Fizz from the mocktails and a Margarita for a cocktail. The mocktails were great. You can judge a good bartender by the Virgin/Bloody Mary he makes and this one was definitely very good. If not for the pregnancy I would have gone for a second and third helping.

Virgin Mary

The Ginger Fizz had a good pungent punch to it with mint and lime, a good one if you like the flavor of ginger. The Margarita was a good and lemony mix of tequila and some fruit flavours.



The Goan Sausage Chilli Fry

I dived in for starters. The first one to go was The Goan Sausage Chilli Fry. Perfect in every way…I could cry thinking of Goa. Spicy, tangy, meaty……a total gastronomical seduction if you know what I mean. Beef Rissoles were next in line. Goans are good at cutlets and this was one of them. Though made of beef, this one had a strong smell and taste of mutton. The taste was good and can be ordered as a checklist item.

 



Beef Rissoles



When it comes to Goan food, I am not a sucker for seafood. But at a place like Carnival de Goa, it would be unfair to leave this out. So next in line, Squid fry it was. A plateful of rava fried squids arrived. The quantity was good but what stood out was the quality. 9 out of 10 times, you get rubbery squids that you have to chew on for long. These were so fresh and absolutely soft yet crispy. Could go in for second round of this but had to hold on for the main course.



Pork Vidaloo



Sannas

My friends let me choose the main course, so I was a little selfish and ordered all my favourites. We treated ourselves to much more food than we could handle.  Pork Vidaloo with sannas (puffy idlis famous in the west coast) was first to arrive. The sannas were soft, but being a Mangalorean, I think we score higher on this. The vindaloo was extremely high on flavor and spice. With generous quantities of gravy, this dish could burn your guts if you didn’t have it with loads of sannas on rice to combat the red chilli. Two favourites in succession – Prawn Pulao and Goan Saugage Pulao. Both were great in taste and fairly good in quantity.

Prawn Pulao

 

Sausage Pulao

The only dish I had not tried that day was the Chicken Cafreal. Another dish I could travel to Goa for. Carnival de Goa had Cafreal Wings and I had to try them. An easy dish that never goes wrong. But for some reason, this was a big let down at CdG. I really wish I hadn’t ordered for it.

Cafreal Wings

With a  couple of lime sodas to wash down the food and fight the spice, we were through with our Goan lunch party.

Fresh Lime Soda

The bill worked up to a little over Rs 2000 making it completely worth it. A mention of the restrooms here. The ladies restroom had two frames photos of men in their underwear. Wonder what that was supposed to mean. But yes, the loo was clean.

Pay by : Cash and cards

Average meal for two : Rs 1000-1500 (including drinks)

Mel’s overall rating : 4.5 out of 5

Location: 8/6, II floor, Kensington Point, Ulsoor Road, Ulsoor, Bangalore

Ph:  +91 7676767620

 

 

 

 

 

Kanua

Aaah finally I get to revisit my blog after months or should I say years. Well, its not that I didn’t try places or eat during this period but yes, there were some reasons. Firstly I knew I had to watch my pocket and then my growing waistline…this automatically meant slowing down on hopping to every new joint in town.

Secondly (somehow this seems more important) I was preparing to be a mommy. The first few months were tough considering I could not even stand the smell of food and as the days went by…I could not travel much. So that pretty much sums up my bag of excuses.

I feel guilty for those few places I visited and never wrote about but I knew I had to start somewhere all over again. So here goes!

With pregnancy, along with the doc’s list you have to listen to mum, aunt, grandma, cousin, neighbor and everybody else who seems to be interested in what and where you eat.

I was in two minds deciding between a Kerala joint and a Mangy place. The seafood won over the pepper beef fry and we headed to Kanua for dinner on Saturday night.

It was an occasion where hubby and me managed to sneak out some time for a quiet dinner….candle, romance, open seating et al. Much needed at this time when the romance quotient is rather low. I confess, we did only baby talk at the table.

Coming back…We called in for directions and found the restaurant with ease though it was tucked away in a quiet bylane off Sarjapur Road. Having explored this locality after long, I must say there are quite a few places to try.

Parking is right on the street, no hassles there! Now the tough part, you have to climb two floors to reach the restaurant. For someone like me struggling to walk, this was quite an effort. But as we reached the place, the interiors were welcoming.  The ambience is warm, romantic and reminds you of old homes in Mangalore. A lot of detailing has got into making this place special. The display of utensils, old doors, tools and a tiled roof transport you straight to a bygone era.

The warm interiors

The vegetable corner

Part of the interiors

A large collection of old bottles

The main seating area

A look at the menu and you know that they have charged you for the interiors as well. The menu is not very vast but has everything to give you a perfect Mangalorean culinary experience. Mangalorean food again has delicacies from the Hindu and Catholic communities and Kanua focusses on the former. This was a welcome change for us as we have almost taken Catholic cuisine for granted at home.

Pondering over Chicken and seafood, we picked Chicken ghee roast for starters. A great one here! I didn’t want to risk the portion of fish and opted for this one.  Rich, full of spices and ghee...this one was great. But with 6 pieces for 415 bucks, it was almost like a rip off considering other Mangalorean joints serve the same stuff (very similar in taste) for less than half the price.

Chicken Ghee Roast

Poddhale Podhis

I never pick veggies but this time I did. We chose the Poddhale Podhis. These were roundels of snake gourd stuffed with very mildly spiced mashed potato and deep fried. Quite a surprising dish and the taste was unique and simple. This dish came with a tamarind and onion dip which was good if not great.

Yetti Randhei

Shevai

For main course, I decided to dive into the sea food. Yetti Randhei (prawn curry). This was the highlight of the evening. A thick coconut based gravy, perfectly spiced and extremely tasty. To accompany it we asked for Shevai (vermicelli) and boiled rice. Little did the waiter warn us that the gravy is sufficient only for one. Again for Rs 495, the gravy was too little and the quantity of prawns just ok. We had to pick another gravy.

Motte Saar

Vinod loves eggs so for the first time ever, we ordered for egg curry (Motte Saar) in a restaurant. The gravy again was coconut based with red masala. The gravy was not as special and was more like the one we made at home, may be a little thicker. Again at 295 bucks, definitely not VFM.

The restaurant also has a bar menu but we chose to ignore it. Vinod tried the fresh Lime Soda which was perfect to say the least.

Fresh Lime Soda

We didn’t pick desserts as I am off sugar for a while. The food was very good but I felt it was way over priced. This also could be because I am Mangalorean and cant imagine paying too much for home food.

But yes, for someone who has never tasted coastal cuisine, this could be worth it. I would pay that extra bit for the ambience and the memories it brought.

Note: The pics are not clear, thanks to the dim lighting.

Pay by : Cash and cards

Average meal for two : Rs 2000

Mel’s overall rating : 3.5 out of 5

Location: 6/2, Kaikondrahalli, Near Wipro Headquaters, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore.

Ph:  080 65374471

 

Grill House

We’ve been frequenting the Ulsoor Lake – Frazer town area for our dance lessons (Yes, the calories do bother us! ) and so we decided to try more eating joints around these places. So this weekend, Grill House it was.  For the shopaholics, Grill House is a little further down 1 MG Road, the latest mall in the vicinity. For the old timers, this place is just a few buildings away from The Park hotel. For lunch, parking didn’t seem an issue however in the evenings, it could be a slight concern.

The ambience is ranch-like and carries  a western steak-house feel to it. Heavy wooden furniture add to the rugged look. The menu here has a wide range of veg and non-veg starters, sizzers and steaks, salads and dessert.  A full-fledged bar menu also ensures the thirst is quenched. There are a few things I have to order when I see them in a  menu. For eg, The Buffallo wings and Bloody/Virgin Mary. Vinod has almost begun to taunt me for my obsession.



Buffallo Wings



The Buffalo Wings were tossed in a sauce that was quite different from the ones we had tried elsewhere. The waiter  asked us to  choose from mild, medium or hot sauce and we bravely picked the hot one. But it was not so bad when it arrived. I was imagining tears and a running nose but this was very much manageable. Pepper was used in abundance but the sweetness of the sauce overpowered it. I would have preferred the wings a little less sweeter but Vinod seems to like them this way. 

Virgin Mary

Sunset Cooler

Of course, the Virgin Mary was close to perfect. Had to skip the alcohol in this one owing to dance class. Having tasted BM in SEVERAL places, I can clearly tell the superiority of one drink from the other and even the difference in ingredients. This one was fabulous. Perfectly spiced. Hubby chose a Sunset Cooler – a mix of cranberry juice, orange juice, lemon juice and Sugar syrup. Quite light and refreshing.

We did not over order this time. One starter and we were up for main course. I picked the Moroccan Lamb Sausages - Grill House Special of lamb sausages grilled, served with pepper sauce, rice and mash on a  plate instead of a sizzler. The presentation didn’t appeal to me much. With my first bite into the sausages I realized that I was not too fond of lamb sausages. but overall it was not a bad buy. The portion too was good. I was glad I didn’t opt for the sizzler. 

Moroccan Lamb Sausages

Twice Marinated Steak

Vinod ordered for the Twice Marinated Steak - the chef's special steak, marinated twice, served with two pepper sauce. This was a great choice. We asked for the steak to be well done on a sizzler plate and Grill House is right about the ‘Marinated Twice’ bit. The juicy meat proved that in every bite.  Somehow since both our dishes has a pepper sauce, we almost felt we ate the same stuff.

As we were finishing our main course, a polite waiter arrived with a tray of sinful cheese cakes. We had to decline the offer twice as politely. With a full tummy and a dance workout on the way, this was the best decision. I wouldn’t say Grill House is one of the best places in town for steak but it is definitely worth a try if you are on this side of town.

Pay by : Cash and cards

Restroom : Very clean with neat interiors

Average meal for two : Rs 1400 (with mocktails)

Mel’s overall rating : 2.5 out of 5

Location: #8/6, Ulsoor Road, Bangalore- 560 008. Ph No. 080 4097 7011 or  81478 62595

Ritz Classic Restaurant and Bar

We had heard about Ritz Classic Restaurant and Bar from afew friends. And since it had to do with Goan cuisine, we had to be there. ThinkGoa, think seafood, think Ritz. Locating the place can be quite a challenge butits popularity helps you find the way.

We did a smart thing by reaching there early promptly to beushered to our seats. We were told that most people have to wait to be seatedduring the lunch hours. The seating is basic and does not promise a fine diningexperience. But the AC provides a respite from the scorching heat outside.

The humble interiors of Ritz

 This restaurant has been around for ages and boasts of avast seafood menu among others. Of course with it, come thousands of loyalcustomers. Hubby and me usually pick chicken or pork over seafood most often. Quitestrange for a Mangalorean but true. But this time it was going to be a good helping of seafood at Ritz.

We started our meal with a plate of Mussels Rawa Fry.  A local favourite here, the bites are crispy and the quantity is good if not great. If you like to pick your fish, the waiters bring a large tray of fresh fish for you to choose from. King fish, shark, snappers, tiger prawns, lobsters, pomfrets, mackerels….there’s lots to offer. We picked a large whitepomfret to be fried in the traditional recheido masala. The fish was at its fresh best and the masala was great. I missed the tanginess that most Goan dishes have but I am sure the taste has been neutralized to suit all tastebuds.

Mussels Rawa Fry

White pomfret in recheido masala

Beer and port wine go without saying. Vinod and me helped ourselves with two rounds each. Ritz is famous for its fish plate meals or ‘thali’.Having seen it on all tables, we could hardly resist it for main course. For a100 bucks, this was a complete steal. The meal came with a prawn curry and rice, shell fish sukka, a large piece of fried king fish, dry prawn chutney, a ‘parra’of sardines and a veggie. Belt on these meals and you wouldn’t needstarters too. Vinod settled for the meal while I had some other choices.

Fish meals

I feasted on a Sea Food Fried Rice. In Goa I prefer theirpulaos but with the spice overdose, I decided to stick to the slightly bland fried rice. Squids, prawns, fish and crab meat found their way into the riceand was yummy to say the least. To go with it, I ordered for my favourite –the Prawn Balchao. The gravy was spicy with large prawns and went well with therice. Having tasted the Balchao at various places, I would well put my money on the one sold at Martin’s Corner. Good try nonetheless if you have not tried the former. Plain rice or bread (pao) too is a great accompaniment for balchao.

Sea Food Fried Rice

Prawn Balchao

Vinod was particularly happy with this meal and I too had myfill of seafood. We are definitely going back there.

Payby : Cash and cards

Restroom: Basic and pray that it doesn’t stink

Averagemeal for two : Rs 1000 (with drinks); ours worked up to Rs 1400. Just keep a watch on the taxes on the bill though.

Mel’soverall rating : 3.5 out of 5

Location:First Flor, Wagle Vision, 18 June Road, Panjim, Goa. Ph : 0832 6644796