Amici Khan Market

My visits to Khan Market always sees me having a new adventure in food! And this time was no different. A colleague of mine insisted I was missing something if  I did not go with her to this 'cute' place for lunch. As if I needed much prodding for an Italian lunch....

Now, this colleague knows about my passion for food, and given her loyalties with Amici, she began on a defensive mode. She was of the opinion that anyone who likes creamy, saucy, cheesy Italian stuff will not like the 'authentic' stuff they served at Amici's. Well, I certainly like the sinful variety of pastas and pizzas, but was looking forward to the other renditions as well.

The ambiance first - as is with almost all outlets in Khan Market, one doesn't get to know the size or decor from the outside. In fact, I most certainly would have missed the entrance - it was from one of the back lanes, and the only proof of existence of the cafe was a narrow door with a guard standing outside. One had to climb a set of stairs to reach the outlet, It is spread over two floors; the first floor has traditional cafe style seating, with the patisserie and drinks section glaring at you when you step in. Good strategy!

                                 

But the exciting bit was the second floor. There is this glass enclosed baking section, which looks straight out of a fairytale - the white walls, the red brick kiln, and the long bakers' peel and white dusting flour all over the white counter. Also interesting in the second floor is the outdoor seating space. Of course, the outdoor space is comfortable only during mild winters.

The service left us with mixed feelings. The manager - a young gentleman by the name of Xavier, was pleasant and efficient. I don't know if it is a common factor, or if we were just plain unlucky with our server. The gentleman who served us was a tad strange when we asked him for his suggestions. His repetitive answer was "Everything is good here." When we asked him again if the pizzas were more popular or the pastas, I swear I saw the 'which-planet-are-you-from' look. But he stuck to his ground and said "Both sell well HERE."

Finally, we settled on a vegetarian Lebanese pizza, which seemed to have interesting ingredients. Aubergines, feta cheese in addition to the usual pizza ingredients. We also wanted a pasta dish with pesto sauce. (I now seem to have a thing for pesto thanks to a hotelier friend who is obsessed with pesto sauce!!) Interesting dude server asks "Penne, spaghetti, macaroni?" And though we knew the answer we would get, we asked him his suggestion anyway. He did not let us down... "They are all good." So we decided on spaghetti with pesto sauce.

The food : well, we were famished at the end of the server escapade. And we were told that pizzas take a little longer to arrive. But we were pleasantly surprised. The drinks came almost instantly, and the pizza and pasta were on our table before any significant wait. The pizza was exactly what one would expect of an Italian cafe to churn out - thin crust, coarse tomato sauce (not the ketchup version) and very little cheese. The topping, in our case was mashed aubergines, and feta cheese. The pizza had come together pretty well. The pasta was exceptional - in texture and taste. If you order cheese garlic bread, don't expect the pizza hut variety here. What you get is a split baguette with a generous cheesy layer.

A special mention here for the chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. We were tempted to order one, and between the three of us, we polished it off. The chocolate sauce was not too sweet, and the brownie was soft in the center, crunchy at the top - ideal!

When the food arrived, we were a little disappointed with the portion size. (Given that places like Big Chills kills you with the portion sizes!). But once we started eating, we discovered the portion sized were just right. You had eaten enough to fill you up, but were not writhing in agony after over eating - absolutely perfect for business lunches.

A meal for three cost us around Rs.2000 without beverages. Definitely recommended for people who prefer the healthier version of their Italian favorites, and for people who cannot afford to doze off in the middle of a post lunch meeting.

The Basil Ikon Bangalore

I love Bangalore.... or Bangaluru - if you want to be politically correct. Not because of the pubs, the cosmopolitan feel or the famed MG road (ofcourse, that is a contributing factor), but because it is a city that fills me with exhilerating thoughts about my time spent there. We had very limited finances (unlike the young 20 somethings of today!) but had imagination and friends, to make the best of everything.

Stayed in a hotel called Basil Ikon in Indiranagar. It was not a hotel I had heard of before, and I was contemplating maybe moving to another place the next day if this one was not all that great. Discovered I didn't have to.

It was easy to locate this place- its gate is right on the main road (even though the hotel is practically invisible from the road, and you can only see the signage of the hotel from outside). The reception was sleek, no nonsense, and very basic. The staff are quick, no nonsense and courteous - exactly what you would expect in a business hotel.

I stayed in a room which was large, clean and comfortable. The room lived up to the image of the contemperary business hotel. Room service is prompt. In short, the hotel was true value for money in that location. It is located on 100 ft road, which has numerous offices, retail outlets and happening restaurants within 5 minute walk. Which is a good thing (especially the restaurants), because food is a department this hotel can really improve upon.

Tried a cutlet in the evening through the room service. While the food was served hot and presented well, it tasted like thermocol. The performance repeated itself for dinner, with a classic - Fish and chips (incidentally, this was suggested to me by the order taker himself.). Breakfast too, was a let down in terms of the variety of what is available in most other business hotels. Another area that was below average was the single restaurant that existed in the lobby level of the hotel. This looked like a rectangular room hurriedly filled with non descript chairs and tables to make a restaurant cum coffee shop. What did look good during breakfast was the table service of your choice of south indian breakfast items, fresh fruit juice (in my case, grape) or eggs made to order.

Overall experience was definitely good, and I wouldn't mind repeating a stay at the Basil Ikon.

Saucy? Maybe...

Tomato ketchup and I go a long way back. From the time I would put it into my maggi noodles as a kid, and then beefing up the volume of a paltry half portion soup as a college student to now a working mom who has to make food look like an adventure park for the kids to dig in!

As Hotel management students, we knew a few tricks ..... if you are 2 people and want value for money, order for a soup "One by two" - only make sure you sound as confidant and preoccupied as possible, so that the server thinks you just want to get done with the soup to dig into the main course. And this is done in even good restaurants. If 3 people, go for a "two by three" .. and so on and so forth..that works as well.

Now the trick is that no self respecting eatery would send in a soup bowl with very little soup, and risk the danger of the soup turning cold before you sip it (as ideally, a soup should burn your tongue if you are not careful - weird Frenchmen!!).

So two of you end up getting a decent portion size for the price of one! And if you are as enterprising as future hoteliers are, you end up using soy sauce and tomato ketchup to double the volume....

More on that when I have a little more vodka in the bloodstream.....

But now, I have been tempted to write in about this new (well new for me!!) bomb in the guise of a condiment. Its called TWANGY and is a product of Del Monte (no...not Fullmonty, you idiot!)

The pros:

1. Comes in a nice , convenient, non messy plastic container with a flip on lid (a life saving quality if you have 3 year olds who like to break stuff!)
2. Has the sweet tomato ketchup taste... yes, it is a little sweeter than your average tomato ketchup, but that's because it has pineapple (yup, you read that right - pineapple) paste and pieces.
3. The best thing is the subtle flavor of bell peppers - along with little pieces of it in the sauce. Tastes like a relish, but the consistency is thinner.
4. Guaranteed hit with kids!!
5. Gels well with Indian foods - I've tried it with Samosas, kachories, even Vadas. Can be used as a dip with salad batons, or wafers... tried it all.

Cons:

1. If you don't like sweet sauces, you may not like it

2. Gets over in a jiffy... so be prepared to refill sauce bowls

Facts :

• A 520 gm pack of Twango comes for Rs.75/-.
• Another flavor (not tried yet) called Zingo (chilli garlic may be a better choice for people who like it hot!)