Review of Main Land China , Church street , Bangalore

I have already given you the review of Main Land China at Indiranagar in my earlier post. This Sunday we went to the other Main Land China that is located at Church Street. We booked our table for 12:30 p.m. , but because of the traffic we reached there a bit late. I was a little worried as I have read in reviews that once you miss your booking , you will have to wait for another half an hour or so. But it was not so in our case. We were asked to go to the first floor. The first thing that we noticed was the space. The ambiance was nice , nice decoration and helpful waiters. We went for the buffet there. The price was resonable , INR 700 per person. They served the starters at the table to avoid any crowd in the buffet. You can take one drink which is a part of the buffet , you can have soft drink or juice or lime soda or beer. In the starter we had a mix veg (baby corn , potato , mushroom and cauliflower) , a chicken preparation with bone , dim sum , a chicken and mixed veg soup with fried noodles. Do not fill yourself with the starters as there are various lovely preparations in the main course. They have kept one corner for veg recipes and the other corner as non-veg. You will get some fried rice , noodles , lamb, chicken , prawn , fish and many more there. I loved the fish in mustard sauce and the crab recipe. The sweet baby corn is always my favorite. In the salad counter you can either take whatever is kept there or ask the person standing there to make a salad of your choice. The dessert section was nice. Some pastries , flavored dry nuts , mousse were there. Do remember one thing , book your table early on weekends as after 1 p.m. all the tables were occupied and people were waiting in the lobby. Overall , the experience was nice and Main Land China rocked again :)

You can view the reviews of other restaurants @ review of restaurants.

Review of Kobe Sizzlers @ Garuda Mall , Bangalore

This weekend we went for a morning show of Zindegi Na milegi Dobara.......this was back to back third weekend movie :)....I just loved it. The show was at Inox , Garuda Mall , Bangalore. After it ended I could feel how hungry I was ( though I had already eaten a large bucket of popcorn). While looking for a nice eating place , we came across the Kobe Sizzlers. From outside the reataurant looked a bit ordinary , but the interior decoration was nice. Kobe Sizzlers is a famous restaurant chain specially in Mumbai. It offers you various mouth watering sizzlers (combination of lamb , steak , chicken and cheese).

The waiters were soft spoken. The average price of the sizzlers is around INR 400. We took a steak and chicken combination of sizzlers. It took around 15 minutes to be served. Along with that you can either order for soft drinks or alcohol. But I found it a little surprising that they offer red wines in glasses but not any other wines. The price of alcohol starts from INR 300. The sizzler was really nice and tasty. It being a sunday , many people were coming for lunch there. So within half an hour I saw there was a small queue infront of the restaurant!! The sizzler was so heavy that we hardly could finish it. They accept cards and cash. Overall a nice place and a very nice food. The average price for two (including alcoholic drinks) is INR 1000.

Review of Blue Spice Lunch Buffet @ Koramangala

This Friday we decided to try the lunch buffet of the Blue Spice restaurant at Koramangala. The restaurant is situated just opposite to the Koramangala Indoor Stadium. When you will go from Forum towards NGV , at the dead end take left and you can see the restaurant next to Pinto and Esha furniture shop. I guess the restaurant has hardly 40 sitting capacity ( I felt there was space crunch for the buffet). The buffet price was INR 199 per person plus taxes. First we were given a chicken garlic soup which was ok. Next we went to the buffet corner to get the shock of our life......there were hardly 10 items in the buffet corner including veg and non-veg , too few items for a buffet at this price!!!!!!

They had only chicken pepper in the name of starter which was not boneless , hence I did not like it at all. Then in main course they had kept a little amount of daal makhni , a paneer curry , gobi manchurian ( which was the only  thing I liked) , veg pulao , chicken biriyani , and a chicken dish with 4 small pieces left into it....huh. And there was no desert kept in the buffet corner ( which was served to our table at the end......it was a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a small bowl of rice kheer). The welcome drink was the only good thing there. I felt the food was the left over items. It was totally disgusting and a total waste of money for me. In the same price I had nice buffet at Taste of Rampur which had a lot of options and some tasty dishes.

I will never recommend this restaurant for buffet. The a la carte was expensive.

Home delivery @ BTM, Swathi Restaurant

I have already mentioned about Marwa's home delivery in another post. Here I have one more restaurant which delivers tasty food at home in BTM layout. It is Swathi Spice n Ice, an Andhra style restaurant. It is located just above the Canara bank, between silk board and BDA junction. You can get veg family pack @ 180 /- and non-veg family pack @ 225 /-. Apart from that one can easily opt for north Indian or Chinese food. For home delivery you can call @ 9900013406. The minimum order for home delivery within 3 kms is INR 250/- . 

I tried the chicken sholay kebab and baby corn 65 as starters. The kebab was nice but the baby corn was disgusting according to me. But the murg makhanwala, mutton chops and kashmiri pulav was very nice and tasty. The prices are very reasonable (lower than Marwa, I must say). The delivery was done within 40 minutes on weekend. I am pretty happy with the food. Will definitely try some other preparations from this restaurant in future.

Chinese eateries in Koramangala

It is for those who find it difficult to get a cozy place for dinner or lunch after a movie show/ shopping at Forum Mall, Koramangala. Being a fan of Indian-Chinese cuisine, I am almost like a weekly customer of two Chinese eateries in Koramangala, One is Chung Wah and the other is my favorite Popsies. Both are in 5 th block. Popsies is just behind the HDFC bank and Chung Wah is opposite to it.

The prices are more or less same in both the places. But the ambiance is better in Popsies as it has more cozy feeling. But for family outing Chung Wah would be fine. During weekends sometimes these two places remain quite crowded.

For starter you can have soups, momo, thupka and some veg and non-veg items. I love the Chilly baby corn and fried chicken garlic momo at Popsies. After that in main course they have rice, noodles, fish, prawn, chicken dishes.

A proper lunch for two would cost you around INR 350.

Review of Marwa restaurant's (@ BTM Layout) Home Delivery

Though I always prefer to order Domino's home delivery for its reliable service, once we tried The Marwa restaurant's home delivery on a weekend. The restaurant is at BTM 2 nd stage (near Udupi garden). They deliver for a minimum amount of INR 150 within 3 kms. We called (080-32411981 / 080-26785734) them up at around 12:30 p.m. to place an order for two large chicken biriyani. It cost around INR 115 each plus tax. The order was delivered at around  2:00 p.m. The delivery boy apologized for being so late as he could not trace our apartment on time. The food quantity was good enough but there was only one problem that they provided very little raita with biriyani...:( ...But the biriyani was very tasty!! Now we have become a regular customer of Marwa. We have also tried their butter chicken and chicken tikka which are equally good. The only thing that you will have to deal with is the time that they take to deliver. Normally, the delivery is quite fast ( within 40 minutes) but sometimes it gets delayed due to traffic (as they explain it).

Lunch Buffet @ Bar Be Que Nation, Koramangala, Bangalore

After a long dilly-dallying I surrendered to my hubby's wish to have lunch @ Bar Be Que Nation at Koramangala on a Sunday. He had already been there before and he liked the experience there, so he wanted me to enjoy it. But I was not comfortable with the bar-be-que  idea!! Anyways we reserved our table in the morning over the phone ( 080-60600001) as the restaurant sees a rush on weekends. Its in the Koramangala  1st block, just on the left side of the service road. We reached there few minutes before our time and were taken to our reserved corner table. They offer three types of buffet- veg (INR 425), non-veg (INR 475) and combo. We went for the combo one priced at INR 300 per person plus tax. There were paneer, baby potato in veg starter and chicken and fish in non-veg one. The ambiance was good and soon I felt comfortable with the live bar be que concept. They kept a grill in front of us and kept on filling it with the chicken and fish kebabs. The veg starters were served directly to us.I liked the potato and the fish kebabs a lot. We had few sauces which we were brushing on the bar be qued kebabs time to time.
There was a complimentary drink both alcohol (beer) or soft drinks with the buffet. We were chilling with beer and kebabs. But we had to keep an eye on the grilled pieces as it could burn if kept for a longer time. Once we were done with starters, we flagged down (there was a small flag on the table, once we flag it down it means we do not need any more starters). They also served us some sweet Indian bread. The main course was common for all the buffets.There were 2 types of veg rice, chicken biriyani, 3 to 4 veg and 4 non veg dishes,pasta, salad, desert, ice cream. The main course was very good specially the desert. What I liked most about the ice cream was they had kept different sauces like chocolate, strawberry and choco chips for dressing of your scoops.
The total bill amount was INR 681 (including 13.5% tax). They accept all kinds of cards. It was a nice experience for me and I would like to recommend everyone to go there at least once.

Bhojohori Manna @ Koramangala, Bangalore

For a Bengali the history of Bhojohori Manna is well known, but let me give a small introduction to others about this restaurant chain. The Bhojohori Manna restaurant was established in Kolkata few decades back and one could easily spot out top Bengali actors tasting the spicy Bengali dishes there. The name came from a famous song ami sri Bhojohori Manna sung by the famous singer Manna Dey. It is famous for its fish preparation and the sweets.
The same restaurant chain has an outlet in Bangalore at Koramangala, a good news for a Bengali  cuisine lover like me!! The restaurant is situated just opposite to the Koramangala Club. There are two floors, but I always prefer the ground floor for its ambiance. It would be advisable to reserve a table on weekends over the phone ( 080 2550 3666) otherwise you might have to wait for 15-30 mins!!
I always prefer to start with the old favorite mock tail ampora shorbot, it is made of raw mango and has a cooling and refreshing effect. I have also tried their Maxi Thali which is a combination of rice, sweet pulao, fried potato (aloo bhaja), one veg curry (shukto/cauliflower gravy etc), mango chutney, papad and sweet. It costs around INR 170. Also the Ilish shorshe (Hilsa in mustard gravy) and Bhetki paturi are the main attraction of the restaurant. Among prawn dishes Daab chingri ( large prawn served in coconut) and chingri malaikari are the hot favorites among the food lovers. One unique thing you will find here, that every dish tastes a little sweet as sugar is  used in every dish. Each non-veg dishes cost around INR180 and the veg dishes (like shukto, mocha, dhokar dalna etc) around INR 70. One must try the ice cream as a desert. It is made up of nolen gur ( jaggery) which is a specialty of Bengal.
The lunch for two would cost around INR 600-800. During festival time this place remains crowded throughout and even if you have reserved your table, you would have to wait!! A  problem which I have found here is that the waiters/ manager speak in Bengali always. They can not identify whether a person is Bengali or not and even if you tell them they feel uncomfortable in speaking Hindi/English. So you better have patience while visiting there and dealing with them... :)

Review of Mainland China @ Indiranagar, Bangalore

I had always been a fan of Main Land China when I was in Kolkata. And that is why when I came to know that in Bangalore also there is one Main Land China at Indiranagar, I could not help but indulge my taste buds into the Chinese delicacies there. So on a Sunday we went there with 6 of our friends. It was easy to find out the restaurant, as it was just next to the Indiranagar flyover on the right hand side. It would be better if you book a table on weekends, as there might be a possibility that you would have to wait. The sitting arrangement was on the first floor and it was quite cozy ambiance. They served us soft drinks, soups and starters (both veg and non veg). There were so many varieties (chicken,lamb, fish, prawn )that I was tired of taking a note of the names of the dishes. The prawn dishes were too good and also the crab one. I loved the mixed veg as it had baby corn in it.....though in the desert's corner we had a very few options, I did not mind that, as the ice cream and pastry was of my choice. While booking the table my hubby had informed them that it was a celebration for a newly wed couple. Hence they offered us a complimentary cake at the end. The buffet price was INR 525 plus tax per person. But the cuisine really worth that money. I would definitely suggest you to go and pamper your taste buds.

Do check out the review of Main Land China at Church Street.

Taste of Rampur, Bangalore

It was certainly a windfall for me as my hubby got a leave on Monday, 22nd of November. We searched on Google for a suitable lunch buffet on weekdays and we came across Taste of Rampur @ Koramangala, Bangalore. We had already been there few months back for a dinner and we liked the ambiance at  that time. So we decided to go for it for the weekdays lunch buffet that they were offering at INR 199 plus tax. We booked our table over the phone (080-41467000 given in the website). The restaurant is situated near Forum mall and close to Standard Chartered building. 

We were there 10 to 15 minutes before our time. But as it was a weekday there was no crowd waiting for their turn. We chilled out with a large whiskey and a gin as the buffet took a little more time to get served. The place was cozy, dim lighted and the waiters were very polite and helpful. They served hot kebabs, chaat and variety of salads. there were two types of non-veg (both chicken) kebab and two veg (fried masala cauliflower and corn-potato tikki ) kebabs. Among the salads I liked the boiled potato one but my hubby liked the sweetcorn one. The chaat was awesome and I guess it was a nice surprise for all the spicy-food lovers like my hubby. The main course included jeera rice, chicken biriyani, naan/roti, one chicken dish and one mutton dish. In veg menu there were palak paneer, daal tadka and some sukhi sabzi. And as always I was after green salad (specially cucumber) and plain curd as they are good for their digestive property. In sweet corner we had two options : gajar ka halwa (which according to my hubby was not as good as the one I usually prepare at home) and shahi kheer. Also we had a scoop of Vanilla ice cream. We enjoyed every item of the buffet and the ambiance. The Monday lunch ended on a happy note.

And the most important part of the story is that please carry cash with you as they do not accept any cards!! :(