Eating my way to glory :-)

The one good thing that comes with traveling is the chance to try out different kinds of cuisine. I stayed away from the blogosphere for quite a long period of time and that had to do with a lot of travel- one week in Bangalore and three weeks at Halifax, Canada (from where I am writing this incidentally).

Bangalore has always been a foodie's paradise- I have visited a lot of other Indian cities but the sheer number and variety of restaurants you have in Bangalore is quite uncomparable to any other city and it is not just that- all these restaurants serve tasty food- be it North Indian, Gujju, Maharashtrian, Andhra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Chinese, Italian, Continental or any other kind of cuisine. I often feel the kind of Andhra meals served in Bangalore would even put restaurants in Hyderabad to shame! I look forward to my visits to the Garden city to check out new restaurants and thanks to my extended family that shares the same interests, I often end up at interesting places!

This time around, I had the chance to eat at the following restaurants, none of which I had visited previously:

1. Beijing Bytes on New BEL Road, Bangalore- This one is for the connosieurs of Chinese and Thai food. The dumblings, momoyas, noodles and rice items you get here are fabulous! Soups are hot and tasty and you have quite a lot to choose from be it soups, starters, main course or desserts. I would not call this one authentic chinese, it is quite in the Indian- chinese mould just like any other Chinese restaurant in the country. But the nice ambience and the reasonable rates make it attractive along with the tasty food they serve
2. Banjara Restuarant, Cunningham Road- This is easily one of the best North Indian joints I have ever been to. They do serve you South Indian, Chinese and Continental stuff as well but the North Indian fare you have is absolutely mouth watering. We started off with a plate of vegetarian Kebabs (I dont eat non vegetarian, by the way) and followed it up with some pulao, Indian bread and rice khichdi. I have never eaten khichdi as tasty as that before in my life. It was absolutely stunning and tasted like heaven. This restaurant is worth a try for its khichdi and deserves a mention for having turned out everyday stuff like Khichdi into something so unique and tasty!
3. Sukh Sagar, Majestic- I had never really wanted to taste Gujarati Thali since I thought they always made sweet stuff. It was my aunt who prompted me to try the Thali at Sukh Sagar, opp. Majestic theatre at Bangalore and boy- o- boy, it was outstanding! The thali priced at Rs. 115/- is quite wholesome and extremely filling. They serve dahi vada, dal, a few vegetable curries, a chilly curry, jal jeera, kheer and papad apart from rice and phulkas. This is purely a place for eaters and I found the food to be quite authentic- there was this huge gujarati family ungly- chatting their way to glory which told me that even they were relishing the food. This is a strictly vegetarian joint (Gujarati, you know!) and highly recommended if you are really hungry and dont want to end up spending too much of money!
4. Lalith Mahal Palace, Mysore- This one is not as much about its food as it is about the kind of ambience in which you sit and eat. This is a palace converted to a heritage hotel and managed by the Karnataka Tourism Development Corporation. The building is on top of a hill and looks majestic! The interior decor has been preserved very well and the huge dining hall is very well arranged. With this kind of an ambience, anything you eat is going to be liked by you. I would not call the food outstanding or anything, but it definitely is not bad. The variety is mind blowing- right from the soups to the desserts. There is a lot to choose from and it is good value for money! Recommended after a long trek in and around Mysore- relax, refresh and restart!
5. Citrus- Hotel Leela Palace- Anyone who has seen the magnificient Hotel Leela Palace would definitely have cherished a dream to eat and stay at the mansion. I too did and though I could not fulfill my dream of spending a night at the Leela, I did get a chance to eat at one of the restaurants at Leela, thanks to a client visit at office. So, there we were, 5 of us at the Citrus (the restaurant that serves continental food- there are restaurants that specialize in Indian and Chinese besides a well stocked and highly attractive bar!) chatting and eating in between. Customary to the Leela, the food is extremely expensive but the way you are pampered leaves you yearning for more. The menu is attractive and has got a wide variety on it. The service is impeccable. The food is made hot and fresh just for you in the open kitchen- in case you wanted to see it being made. There are the hotel singing duo who come to every table and sing your favorite song! Isnt that enough? Do you really care whether the food is tasty? If you still do, let me tell you that the food is out of the world- everything right from the starters to the aromatic and spicy Biriyani (yes, we had biriyani and they brought it for us from the Indian restaurant right across) to the hot and fresh gulab jamuns were delicious...

All of you who do not know me personally would have understood by now, how big a foodie I am. This is not it, guys. I do have to list out a few more outstanding restaurants I visited while in Halifax. Keep waiting :-)