Foodie Land Blog | Indian food and restaurant reviews

A Stay To Remember | Grand Mercure Hotel | La Uppu | Mysuru

In our blogging journey so far we have been to numerous events, launches, previews and to restaurants for reviewing. We end up having loads of fun and meeting new people every time! This time however it was an experience unlike any other and it not only impressed us and was worth remembering but it also touched our hearts!

We went on our first FAM trip with a few fellow bloggers to the heritage city of Mysore (Presently known as Mysuru). There were two parts to this: the road trip part which included travelling from Bangalore to Mysore and the staying part. We stayed at the Grand Mercure Hotel, Mysuru and it was inspiring how the culture of Mysore was ingrained in the ambiance, decor and even the service of the hotel!

The road trip was fun with a variety of conversations and breakfast on the way. However, it was only after reaching Grand Mercure that the real deal started. We were welcomed with garlands and a welcome drink. The welcome drink was superb and marked the perfect beginning to our stay. This entire visit was due to the special occasion of Ramadan and the chefs crafted a special menu for the same.

23:07
8 Comments

Experience Authentic North Indian Cuisine @ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore

bangalore

Mutton Hathori Parchay

North Indian Cuisine in general is very close to most non veg lovers because of the rich and spicy meat preparations. Nowadays, wherever we go we see north Indian restaurants and “food corners” but they rarely serve authentic North Indian food. Instead they serve a spicy adaptation which is also tasty and thus widely accepted. Authentic preparations are quite hard to find as most places proclaim that they provide it but they don’t!

We recently visited a restaurant in Koramangala, 5^th block, Bangalore which opened a month back and they already got listed as the best restaurant in Bangalore on Zomato! Plus, in the recent World On A Plate event involving the judges of Master Chef Australia they won 3^rd place in such a short span of time. The restaurant we are talking about is Kopper Kadai and the entire restaurant is based on the theme “copper”.

They have different types of seating arrangements with a “royal” ambiance! Their speciality is their food presentation which is by far the best and most unique we have seen. But that is not all: Their preparations are equally good. Apart from this, they provide swift service and also have courteous staff.

Number of ladles = number of spices used

The utensils used are mostly made of copper and they don’t spare any cost to bring excellence at a customer’s table. Another fact before we move on to the food of course: If you do visit here do take a look at the chairs. They use chairs which can be quoted as ancient particularly because of the design and they are very comfortable.

For starters we tried many varieties of non veg kebabs and a couple of veg kebabs. Presentation wise and taste wise their preparations are simple outstanding. There is practically no point in giving an explanation as the best explanation from our side would be: go there and have it!

Their signature dish, the ganna chicken was amazing! From what appears to be chicken sheekhs on wooden sticks, it is actually a chicken sheekh but on a thin strip of sugarcane. Quantity is sufficient and the taste was simply mind blowing. The chicken was perfectly cooked, not oily at all, had an amazing aroma of the herbs and was smoky and spicy. We would like to call it excellent at our plate!

Next up: The Hathodi Parchey. This was a mutton preparation and was served on a hammer. The mutton was very soft and tender and had a faint flavour of mustard. This also had a smoky flavour to add to the delight.

The sarson ki champey preparation was of tandoori soya chops with mustard again. It was impressive how they recreated soya in such large chunks but the problem was that the preparation was slightly bitter. Moreover, the inside did not have much flavour so there is some room for improvement.

The Murgh Chapli preparation was remarkable. They look like cakes with minced chicken, vegetables and spices. They were so juicy that it will make any individual curious!

There was one veg starter, most probably the paneer tikka which was amazingly delicious and heavy. They looked like veg drumsticks because of the break stick tails. The stuffing was of spicy paneer bhurji and it tasted fantastic. From the outside, these drumsticks were covered with fried rice vermicelli (most probably).

Murgh Chapli

Ganna Chicken

Paneer Tikka

Sarson ki champey

Experience Authentic North Indian Cuisine @ Kopper Kadai | Koramangala | Bangalore

A Chicken Kebab preparation: smoked using burnt butter

There were a few more starters but these were the highlights!

Along with the starters we tried the Murgh Raab Shorba and a couple of mocktails. The Shorba was very aromatic, thick and tasty. It was quite appetizing to say the least.

Moreover, this is served separately: the bowls come with the contents and the liquid component is served in bottles which can be poured later.

Their mocktails are a must try as well. We tried the Kiwi Panna and the Masakali and both were refreshing and the masala used in them made them tasty.

Front: Kiwi Panna, Back: Masakali

Murgh Raab Shorba

For the main course there were some equally amazing and delicious preparations:

The Warqi Dal was way beyond our wildest expectation. The simple preparations show the credibility of the chef and the dal was thick, creamy and lip smacking!

There was a mutton halim preparation which they called Mastawa and it was brilliant. It was a rich mixture of clarified butter, loads of mutton, caramelized onions and milk. It was very heavy and very delicious and aromatic.

The cooker Kukkad was a home style chicken preparation traditionally served in a pressure cooker. It was tasty, flavoursome and gives the impression of dining with family. There was only a small problem: the chicken was partially overcooked.

The Minari mutton biriyani was also impressive. The rice was fragrant with good quantity of mutton. It had a taste of garam masala and it was well balanced throughout.

Minari Mutton Biriyani

Mastawa

Warqi Dal

The breads were the usual, at par.

Now after such a relishing experience we had to end it with something sweet ;)

We tried the fruit cream and the dodhalava. The fruit cream had an assortment of fresh fruits along with flavoured cream. Quite a sinful end to a meal! The dodhalava had liquid nutella inside and baked burfi outside. Both the desserts were good and gave the perfect ending to our hearty meal.

After trying these guys we can understand their quality and how much they deserve praise.

Fruit Cream

Nutella Dodhalava

There is still room for improvement and if they keep performing the way they are, there is much more glory ahead!

Overall, it was honestly a remarkable experience not only because of the food and the presentation, but also because of the friendly atmosphere they create for their guests.

So, if you are in the mood for some Authentic North Indian food with simply awesome presentation, do try out these guys. [And do let us know how you felt ;)]

We will definitely revisit and post about it!

Till then—bon appétit!

21:46
3 Comments

A Mughlai Affair @ Paradise | Electronic city | Bangalore

bangalore

We recently visited a legendary restaurant which originates from our very own land of the Nizam’s: Hyderabad!

This was an FBAB meet up and it was beautiful how there was one long table full of passionate food lovers who clicked pictures more than they ate.

The restaurant we are talking about (as you might have guess by now) is none other than Paradise. They have opened their new outlet in Electronic city in Velankani drive and foodies from all over Bangalore came to dig in!

They are currently operating on two floors with a parking section in the basement. Their ambiance is almost the same in all their outlets so nothing special to mention there, but it sure gives a royal effect to ones meal ;).

Coming down to the food: we tried a variety of starters, biriyani for the main course and for desserts: shahi tukra, gajar ka halwa and one more.

22:35
2 Comments

The Full American Experience @ Mr. Bojangles | Koramangala | Bangalore

american cuisine

Baked Alaska

It has been quite a while since we had visited a restaurant serving only American Cuisine. Normally, most of the pubs in Bangalore serve continental, Italian and American but only American? Now that’s quite rare right?

We recently had the privilege of visiting a restaurant which solely focuses on American Cuisine and their ambiance is pretty retro and impressive. The restaurant we are talking about is situated in Koramangala 5^th block, near to JNC road and goes by the name Mr. Bojangles. The locality has more than 50 restaurants so automatically a lot of competition comes into the picture.

American cuisine, in general is a lot about fried food and juiciness. Mr. Bojangles has a catchy entrance with open air dining and a bright yellow sign board. The interiors have a lot of stickers dating back to the 1800’s and all about American culture—music, cars, food, beer etc.