The Cafe Full of Life | Zoey's | Bangalore

Pesto Chicken Strips @ The Cafe Full of Life | Zoey's | Bangalore
Pesto Chicken Strips

We have been to many cafes in the past and each of them have a different story to tell.
From our experience, we can say that we have come across a variety of establishment in our food blogging journey but very few of them actually have a “life” of itself. They are basically the manifestation of somebody’s concept, but what we are about to talk about here has a life of itself. Yes, it does sound absurd but you need to experience to believe it.

So, here’s to the Café full of life: Zoey’s in Sarjapur, Bangalore!

This is an open air café which caters to a wide variety of audience. They specialize in all day breakfasts and breakfast items and we really liked what we had.

They brew a mean cup of coffee and is perfect after a hard day of work but that’s not all! Coming to the items we tried and what we absolutely recommend:



For drinks we tried the Lemon Grass Cooler & the Date Almond Oatmeal Shake. The former was very refreshing whereas the latter had a thick consistency and was pretty filling. The Oatmeal shake was well balanced in terms of flavour: dates, almonds and a hint of banana as well.

We tried the All Angrezi Breakfast which had baked beans, toast, sunny side up, sautéed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, salami and sausages & hash browns. They were all at par and the pricing is pretty reasonable.

Their Waffles are brilliant! Not so soft, but taste great. They’re served with a bowl of Nutella and pieces of fresh, sweet Mango.

Next up, we tried the Keema Omlette, Mushroom on Toast, Pesto Chicken Strips & Spicy Keema on a bed of mashed potatoes.

Dates & Almond Oatmeal Shake @ The Cafe Full of Life | Zoey's | Bangalore
Dates & Almond Oatmeal Shake

All Angrezi Breakfast @ The Cafe Full of Life | Zoey's | Bangalore
All Angrezi Breakfast

Keema Omlette @ The Cafe Full of Life | Zoey's | Bangalore
Keema Omlette

Mushroom on toast @ The Cafe Full of Life | Zoey's | Bangalore
Mushroom on toast

The Keema omelette had generous quantity of mutton keema. The 2nd was delightful and creamy. The mushroom & cheese combination is heavenly without any doubt. Another piece of toast would have done justice.

The chicken strips were spicy and well done. A perfect snack and weighs less on the calorie scale. The quantity was more than enough and the best part is that the chicken retained all the flavours. The keema preparation is legendary and really nothing worth mention. Just try it and relax! The spicy keema and creamy mashed potatoes will surely make you feel better.

Now these are all recommended as they are all high on taste and provide great value for money.

Next up, the best item we tried on their menu: The Chicken Stroganoff! The sauce was insanely tasty and creamy. The chicken is in the form of strips inside the sauce and this is served along with an island of herbed rice.

Spaghetti with Meatballs

Spicy Keema with mashed potatoes @ The Cafe Full of Life | Zoey's | Bangalore
Spicy Keema on a bed of mashed potatoes

Waffles

We also tried the Lamb Burger which was not that great especially for the price. The patty was tasty but thin. Another problem is that the patty breaks down with each bite. Unless the patty is thicker, this is definitely going to happen.

We also tried a Spaghetti with Chicken Meatball pasta which was exactly the way it should be, but this is not that recommended.

We were really full by this time and we tried only one: Mango Pudding.

Well presented, this dessert was a little bit too cold for comfort. Taste wise it was decent and with the chocolate crumble at the bottom: nice!

Lamb Burger @ The Cafe Full of Life | Zoey's | Bangalore
Lamb Burger

Mango Pudding @ The Cafe Full of Life | Zoey's | Bangalore
Mango Pudding

That’s all we have to tell from our side! They have comfortable seating both inside & outside with a children play area as well. The place is always full with people thanks to the special attention the owner, Farheen gives to each and every customer.

Their portions are pretty decent but if you are a very large eater, it is better to talk to the owner/who is taking your order before-hand.

Their dishes are really good and you can understand the quality up front. We definitely recommend a visit.

They provide great value for money. Do let us know about your experience if you visit.
We’ll be back soon again with tasty news ;)

Till then—keep searching for great places to eat & bon apetit!



A Romantic Dining Experience @ Grasshopper | Bangalore

Orange Panna Cotta with pomegranate @ A Romantic Dining Experience @ Grasshopper | Bangalore
Orange Panna Cotta with pomegranate

So, what is your idea of a romantic dinner?

Different people have different ways of showing affection and thus the answer to the above question differs in each case. However, the most common answers are: a home cooked meal, candlelight dinner, an especially reserved table in a posh restaurant with loads of flowers and wine and many more.

We had a different kind of experience very recently: a farm house away from the main road, a boutique by day and a romantic restaurant by night (Sounds similar to the batman theory doesn’t it? Billionaire by day, crime fighter by night :P)

Jokes apart, it was one of the most romantic encounters we have had and the homely experience they provide made it even better! The restaurant is in existence for the past 13 years and it is none other than Grasshopper located in Bannerghata, Bangalore.

There is silence all around at Grasshopper with 5 tables beautifully decorated with fresh flowers and a candle. They play instrumental music and combined with the moonlight & candlelight it is definitely something!



Watermelon and lime cooler

This is a reservation only restaurant and we were there by invite. They have a 5 course and 7 course menu and we tried the latter.

The food has restaurant & home-style qualities: fresh ingredients, perfectly balanced but has a comforting touch which makes it a lot better.

So, now moving on to what we tried:

The Grasshopper experience is only 40% food and 60% environment/ambience. Out of the 7 courses, there are 3 appetizers, 1 salad, 2 main courses & a dessert.

We have no complaints with what we had as it was a fully chef curated menu and there were no negatives at all.

The appetizers we tried are: Diced gel & real cucumber with cream cheese & flying fish eggs, Crostini with pine nuts & ricotta & Prawns with ginger, sesame & seaweed.

Prawns with Ginger, Sesame and seaweed @ A Romantic Dining Experience @ Grasshopper | Bangalore
Prawns with Ginger, Sesame and Seaweed

Crostini with Pine nuts and Ricotta

Diced cucumber with cream cheese and flying fish eggs @ A Romantic Dining Experience @ Grasshopper | Bangalore
Diced gel and real cucumber with cream cheese and flying fish eggs

All 3 were spectacular in terms of flavor and taste and were very simple. We would definitely recommend the first and the third. The cucumber, cream cheese & eggs tasted great together. The prawns were lip smacking. It was super appetizing and the creamy texture along with the seaweed went really well.

We were served freshly baked bread on the table. They were crunchy on the periphery and soft & fluffy on the inside. We had loads of these!

The salad was amazing too: Oven roasted tomatoes with the usual greens, walnuts, pine nuts & feta. It was well balanced with the balsamic dressing but the tomatoes were the star of the salad. Remarkable!

For mains, we tried the Sea Bass with a spicy & tangy pepper sauce. The fish was fresh and perfectly done as expected. The sauce tasted great and truly speaking, we wanted more. We also tried the Braised Lamb Shanks in herbed red wine and shallot sauce. The sauce was delicious and the lamb was cooked to perfection. This was served with herbed potatoes.

Oven roasted tomato salad @ A Romantic Dining Experience @ Grasshopper | Bangalore
Oven roasted tomato salad

Sea bass preparation @A Romantic Dining Experience @ Grasshopper | Bangalore
Sea Bass

Braised Lamb shanks with herbed red wine and shallot sauce @ A Romantic Dining Experience @ Grasshopper | Bangalore
Braised lamb shanks in herbed red wine and shallot sauce

Freshly made breads

Lastly, time for the desserts: they have quite a few options but we tried the Lemongrass ice cream & the orange panna cotta with pomegranate.

The former had the characteristic flavor but was not overpowering. The sweetness and creaminess of the ice cream was perfect. The latter had the right wobble and mouth feel. The orange flavor was also distinctly identifiable.

We also tried a chocolate preparation with mustard ice cream. The salted chocolate went well with the spicy and bitter mustard flavoured ice cream.

All of this tasted even better because of the calm and mysterious surroundings. This is more of a couple place so couples visit more because of the romantic and peaceful environment. They also have semi-private and private seating arrangements.

Lemongrass ice cream

A Romantic Dining Experience @ Grasshopper | Bangalore
salted chocolate ganache with mustard ice cream

There are many cute dogs (not stray) around who crave attention so, if you love dogs, you’ll have more fun!

We had an amazing time and we would love to revisit. If they manage to increase their portions a bit more, it would be even better.

Their 5 course meal is priced at INR 2k and 7 course at INR 2.5k.

Do let us know about your experience if you visit. They are also open to special requests ;).

We’ll be back again soon with more news on grub.

Till then—read on & bon apetit!

Innovative & Delectable Molecular Cuisine @ White Plate | Bangalore

Honeysuckle Smoked Duck Breasts @ White Plate | Bangalore
Honeysuckle Smoked Duck Breasts

After a pretty long time we are super excited after visiting a restaurant and it is justified as we believe it is one of the best in town!

Food has a lot of craftsmanship involved and nowadays there is a lot of controversy between presentation & taste. In some cases the dishes are presented very well but don’t taste as good and sometimes vice versa. Thanks to Instagram, many good eateries are facing the heat because their presentation is not “Instagram” friendly, leaving aside the fact that they might taste amazing.

This post is dedicated to a relatively new restaurant in M.G Road, Bangalore named The White Plate by Chef Jason which serves food which is not only a masterpiece in terms of presentation but also the taste! They use molecular gastronomy but it is nothing like the other encounters we have had.

The environment they provide is relaxing, romantic & airy (except for the occasional heat spell where you start to feel the heat). Since it is an open air restaurant, it does tend to get a bit hot when it’s not breezy. They have an open kitchen where Chef Jason and his team create plate licking wonders.

Now coming down to what we tried:

Appetizers: Celebrity Shrooms, Chilli Crunch Chicken Squares, Jalapeno Motichur Salmon Compound, English Bacon Wrapped King Shrimps & Jamaican Rhum & Demerara Chilli pulled Pork Belly.

Amuse Bouche

Celebrity Shrooms @ White Plate | Bangalore
Celebrity Shrooms

Chilli Crunch Chicken Squares @ White Plate | Bangalore
Chilli Crunch Chicken Squares

Jalapeno Motichur Salmon Compound @ White Plate | Bangalore
Jalapeno Motichur Salmon Compound

Quite a long list isn’t it? The best part about all of them is that all the flavors are distinctly identifiable. The meat has a delicate pink colour in all cases because they are cooked to perfection and Chef Jason makes sure that the experience he provides will make people come back!

We’ll touch the highlights only: The shrooms were crispy with a rich peanut butter & chilli flavour. The Chicken squares had an amazing chilli flavour and the meat was pink in colour. The crispiness was unforgettable! The Motichur salmon compound is something you need to try to believe. The salmon compound by itself had a distinct taste but slightly bitter. When all the components in the plate are tried together, they create symphony in your mouth and: perfect balance!

The bacon wrapped shrimps had a twist: they were served with mustard caviar and curry leaf foam. For a change these actually added flavour and the meats were perfectly done as expected. As for the chilli pulled pork belly: It was one of the best pork preparations we have had till date. It was spicy & the texture was perfect.

Drinks: Smoked Tennessee, Caribbean Sin, Blushing Sunset and White Plate’s new Pickle Back Tini.

The first had a delicate smokiness along with the good old taste of Tennessee whiskey. All the others had fruity foams in them. The second had pineapple foam which just added a touch. The third one was a white rum based cocktail with orange, pomegranate and cranberry foam. The last one had suspended mint caviar which was the highlight. Their drinks are all well balanced and serve as perfect accompaniments with the food served.

Innovative & Delectable Molecular Cuisine @ White Plate | Bangalore

English Bacon Wrapped King Shrimps @ White Plate | Bangalore
English Bacon Wrapped King Shrimps

Smoked Tennessee

Blushing Sunset @ White Plate | Bangalore
Blushing Sunset

Now for mains: Pan Seared Breast of Chicken, Honeysuckle Smoked Duck Breast & Fruits of The Sea.

The duck was marvellous! It has a luxurious pink colour and we could never imagine that duck breasts could be this soft. Along with the poached pear, quinoa and the smokiness of the meat it was too good to be true. The Chicken preparation had a lot of items but undoubtedly the mass of chicken stole all the attention. The stuffing in the chicken was absolutely mouth-watering and it tasted heavenly.

Lastly, the fruits of the sea had a different charm altogether. The preparation has a pair of scallops & prawns and a fillet of sea bass on coconut Arborio along with two water cakes filled with salt water and capers. The idea is to burst these and have the dish to experience seafood beside the sea! The sea bass was not as juicy as expected, but the coconut Arborio was delicious. The scallops and prawns were fresh but the spice covering was a tad bit overpowering.

Pan Seared Breast of Chicken @ White Plate | Bangalore
Pan Seared Breast of Chicken

Fruits of the Sea @ White Plate | Bangalore
Fruits of the Sea

Re-Constructed Black Forest Raspberry @ White Plate | Bangalore
Re-Constructed Black Forest Raspberry

Lastly, for dessert we had the Chefs special: Re-constructed Black Forest Raspberry.
Chef Jason made this in front of us and we could see his excellent plating skills and vision. This was created from scratch and it looked and tasted fab! The highlights were the raspberry dollop and the Malibu coconut ice cream. This had honey and watermelon caviar which gave a further boost.

This marked the end to a nothing less than excellent meal. It was indeed one of the best experienced we have had till date.

The concept & idea of opening White Plate is of Mr. HRG Swaminath from Les Roches hospitality who also owns the restaurant.

So, the next time you feel like you want to blow your mind: this is your ticket.

Do let us know about your experience if you visit.

We hope to visit soon and we’ll of course let you know.

Till then—hold on to your horses and bon apetit!

The Instagram-Friendly New Cafe In Town | Cafe Felix | Bangalore

Pizzas @ The Cafe Felix Experience | MG Road | Bangalore
Goan sausage and Prawn Chimichurri Pizza

There are certain things in life which you simply can’t let go of!

We have suffered the same many times in the past but it happened pretty recently again. Re-iterating what we had mentioned at some point of time in one of our posts: Food alone cannot contribute to experience, but it is the entire atmosphere/ambiance which plays an equal role.

In the same line, we were recently invited to Café Felix at 1 M.G Road, Bangalore and no matter how hard we try, we won’t be able to do justice to the experience we had there.

3 words need to be elaborated with respect to Café Felix: ambience, service & food.
First comes the ambience: Loads of natural light, coupled with the décor of the place makes it very picturesque! It also automatically lifts the spirit.




The service is very speedy and everyone wears a smile on their face.

Now for the food:

The presentation of most of the items was gorgeous & appealing. The taste was at par and they make sure every bite counts.

We tried a few items and loved most of them.

From the salads & breads we tried the Prawn & Raw Mango Salad, House Cured Salmon on Toasted Onion & Dill Bagel and the Grilled Tenderloin Burger.

All 3 of them are highly recommended as they are high on taste. The salad had a sweet & spicy aftertaste. The soba noodles along with the dressing went very well. The prawns were fresh & well presented.

The Cured Salmon on Dill Bagel was extraordinary. The salmon strips were super smooth and distributed throughout the bagel. The bread was tasted & had a good crunch to it. The flavor of cream cheese along with dill were prominent plus a hint of wasabi to spice up the experience.

Prawn & Raw Mango Salad @ The Cafe Felix Experience | MG Road | Bangalore
Prawn & Raw Mango Salad

Smoothies @ The Cafe Felix Experience | MG Road | Bangalore
Smoothies

House Cured Salmon on onion & dill bagel @ The Cafe Felix Experience | MG Road | Bangalore
House Cured Salmon on toasted onion & dill bagel

The burger was a meal by itself. The patty was done medium rare as per recommendation and it was tender & juicy. The caramelized onions along with the cheddar & meat is a tried and tested combination so just take a bite and you know the drill. The overall taste could be tweaked a bit for better results.

We tried a couple of smoothies: The Mixed Berry Yoghurt Smoothie & the Avocado Chocolate Smoothie. Both of them were decent but the former was not well balanced. We could feel the tartness of the berries. The latter was well balanced as it was pretty simple. The characteristic flavors were present and the combo was great too.

By this time we were almost full: Yes we are losing potential, we know!

A Pasta and a half/half Pizza is what we tried next.

The Rigatoni with Confit Lamb & Smoked Peppers did not have sharp flavors but the subtle taste along with the shredded lamb & peppers really tasted good. The sauce was mostly lamb and for any meat lover, that’ll steal the show.

Rigatoni with confit lamb and smoked peppers @ The Cafe Felix Experience | MG Road | Bangalore
Rigatoni with confit lamb and smoked peppers

Grilled Tenderloin Burger

Mr. Felix Cocktail @ The Cafe Felix Experience | MG Road | Bangalore
A cocktail we tried: Mr. Felix

Now what is a half/half pizza: it is one half of something & the other half something else. We tried the Goan Sausage and the Chimichurri Prawns pizza. The former was simply lip smacking. The onions tasted amazing with the sauce & the sausages. The Prawn pizza tasted good but somehow the cheese did not set properly. One bite and the bread would be naked. We somehow did not like the Prawn pizza because of the sauce. Although the toppings, the sauce and everything tasted great, we might have liked the other pizza a little bit too much.

We also tried a sample of their Mixed Mushroom Risotto & that’s a must try for a mushroom lover.

Lastly, it’s time for dessert:

Dark Chocolate Fondant & the Banana Nutella Cake.

The latter was perfect in every way. Every scoop had distinct flavors of Nutella & banana. (It is another tried & tested combo)

Dark Chocolate Fondant @ The Cafe Felix Experience | MG Road | Bangalore
Dark Chocolate Fondant

Banana Nutella Cake @ The Cafe Felix Experience | MG Road | Bangalore
Banana Nutella Cake

Now for the Fondant: From a distance, you won’t find it great but one spoon & it’ll win you over. The coarse consistency on the outside & the gooiness inside made this even more fascinating. It was spot on with the consistency of the chocolate & the touch of hazelnut!

Now that’s all from our side.

We really loved Café Felix and we’ll definitely revisit: not only because of the food, but also because of the friendly atmosphere. Special thanks to the restaurant manager, Jennifer David for taking special care.

A visit is definitely recommended if you like what you read above.

We’ll be back soon with delicious news!

Till then—keep feeling hungry & bon apetit!

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