Ambur Khaja Restaurant

We left Bangalore late by afternoon. Initial plan was to have lunch at Ambur. But we reached Ambur late by 5pm. However decided to find out how lucky we were.

Stopped at Khaja on the service lane (comes on right side when you drive from bangalore) and asked about biryani. Happy to hear that all dishes were available. Opted for mutton briyani (150₹) for each of us with chicken fry(140₹) and omelette (20₹) as sides to be shared.

Biryani was made of basmati rice with not much irritants. Initially looked spicy, but it was of medium spice-level. Mutton pieces had few bones and little fatty. It was totally different than the "famous ambur star biryani". Never expected to have it hot by that time. Accompaniments were the regular onion raita and watery gravy.

Chicken fry had a leg piece with 3 small sized pieces fried with lot of chilly masala. Omlette was so large, even it was difficult to finish after sharing.

Most of the dishes are priced reasonably. Khaja is not famous among tourists passing this town, but known well among the locals. But it is definitely worth to try. One may try their semiya paya which is famous among the locals.

Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/zZASnWXX1pQ2

Lakshmi Sagar

My friend wants to take me to the hotel where he used to have breakfast during his stay in Bangalore several years back. Unfortunately it was relocated somewhere else. Therefore we decided to have breakfast at Lakshmi Sagar in St. Philomina hospital road at Nagawara.

It is a typical bangalore style self service place. Had to pay first and get the bill. And then got our food which was sambar dipped vada(20₹) and masala dosa(40₹).

Vada was too big and I thought of finishing my breakfast with that. But later had to have few pieces of masala dosa from my friend's plate. Compared to MTR's masala dosa, this one was not that good, just an ordinary one. But I liked the sambar dipped crispy vada. Food is definitely value for money. Wish such eateries open up in Chennai.

Mavalli Tiffin Rooms - MTR

At last we had an opportunity to eat breakfast at the famous Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) located at JP nagar 3rd Phase. Restaurant is located at the 5th floor of a building named kuchi bhavan on the 1st main road.

Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/RYavi8KWkR42

My friend was so excited to try the masala dosa. But first we ordered for a plate of idly vadai and sambar dip(sambar vadai).A pair of large-sized idly with a big vadai was served with a tiny cup of ghee and a cup of sweet sambar and spicy coconut chutney. I was disappointed with the idly which was not that great. But the vadai was so big and was lovely one to have with sambar and chutney. Only problem was getting hold of the waiter to get extra sambar.

Later we asked for a masala dosa which was also served with the same accompaniments and ghee. Dosa batter was quite different than we have in Tamilnadu. It was a thick dosa and was very much crispy. We both loved it. Regret for getting idly at first instead of masala dosa which was heavenly.

Ended the meal with a cup of filter coffee which was served with no sugar. A cup of sugar was placed on the table which we had to add to coffee as per our requirements before consumption. But we could not mix the sugar properly with spoon. Otherwise coffee was good as expected.

Tiffin set us back by 285₹ (including 5% gst) which was bit pricey. There are places like CTR and Vidyarti bhavan serving masala dosa of equal taste with less than half the price. However here the ambience is very much relaxed to have meal with family.

My only suggestion is if you come here just go for masala dosa with no second thoughts.

Noon's Asli Hyderabadi Biryani

After driving thru the hell-like traffic , we reached late by 3pm at Noon's Asli Hydebsdi Biryani located at HSR layout. This eatery is known for one of the best hyderabadi style briyani served in Bengaluru. Luckily there was one mutton biryani(235₹) left just for us. Bought it along with half briyani rice(70₹) for takeaway. They serve mutton biryani only on weekend. But serve chicken and veg biryani all days a week.

Mutton briyani was super delicious made of lengthy basmati rice with some precisely cooked mutton pieces. Accompanied raita was watery and the gravy was bit spicy. Biryani was not much spicy, but spicy level was raised after mixing with the gravy.

It is such a small eatery with just 3 tables well enough just for 14 people to sit down. Most people go for take away. Be early on Sunday if you don't want to miss the mutton briyani which sells like a hot cake. Definitely a not-to-be-missed eatery for delicious biryani in the hi-tech city.

Lunch at New Andhra Meals Restaurant

Happened to visit the new andhra meals restaurant at Arcot road for lunch with Gautam who is my partner in crime on food hunt.

Order was quite simple with non-veg meals(180₹ pax) for each of us and a chicken roast(200₹) and vanchiram fish fry(230₹). It was an elaborate meal with sides such as beans poriyal, keerai masiyal (mashed greens), bitter gourd fry and an appalam of large diameter.

Bitter gourd fry has won my friend's heart that he asked for another cup of it which was served with no questions. It had a sweet taste so that even kids would love it. At least in this place, it should be called as a sweet gourd instead of bitter one. Beans and Keerai(Greens) were good as usual.

Gravies were daal, sambar, chicken gravy, fish gravy, rasam and a cup of thick curd. As some of you might have guessed, none of us showed interest on sambar.

As soon I added daal to rice, one guy came and poured a lot of ghee till I said enough. It was a nice combination with keerai and bitter gourd.

Second round went well with chicken gravy with chicken roast. Roast was like a chukka with super-spicy masala. Without any thought, I had two rounds of rice just with the masala (from roast) added. Meanwhile my friend tasted fish gravy and said it was not bad.

I finished the last round with rasam and fish fry. Rasam was a neat one. Fish fry had a thin coat of spicy-flour which made it little crunchy on the outer layer. I liked it much, but not my friend. At the end, had the curd with no rice and finished up with the yummy semiya payasam.

One thing I would like to highlight is the way they serve food, I was asked at least 7-8 times if I need rice. And they even served second cup of payasam to the guy( he asked for it) sitting on next table. It is a shame that we couldn't taste several items like the daal powder, gongura thokku which were placed on small vessels on the table as we got too much stuffed. Though little pricey, it was such a wonderful meal for voracious appetite. But they should reduce the price of veg meal at least as it should not cost the same price as non-veg meal.

Lunch Buffet at Palmshore

It is difficult nowadays to find someone in office to get a treat. After much trouble, we convinced our colleague about how important it is for him to treat us for him buying a new mobile and christmas. But he agreed to pay only half the bill. So no other option in hand, we had to agree to pay the rest.
After comparing Absolute Barbeque and Palmshore, we chose Palmshore as it is near to our office. Googled for coupons and offers and also called the restaurant a day before for group or corporate discount. And the guy on the phone accepted to provide 5% discount for 9 of us.
As most of us skipped the breakfast, we reached the restaurant on time when the lunch buffet starts.
After occupying our seat, we left to get our first serving. Being pure carnivores, we asked meat and meat only for lunch. However when we left for the first serving, they have served french fries and gobi manchurian on our plates

We returned back to our seat with a bowl of dijaj shorba (arabian version of chicken soup). It was watery with some shredded chicken. A perfect soup to have on a ravenous noon.

Appetizers like BBQ chicken, egg manchurian, Prawns and Gobi manchurian, french fries, mean polichadhu were served on our plates. Meen polichadhu was a tawa fried plantain leaf covered boneless fish. It was a brilliant starter. Both chicken and prawns were neatly done. Egg manchurian was also perfectly done. None of us showed interest on gobi and fries. We strongly feel they shouldn't have served any veggie without asking us. We are not here to eat french fries.

A hot grill was placed on our table, but very much disappointed to see only chicken kebabs served on it. When we asked for other grill varieties, they said they serve only chicken on grill. Mutton is available only with gravy. No prawn or fish grill as well. Even they denied to serve any veg grill like pineapple as they serve it only for vegetarians.

After spending enough time with starters, we have decided to go for mains which was chicken briyani, chicken & mutton chettinad, chicken masala, fish gravy. Chicken briyani was so good. Liked both the varieties of chettinad dishes. But anchovies(Nethili) fish gravy was not our favourite due to the strong smell. Had a quarter of roti and naan which went well with mutton chettinad gravy.
Good thing on this buffet is they have many varieties of salads like cucumber to russian one. A big hands up for this. Some of us got curd rice which was too cold, might have come frozen. My friend had tasted steamed rice with rasam and was saying he should have taken the chicken shorba instead of rasam(was a let down).

 After the mains, we came down to desserts like mini gulab jamuns, payasam and rava kesari. Felt the flavour of horlicks on both payasam and kesari. Some liked it, but not many.
On seeing the big glass full of ice cream with tutti fruitti topping, many took it. But later found the botton was heavy layers with corn flakes which was a big disappointment. So I had to take a seperate scoop of strawberry ice cream with some mouth-watering sugar water coated crispies.
Lunch set us back by 548₹ plus 5% GST pax.

Pros:
1. Only place were lunch buffet is available in a walkable distance from DLF.
2. Nominal price for the buffet
3. Availability of parking space for your cars
Cons:
1. According to Palmshore, non-veg grill means Chicken Chicken and Chicken. They serve 3 varieties of chicken grills. But not even a single variety of prawns or fish or mutton grills.
2. Serves veg starters to non-veg eaters without their consent
3. If you opted for non-veg, then you will not be served with any veg grill. Not even a single stick.

Some non-veg eaters seeking variety of food may not like buffet at Palmshore due to the strong presence of chicken. However it is not bad when you're eating chicken after a long gap. If you want to try fish or mutton varieties, then you must go for a la carte only as Palmshore makes some of the best BBQ and grills on this world.