Goa and Bangalore. Restaurants, markets etc.

[augustine]

I am hoping for some advice on eating in Bangalore and Goa. I am totally open to any experiences, food, drink, markets, any level and all price points, anything that is worth seeing or tasting. In Goa I'll be staying in Candolim but will travel if worth it. Much appreciated.

[v. gautam]

Here is part of a blog of a recent visitor from the USA:

http://pleasuremountain.wordpress.com/2007...nd-of-sikandar/

http://pleasuremountain.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/banzai-uma/

A couple for Goa at:

http://www.gourmetindia.net/forums/index.php?showforum=12

More Goa advice will be found at the blog of the Deccan Heffalump.

http://thecookscottage.typepad.com/

email him for personal recommendations, he is from the Goa area.

You could also ask the advice of our forum moderator Episure, about Bangalore restaurants.

http://www.gourmetindia.net/forums/index.p...t=40entry7686

Bangalore Restaurants

South Indian Vegetarian:

MTR [my note: this is quite a hectic affair:a sit-down place, beginning at 11 a.m. multi-course, multi-servings of vegetarian food, eaten with your hand. Please take an Indian colleague, a Karnataka or Tamil person who has experienced the place before and knows the territory and culture. Presumably you will be going on a business trip, so you will have more than one Indian counterpart happy to show you the ropes. Please also note, and this is very very important on weedays, the punishing traffic from wherever your office might be to MTR. A weekend, Saturday, may be good. MTR is an experience that should not be missed]

"For south Indian vegg., next place everyone should try is GOPIKA in Malleshswaram " says another knowledgeable person.

Also at Malleshswaram, for superb dosas, Central Tiffin Room.

Please understand that South Indian Veg. cuisine is wildly deliciousto myself and many others, not so to many, including many Americans who far prefer the meatier Mughal and even Indian non-veg. cooking to the acquired/inherited taste of the vegetarian cuisines, which are tart and laden with asafetida. See post #52.

However, dosas are a universal favorite, not to be missed:there is the traditional "ridge-and valley" style and the more modern crisp ghee roast and paper butter styles. The former is pictured in the blog above.

New Kisna Bhavan also serves superb dosa as does Gopika.

From one of the owners' relatives: "Although Gopika and New Krishna Bhuvan have come to be associated as one, they really are two different restaurants. NKB is the older, more traditional establishment; Gopika is more recent. I prefer to sit in NKB for its old-world ambience.

...stay away from the Punjabi, Chinese, and some of the outlandish fusion, and stick to the traditional Karnataka specialties there. Especially recommended are neer-dosa, Mangalore Kotte Kodabu, ragi dosa, button idli with sambar, rava dosa, etc."

"The Fish land restaurant near Majestic serves very good coastal seafood. The Crab masala and Kane fish fry is simply superb. The best thing is the freshness of the ingredients."

KC Das for Bengali sweeets, rosogollas, sweet yogurt.

"Samarkand, Gem Plaza, Infantry Road, Bangalore. The most amazing North West Frontier - Afghani, food you will taste ever..... biryani"

["Hypnos, the adjoining pub, has a dance floor, a Grecian-styled ambience (as the name suggests) and some amazing contemporary music .Warning! If you plan to drop by on a weekend, better call ahead and reserve your table. If they allow you to, order your biryani in advance as well."

Address

Samarkhand

Gem Plaza

66, Infantry Road

Bangalore -- 560 001

Phone: (080) 51113364

http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/dec/12biryani.htm]

post 29:

"For a slightly different experience eat similar cuisine in a 'Rail Coach' at 'Sahib Sindh Sultan' managed by the same owners at the Forum mall- Koramangala.

A trip to eat a South Indian meal served on a banana leaf is well worth the travel:

Halli Mane - Malleshwaram

MTR - ask anybody

Woodlands - near Mallya hospital

A recent discovery for me- Kanua (off Sarjapur road in a cul-de-sac) for great Mangalorean coastal cuisine.

The Sunday brunches at the 5 star Hotels are excellent value for money at around Rs.1000 with wine/cocktails. If you are stuck for choice then opt for the Zen at the Leela for a lazy afternoon with a choice of Pan asian and Indian food.

You have try Indo chinese food at Mainland China - church street and pan asian at the newly opened Saigon on the same stretch above Ruby Tuesday. "

Biryani Merchant at Castle Sreet: Mr. Vishy Senoy, Prop. For further information and reservation contact – Biryani Merchant at 080-51128081

Edited April 17, 2008 by v. gautam (log)

[v. gautam]

A few more for Bangalore:

http://pleasuremountain.wordpress.com/2007...re-restaurants/

[augustine]

V.gautam, Thank you so much. This is wonderful. I have lots of homework to do, an itinerary to draw up. I may rethink and spend a bit more time now in Bangalore given this wealth of information. Again thank you.

[v. gautam]

You may also wish to visit Indiatree, a travel and info site run by Indians and expats for travelers to India. Plenty of seasoned Goa hands there, anxious to give advice that is well worth taking!! Just now both places are pretty hot and muggy, though; so make a note of the climate around the time you plan your trip, it will have a bearing on your enjoyment of food and general moving around.

Goa:

A.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videopod/default.aspx

Chef Urbano de Rego at the Taj Holiday Village, Goa: a great master who has been collecting and perfecting, for past 3 decades hidden heirlooms of the Goan Christian and Hindu communities

Fresh Cashew Fruit Shakuti: a rarity both in the main ingredient, very lightly cooked, and in the special combination of spices, a specialty of a small group of Hindu masons. This meal was cooked by them at the end of a big job, spicy to make them tear up and remove all the dust and grit from their eyes and skin!! You may need to temper the decibels with some excellent Goan-type bread and rice. Try both and see how the flavor changes with each combination.

Mango Sanson/sarson: derived from sarson, i.e. mustard: a vegetarian dish from the Christian community. Semi-ripe, sour mangoes cooked in a mustardy-tart gravy, eaten mixed with a good dose of rice.

You may wish to contact Taj Village via email and even Chef Rego, and see if he would accommodate special requests. Don't get fobbed off with food cooked by underlings, unless the Master is directly supervising!!! Ask for his special recommendations, lesser known treasures, things out of the beaten path, things that might vanish once this elderly scholar-chef is no more. Everyone eats and can cook shrimp, crab and fish!

B. Hotel Venite: Prop. Luis Antonio Francisco D'Souza.

Very atmospheric, Hotel = restaurant, walls covered with graffitti left by 40 years of tourists.

Tisane = porridge of sprouted Finger millet, ragi, Eleusine coracana, eaten with honey: the most ancient food of Goa.

Chouricao/chorizo sandwich, Goa's specialty

Bebinca : a layered cake made with coconut milk

C. Sahakari Spice Farm at Ponda, 1 hour away: 130+ acres of working farm containing all the major spice plants, pepper, vanilla, nutmeg etc. plus cashews and a distillery for the cashew apple, making "feni" Goa's notorious white lightning.

Above information all courtesy of NDTVcooks.com, Vinod Dua and Seema Chandra, translated/commented upon by me where necessary.

Edited April 19, 2008 by v. gautam (log)

[v. gautam]

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/05/10/stories...51000960400.htm

[Episure]

You could also ask the advice of our forum moderator Episure, about Bangalore restaurants.

←

Just wanted to clarify that I am not the forum moderator here. Never was.

Augustine, please bear in mind that more than half of Goa's restaurants close down their shutters for the monsoon season - June - Sept.

Edited April 23, 2008 by Episure (log)

[v. gautam]

Episure,

Sorry for propagating that misunderstanding. I somehow got the impression you were some sort of lead person of this thread after Suvir Saran and Monica Bhide stepped down, the latter after the first. My mistake, obviously.

gautam

[faine]

If you're still in any way interested, I've just come off three months living in Bangalore (and working as a restaurant reviewer there) and could probably help ya out. Or anyone who wants to get into some delicious eats in Bangalore.

[augustine]

If you're still in any way interested, I've just come off three months living in Bangalore (and working as a restaurant reviewer there) and could probably help ya out. Or anyone who wants to get into some delicious eats in Bangalore.

←

Hi Faine,

Just back and haven't posted yet but enjoyed a few of Bangalore's restaurant in particular Samarkand and New Kisna Bhavan in Malleshwaram. Will post over the next week.

A

[adey73]

any more recommendations for Goa? ....Just booked for December.

Thanks in Advance.

[v. gautam]

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/05/10/stories...51000960400.htm

←

Mistakenly left out the narrative that went with this link: the restaurant is named BANGALIANA, that serves [allegedly good + authentic!!] food from Calcutta, West Bengal style.

So visitors to Bangalore curious to sample yet another regional cuisine could try this one out. No guarantees, only read a review, objects I treat with the greatest suspicion. Perhaps Episure has more critical + reliable judgments on "Bengali" establishments in Bengaluru, since he lives there and keeps an eye out on their ups and downs.

[Thanks, Helen, for the heads-up, sorry I did not see it until today!].