Showing posts with label Japanese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese. Show all posts

Friday, 30 October 2015

All day dining at b Cafe, Shangri-La, Bengaluru

Shangri-La doesn't need any introduction but if you are not aware then they have opened their second property in India and the lucky city is our Namma Bangaluru. One of the finest hotels present in India, I was delighted to be part of their soft launch and the launch party. This time, I went for a review at their all day dining restaurant, b Cafe.

Located in the heart of the city, Palace road, Shangri-La Hotel, Bengaluru offer diners an array of authentic cuisines in some of the most spectacular settings in town. B-café is an all day dining restaurant at the lobby level featuring individual ‘open-theatre’ cooking stations and à la carte menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner in a lively, fun atmosphere. People can enjoy fresh, inventive dishes prepared à la minute by a team of international chefs from Italy, Japan, China and India, so basically you dine with the chef's :)



The staff is ever smiling, making your stay at the hotel or dine at the restaurant very pleasurable. The variety of food offered at b cafe is amazing, something which I haven't seen much in Bangalore. Chef Antonio Tardi, Executive chef says you can name any dish and you will be served. Chef Tardi along with Chef Rounak was all set to present us with their selection of lip-smacking food. While we waited for the food to arrive, we were munching on Mezze platter, where hummus, labneh, mohummara, taboulleh was served with assorted pita bread



I refreshed myself with 2 mocktails during my entire dining experience.
























First came ‘Yonaha’s Sushi creations’ and the presentation with spectacular - Prawn Tempura sushi, cucumber and cream cheese sushi, carrot nigiri and Asparagus maki roll were neatly placed in a small bamboo casket, served with soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi. All were cooked well and it had the right moisture.



Next was ‘Winter greens chef creation’. It had a baby beet, orange segments, goat cheese and arugula salad tossed fresh with olive oil dressing and shaved parmesan. As Chef Rounak mentioned, arugula tossed well and mixed with right ingredients can be enjoyed as a meal. yes, the baby beet and orange with parmesan did not make the leaves taste bitter, in fact it enhanced the taste of the salad.


Next came 'Dim sums', chicken and pumpkin in non veg, shitake mushrooms in veg, both were served with soy chilli and dragon chilli sauce. Nothing fancy but aren't these supposed to be enjoyed when stuck to simple creation?



I skipped the Orange and Campari Sorbet as it had liquor but for those who had, they enjoyed it while it cleansed their palate.


Well cooked lamb is always my weakness so when Roasted Slow cooked lamb leg, stuffed with spinach and cheese came, I had my expectations built up, especially after having such good food already. The lamb was marinated with house spice mix of herbs served with baby vegetables and rosemary jus. The meat was tender, the spices were just right which gave me my star dish of the night. I could another helping of it, if I did not have to eat anything else. Chef Rounak, job well done.




I did try a taste of Baked homemade potato gnocchi, with cherry tomato and buffalo mozzarella. It was good but I was happy my lamb :) In between, I also had a tasting of pani puri which was served at the chaats counter, how could I miss it?



The last dish which came was Zaffrani murgh dum biryani which was served with mirchi salan and raita, homemade garlic pickle, cabbage pickle, lotus stem pickle and mango pickle. First about the pickle, I liked the collection, lotus stem pickle was my favorite followed by garlic pickle. The biryani was cooked well, the rice was moist, the chicken had the spices on it, none of the spices over powered the other, the spices were evenly spread across the entire biryani and lastly the aroma was tempting enough to clean the bowl of this delish main course. I can return to b Cafe for this biryani.

How can you finish a meal without a dessert? So Dark Chocolate fondant served with Blue cheese and pear ice cream. Delicious and extremely filling dessert which looked tempting enough too. Right balance of taste and looks, must-must try it.


The variety to offer is more and by the look of it, I couldn't think I would ever cover the entire spread. For the kid in me, I did have cotton candy before I left with a smile on my face and tummy being full. This was my second visit to b Cafe, but first time I actually tried the spread which is offered. My fist visit was a brief visit and I had chosen a la carte.

The various live counters at b Cafe can be seen below.








































If you are looking for a restaurant to satisfy your taste buds for cuisines like chinese, asian, indian, japanese, salads, chaats, desserts, etc then b Cafe is your destination. They are aptly priced throught the 7 days of the week but the spread increases on a Sunday so I'm waiting to head to b Cafe on a Sunday to try their other offerings. By now if you are hungry, then head to b cafe :)


Thursday, 5 February 2015

Lingering Lunch at Shiro with GourmetItUp experience

Mid week blues hit me and I wanted some change in my routine. Shiro was at my rescue service. I was invited by GourmetItUp for a review of the Lingering lunches at Shiro. I have been to Shiro many times and I knew my afternoon is going to be good with Chef Priyank taking care of the menu.


A little bit about GourmetItUp, it creates and curates customized food experiences. They are in their third year currently and have a strong hold in Mumbai, Delhi and Pune, entering the Bangalore market. They help in creating unique and exclusive dining experiences for its members, from off-menu meals to tasting experiences.

You must be wondering on how GourmetItUp works? Here is the answer: Diners register at GourmetItUp.com and browse through an extensive set of exclusive dining experiences. Diners can make a reservation at the click of a button and payments are made directly at the restaurant. Each experience clearly displays the menu, pricing and table availability and the GourmetItUp concierge can be easily reached via a call or live chat to answer any questions about an experience or to suggest experiences that best fit the occasion. 

I starter my meal with a refreshing mocktail names Orange and min virgin mojito. This is also Chef Priyank's favorite and has been on my order every time. It is refreshing and pairs my food well. During my meal I also had a mocktail with watermelon and soda.


























The lingering lunches have 2 options for unlimited food apart from ala carte service. One can choose from Unlimited dim sums special and Unlimited Sushi and Maki special, both priced at Rs.850 plus charges and taxes. 

I started with the assorted veg dim sum platter which had Zucchini and coriander dumpling, spinach and corn dumpling, celery and pepper mushroom dumpling and chi chow dumpling. Can you believe that I enjoyed all the veg dim sums? I was very amazed with the taste and authenticity of the dim sums that I loved every bite. Without any dip, I enjoyed all, you can try with soya sauce or chilli paste which is served with it. Even I find it hard to believe that I enjoyed a veg platter more ;)


Next came the assorted non veg dim sum platter which had Celery and prawn dumpling, sui mai, hargau and chicken gyoza along with steamed chicken and shitake mushroom. I personally did not like marinated steamed chicken and shitake mushroom much. But the dumplings were amazing. As a prawn person, I loved hargau which had marinated prawns and steamed inside a translucent wrapper. While Sui mai had minced chicken and prawns and shitake mushroom steamed in a wonton wrapper. Given any weekday, I would prefer a dim sum special and have unlimited dims sums which floored my taste buds.



Steamed chicken and shitake mushroom
Next was Sushi and Maki Special. Starting with Veg sushi, I tried the cucumber, asparagus and shitake mushroom. I enjoyed the cucumber and asparagus sushi more than shitake mushroom. In non veg, I tried the red snapper sushi. I do not have taste buds for non veg sushi so I was hesitant to try tuna, spicy tuna mayo and salmon sushi.

Veg Maki and Veg Sushi (Left to right)
Non veg Sushi
Then came Maki. I have had Maki many times earlier but nothing tasted as good as Shiro. In veg, Crispy spicy avocado, vegetarian spicy California and Kappa maki was served which tasted exceptionally well. In non veg, california maki, tuna maki, prawn maki, new york maki, spicy chicken with shitake maki was served. I have developed a strong taste for Maki. I never knew they could be tasty especially when Chef Priyank has got his innovations too.

Non veg Maki
Ended my meal by having a cup of green tea which was very refreshing. I rarely have enjoy a good cup of green tea but Shiro did a fabulous job in bringing this lunch together. 



I had an amazing lunch taking my mid week blues out and raring to enjoy the weekend.

You can check the menu below for lingering lunch (ignore the spelling error in my name)