Food tasting at Jive Pub, Bangalore

I was invited to experience the food fare at the newly opened Jive Pub in Bangalore.
Here's a photo tour...

The day's special cocktail happened to be Sex on the beach. The waiter chuckled at my soft gasp...

Sex on the beach was way too orangy for my liking. I opted for Margarita in various flavors and Pina Colada instead...

Grilled Vegetable Salad...

Potato Cheese Kurkure...

Chicken Wantons...

Bharwan Tangri Chicken...

Chicken Macau Roll...

Chicken Salad...

Stuffed Grilled Mushroom (my favorite)...

Tawa king fish...

Nachos...

Paneer Tikka...

Zaffrani Cheesy Chicken...

For main course, there was Naan bread to be had with Mutton Rogan Josh, Paneer butter masala and Dal Makhni...

Chicken Biryani...

And the dessert - Gajar ka halwa...

Overall experience was good. Nice ambiance, comfortable seating and great tasting food and drinks at reasonable price. Only thing disappointing is there are not many choices for dessert.

Jive Pub on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jivebangalore 

Rohan at 8 months

Rohan turns 8 months old today. He likes to try out his newly sprouted teeth on just about anything he can see...

And a pic from last month...

Joy of Single Malt exploration

It was in 2010, I tasted Amrut Fusion Single Malt for the first time. I've been a fan of Amrut's single malt range since that very day. I was excited to receive an invite to a single malt appreciation event organized by none other than Amrut Distilleries. 

Here's a photo tour of the event...

Amrut is a brand of Indian Single Malt whisky that has been receiving awards and accolades from across the world ever since its launch...

The Saturday afternoon was just perfect and the folks at The Glass House, Bangalore were all geared up to host the event...

I took my seat eager to hear and learn... 

Rakshit Jagdale and his team from Amrut gave a review of their incredible journey so far...

It was a blind tasting session with six samples and a scoring sheet to rate each on the aspects of smell, taste, balance, finish, age and origin. We started with nosing...


Warming the glass with your hand helps release the aroma of the drink...


Nosing is a critical aspect of the tasting process. With practice, one can identify many different fragrances out of over 30 primary aromas...


Next is taking a sip to feel the effects in different parts of the mouth...


Colors can give you an indication of age and wood finish. Normally whiskies grow darker with age...

All aspects were recorded in the scoring sheet...

Each whisky was tasted blind before the identity was revealed...

My scorecard in the end. Highest score went to Amrut Peated Indian Single Malt Whisky. At number two was my favorite Amrut Fusion Single Malt. Amrut had beaten other biggies like Jim Beam, Black Label and even Glenmorangie...

Some good food were served by the host, The Glass House. 

Here's the Beef Carpaccio...

Goat's cheese lollipops...

Chicken fire crackers with red dynasty cabbage slaw...

Pizza...

Eggplant Roulade...

Fish and chips inspiration...

By carefully examining  a glass of whisky, one can appreciate the experience even more.

Leaving you with some pretty faces from the event...

To know more about Amrut visit their website or wikipedia 

White Elephant comes home

With the opening of so many new Thai restaurants, I can safely say that Thai cuisine is fast becoming one of Bangalore's favorite food. I was at White Elephant to review their menu over the last weekend.

It's got a great ambiance with lots of space and some delightful curios like the elephant door handle.

Starters include Kai Hor Bai Taey (Chicken wrapped in Pandanus leaves), Pla Yang (Spicy skewered grilled fish), Khao Pod Tod Nam Prik Pow (crispy fried babycorn in rice tartlets), Manfrang Tod Samros (crispy fried potatoes tossed with tri-flavored sauce) and Choop Bong Thod (crispy fried vegetable). I was smitten with the kick of chilli in all the starters. The spice level is slightly higher than other Thai restaurants I have been to. They went well with the Watermelon flavored Margarita.

For the main course, Jasmine rice and noodles were to be had with traditional Thai green curry with prawns (Kaeng Keow Whan) and Thai red curry with chicken (Kaeng Ped). The curries were rich with coconut milk and had some strong but balanced flavors.

To cool down the palates, there are some awesome desserts like deep fried banana, pumpkin custard with coconut ice cream and ice cream with seasonal flavor of Jackfruit.

The surprise highlight of the evening was the magic show at our table by Rakesh Syam. His close-up illusions were brilliant.

I should say that this dining experience was certainly a great composition of spice, flavors, presentation and entertainment.

White Elephant on Facebook

The sublime and exotic

A photo tour from my visit to the Sublime House of Tea...

UB City is bedecked in beautiful wedding finery as part of the ongoing Trousseau Week 2014. 

Sublime House of Tea is present at the Trousseau Week as a Lounge...

At the lounge you can experience their premium range of tea... 

The brew experience is enriched by the live music performance...

Their portfolio of fine tea represents a mix of the classical, the popular and the avant garde...

Seventh Heaven - composed of very select high-grown Nilgiri Black Tea Leaves, infused with natural aromas and freeze dried tropical fruit. The tea thus has a wonderful fruity bouquet and a pleasing aroma.

Pairs well with French Macaroons...

Green Long Ding - a pure Green Tea. Fresh tender tea leaves are carefully processed to minimise oxidation and rolled using a very special process. 

I tried all the tea and loved all. My favorite one is White Tea with Raspberry. White Tea Leaves are the least processed and the least oxidized among all teas...

A tea party can be quite fun...

A big thanks to Malavika and Uzma Irfan for inviting me to be a part of such an informative event...

Visit www.SublimeHouseOfTea.com to shop their entire range.

A beautiful morning in Bangalore

At 7AM, Cubbon Park in Bangalore bustles with activity. Joggers, walkers and elderly couples, all enjoy the first rays of the early morning sun. 

The Tabebuia trees in full bloom adds to the beauty of the landscape.

Spiderman Wannabe