BANGALORE & MYSORE

Bngalore is not really a tourist city, but is one of the, if not the principal city for multinational companies to set up headquarters. Thus it has good shops and restaurants (although, of course, retains the usual chaotic ‘Indian-ness’ beloved by Indiaphiles. There are numerous restaurants to choose from, and you can’t really go wrong, but perhaps the following will give a start to any first-timers there.

For a really upmarket experience, try the Leela Palace Hotel, the top hotel in town. It’s probably best to visit lunchtime when they offer an excellent buffet (I visited on a Thursday, but I am told Sunday is even better – and busier!). The choice is either the ‘salad buffet’, or the complete buffet, which includes the salad and sweet counters but also includes a large range of hot dishes – many, of course, different curries. I was going for the complete buffet, but the ‘salad’ covers such a wide range of dishes – most not salads – that I would never have got past them. The range of dishes included numerous cold plates of spicy fish and meat – far too many to list – but they were marvellous. I’m sure the hot dishes were just as good, if you’ve got the appetite and a large enough appetite to get that far. In addition, there is a plentiful selection of daintily presented sweets, all attractively arrayed. And the cost for this feast – 600 rupees for the salad and sweet buffet, or 850 for the complete buffet. This worked out at approximately £7.20 and £10 respectively – perhaps expensive by Indian standards but considering the class and style of the place you would be hard pressed to find better value.

Another top hotel that offers excellent food and a lunchtime buffet in extremely comfortable surroundings (eat on the terrace overlooking the gardens) is the Taj West End.

For a special restaurant evening meal, the Samarkand in the Gem Plaza, Infantry Road takes some beating. It is a very smart restaurant, and most of the diners are Indian. Smartly uniformed waiters with headdresses attend your needs in low-lit and atmospheric surroundings (the chairs are also fairly low, so could be a bit uncomfortable if you’re tall). They don’t do many starters – only three Soups - but you won’t need them, as the main dishes are plentiful (particularly the rice – one will do at least four people). We had a variety of dishes, and they were all delicious. Few of the names appear on menus at home, and even ones that do – for example the Navarathan (vegetable) Korma was nothing like the Kormas at home, not so sickly sweet and in a cashew nut based sauce. Good, attentive service, and a restaurant that’s well worth going to for a special meal out. Booking is recommended.

Another good place to try, slightly less sophisticated but still very good (and again packed with Indians) is the Tandoor in Centenary Buildings, 28 M.G.Road (it’s set a little back from the main road and easy to miss). On two floors, both crowded despite being midweek (again, booking is recommended), it offers an extensive menu, which once again bears little resemblance to our high street menus (although there are a few familiar names). The food was also very good and portions plentiful (again, one rice did for four of us), but the service can be a bit slow if they’re busy (and the dishes may not all arrive at the same time).

At a less sophisticated level, but still very nice, it is worth looking up Koshy’s, one of the longer established restaurants, being established in 1947. In fact, there are two restaurants – as you enter the central door, the restaurant to the right is the more upmarket with table cloths etc., while the one on the left (the one I used) is more on the old style Indian café/restaurant (although they do put a table cloth on the Formica topped tables most times). Much more down to earth (but not by any means one of the basic cafes), and a cheaper menu, it has a wonderful atmosphere as a local Indian café and is full of Indians casually eating. A very good lunchtime venue.

Mysore

Should you be in Bangalore you may well visit Mysore (you should - personally I find it a much ‘prettier’ town, if one can use that word in the context of Indian towns!). If you drive, there are many Dhabas on the road, but a good one is about half way and set behind a modern ‘Coffee Day’ snack bar and coffee house. The coffee house itself is more for coffee and pastries, but they do provide good samosas for a snack, and the great benefit is that they have modern, clean toilets. A great attraction on the road! The dhaba behind (no connection with the Coffee Day chain, and the name of which I forget) does really excellent vegetable curries. Absolutely delicious for a midway lunch stop.

 Mysore also looked to have a number of restaurants, although I didn’t try them. The main attraction of Mysore is the Palace, but the city’s second palace – the Lalitha Palace – is now a hotel. We visited this in the evening after seeing the main palace lit up (only on a Sunday if you’re planning to go) and stayed for dinner in the restaurant. They only offered a buffet, and although OK and not expensive relatively speaking for the sort of place it was (400 rupees – just under a fiver), it was not a place I would return to for food. (The bar, however, was very comfortable with very moreish spiced peanuts with the beer!).

 Malcolm Wilkins – November 2006