Being Bakasura: Malgudi Vattika : Where time pauses and even Rewinds

"A man who has no knowledge of his past history, origin and culture is like a Tree without it's Roots"

-R.K. Narayan

Malgudi Vattika seems to be built on this foundation. In this fast paced life of Bengaluru, we humans have become more like a machine valuing future goals, targets and unknown destiny. But very least concerned about our past, history & even our own inheritance tree. We all forget how inspiring is our history and its a best guide to our future. When you visit a place like Malgudi Vattika, you feel like you are looking yourself in the beautiful mirror of Past and from somewhere inside you a string of memory sounds a soft note!

Malgudi Vattika: A brilliantly chosen name for this piece of heaven, Where Malgudi stands for its antique in-house ambiance, Vattika stands for its beautiful outdoor with green garden and landscapes. The name reminds so many things, whether its RK Narayan's fictional illustrations or Shankarnag's popular TV series or the core traditional old Bengaluru. The ambiance here lives up to all those legends. I feel so thankful for Food Bloggers Association of Bangalore (FBAB), for choosing such an iconic place for their 22nd Bloggers Meet.

LOCATION: Its situated on the Mysore Road just 1 KM after Wonder-La gate, typically an hour drive from the central Bengaluru. There are many sign boards placed appropriately for every 200 meters after the Wonder-La in order to guide you accurately. You can also depend on Google Maps as its co-ordinates are accurate.

AMBIANCE: I don't have a perfect word to describe its great ambiance. The overall ambiance catches everyone's eyes. An old bullock cart at the entrance seems like an invitation for a time travel and tempts the guests to take selfies and photographs with it even before stepping into the restaurant. When it comes to the choice of seating you will find it very difficult to choose one place out of those finest seating choices. The front portico which you find at the entrance is perfect for the short breakfast session or for sipping a hot coffee in the evening.

While entering main dining area mind your steps because you will be slipped back to 1950's! Yes, its quite an immense nostalgic feel you can't get rid off as far as you are in this dining hall. Every bits and pieces you find in this hall appears like it is there to tell you a story.

The back portico area opens towards the lawn, it provides a great privacy and a homely feel. This area is decorated with some antiques and the wooden work around is really impressive.

Then comes the epic dine-on-lawn experience. They have specially reserved a table in this area for us bloggers. Though it was a shiny afternoon, the environment was cool. It took us a while for arranging (shuffling!) seats to get shadow, but the whole dining experience in this section was totally awesome.

They have a small party deck which they call as "Halli Katte" (ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಕಟ್ಟೆ) again a perfect synonym. It is specially created for small get-together and celebrations. This space is located on the corner of property and offers perfect privacy.
They have some traditional games which refreshed my childhood memories. Surprisingly, many of my fellow foodies didn't even knew that such a kind of games do exist. Some of the games were as follows:

|| Snake and Ladder (ಹಾವು ಏಣಿ) ||
|| Alaguli Mane (ಅಳಗುಳಿ ಮನೆ) ||
|| Tic Tac Toe (ಒಂಬತ್ತು ಮನೆ ಆಟ) ||
|| Pagade (ಪಗಡೆ) ||
|| Lido (ಚೌಕ ಭಾರ) ||

I'm sure that the celebration & gathering will be way too fun with all these games and will definitely keeps guest busy.
The whole property is decorated with lantern like light posts which will add a romantic essence to the evenings. I just loved the whole ambiance.

SERVICE: Very disciplined indeed. Though this restaurant opened just a few months ago, stewards and the managers are well trained. They managed varieties of demands from our members very well. Their North Karnataka style of traditional dress suited that environment very well. People in this restaurant were very soft spoken and courteous.

FOOD

They serve both South Indian & North Indian cuisine including the breakfast. We were welcomed by Lemon Soda drink, it was absolute delight. After travelling so far on bright afternoon, such a drink was really needed to add up some glucose in our veins.
Then they served Butter Milk. Generally we call it as Masala Butter Milk, but here it was too watery and lacked both salt & spices.

Obbattu & Bajji (ಒಬ್ಬಟ್ಟು / ಕಾಯಿ ಹೋಳಿಗೆ & ಬಜ್ಜಿ) : It was a surprise to see Holige / obbattu at the beginning, but yes, its a north Karnataka tradition to serve Holige at the beginning. It was coconut holige with jaggery mixture. Looking at the colour of Holige I was expecting to be pampered with sweetness but disappointingly there was very little trace of sweetness. For a moment I felt like they are treating me as a diabetic! Apart from that, Chilly Bajji was awesome. It was crunchy, tasty and moderately spicy.

Paneer Tikka : It appeared to me like jugal-bandi of North and South Indian cuisine when Paneer Tikka arrived on my table. However, Paneer Tikka was above average, the sausage used on it wasn't penetrated the paneer deeply, I can't say it was undercooked, but it was poor application of masala which resulted in bland taste.

North Karnataka Jowar Roti Thali (ಉತ್ತರ ಕನ್ನಡ ಜೋಳದ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ ಊಟ) : Till date Kamath was my favourite destination for Jowar Roti Meal, but now I have a new place with a great ambiance as added bonus. The Thali had variety of colourful dishes and in my views it was an exhibition on proteins & vitamins. It was true to its origin. Side dishes were too good and the ingredients used in it felt very fresh. Though spice level was quite low in some curry, it tasted good with roti. We also tried Poori with the same side dishes, poori was very good. It was soft and tasty.

Makkhi Da Roti & Sarson Da Saag : Whenever I hear Sarson Da Saag my Punjabi memory flashes. I have tasted Sarson Da Saag in many restaurants in Punjab. It might be due to my high level of expectation, this dish din't convinced me here. I felt lot of improvement needed in terms of spice level and cooking method. Makkhi Da Roti on the other hand was quite good.

Veg Pulao & Veg Handi Biriyani : Both were good and rich in ingredients. Vegetables & Paneer used in it was perfectly cooked and gave a great taste. Veg Pulav was bit sweet with lite pan flavor.
Fresh Fruit Juices: I tried Pineapple & Watermelon Juices, both were good and felt fresh!

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EVERYTHING ELSE: It will be better if you let servers to move your cutleries and plates. Because every cutleries they use are antique and forged with two metals, its very heavy. There is lot of parking space in the vicinity. As per my observation, they have maintained a good hygiene all over the property.

I'm still not able to understand how one could drive long distance after having such great meal! Frankly seeing such lush greenery environment and having my tummy full I terribly wanted to sleep for a while on that lawn. (Many families were doing so...) Such an exemplary place it is!

FINAL VERDICT: Its not just about food! Its about whole experience! Visiting this restaurant will add a memorable day in your life!

BAKASURA RATING