One stop to explore whole South Indian cuisine: Simply South

Indian cuisine… Whenever someone arises a question about it, we generally answer there are just two kinds; One is North Indian and Another is South Indian. Just like we have many diversified languages, cultures and celebrations, we have many diversified cuisine in each state.

Simply South attempts to bring out those diversified cuisines of South India by combining top notch delicacies of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala together.  It’s a brilliant concept introduced by the famous Chef Chalapathy Rao.

Location: It’s located in the New BEL Road right opposite to the Woodland’s showroom on the 3rd Floor above Xtreme Sports bar. Locating this restaurant is quite easy with the landmarks and you can also depend on the Google Maps.

AMBIANCE

Simple… Just like it’s name. The ambient lighting, rich cutleries  and raw textured furnitures are enough to give an elegant look to this simple ambience. Strategically placed frames of cultures, monuments, festival illustrations from all five southern states will definitely grab your attention. The whole ambience is peaceful and the light classical instrumental music in the background fills your soul before stomach. It’s an unique experience.

SERVICE

 

Since it is a new restaurant service feels bit clumsy and moderately slow. But every operation of stewards is closely  monitored by the management to provide flawless experience to the guests. I’m sure that you won’t notice any hinch in the service and you will surely be pleased by their genuine service. 

FOOD

They have divided their menu into 6 major parts each dedicated to cuisines of southern states. Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Telangana and Hyderabadi! Yes! Being one of the oldest cuisine, Hyderabadi has a special historical value and loved by all. So, the Hyderabadi cuisine has got it’s own exceptional place in the menu.

Though they serve core south indian dishes, the course of meal they follow is very close to North Indian kind. (Like; Soup & starters at first, main course followed by desserts) However, it’s a kind of different experience.

Tomato Saar: This was served as soup. Though they mentioned it’s origin as Karnataka, taste didn’t felt like Karnataka Tomato Saar. Because, in Karnataka sweetness will be equivalent to the sourness of this dish. Keeping it aside, the taste was just brilliant. The sour and spice combination was just awesome. I enjoyed every sip as it cleared my throat and provided a lovely start to our dining experience.

Mokka Jonna Garelu: It was corn based deep fried dish served as the starter along with soothing light spicy side dish. This is the first time I tasted a Telangana dish and it turned out to be great. It tasted lovely.

Gobi Kempu Bezule: Though its a Mangalorean dish, I tasted it before in Kerala. But here it tasted too good than ever. The crispiness was just perfect. 

Muvva Vankaya: When it arrived on our table I thought this is similar to Enegai Gojju which is the speciality of North Karnataka. But upon tasting it felt like it belongs to an entire new league. It was prepared with Andhra Style of cooking by well marinating the baby brinjal and adding the peanut powder for that ultimate twist. Being a non-brinjal lover I adored this dish.

Ulavacharu: This was an absolute treat to the tastebuds. A firm mix of sour and spicy taste just made my day. It became my primary choice to try other dishes with this combination. Extraordinary indeed!

Bendakaya Vepudu: It was neither crispy nor softy… Somewhere in the middle which I generally don’t like. But the taste of this was too good. It can become a nice combination to the Malabar Paratha but when you have other dishes like Ulavacharu this dish looks bit on downside.

Tomato Pappu: I’m introduced to Andhra’s Pappu in very recent years by my foodie friends. I have tasted different kinds of Pappu in different places at Bangalore. Compared to that all this place serves really good quality of Pappu. But the taste wise I felt it was too low on spiciness. However, it was nice to taste with Ragi Sangiti and Paratha. 

Ragi Sangiti: I was bit surprised when I saw Raagi Balls on mall table. Then it hit me, what else can be showcase the real south essence in the restaurant dedicated for southern cuisine.  It was perfect and served with warm ghee. 

Desserts: 

Wow! They have most amazing collection of desserts! No… Don’t expect ice cream, jello, cut fruits or cookies. You’ll get the true south Indian desserts which have been part of our tradition for many centuries. Like Gasagase Payasa, Godhi Haggi, Badam Halwa, Elaneer Payasam, Sheer Kurma, Kubani Ka Meetha. My personal favourites were Gasagase Payasa and Kubani Ka Meetha. I realized the real taste of Kubani Ka Meetha here and I highly recommend this.

EVERYTHING ELSE: 

The whole ambience feels pure. I must say hygiene at its best. They do offer valet parking and there is a decent parking space for two wheelers next to the restaurant. They do have live counters for Appam at the entrance. If you are impressed by their pickles and chutney powder you can buy them too. They change their menu every Ugadi which marks as the beginning of new year as per Hindu tradition and they do serve special thali and dishes during festivals which is an attractive factor of this restaurant.

FINAL VERDICT: This restaurant is a tribute to the south Indian culinary history. A perfect place to take your family and elders who still have a string attached to our rich tradition. I recommend this restaurant for a true south Indian experience.

BAKASURA RATING

4.5 / 5

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A raving Pub with a Rusty Ambience: Bottle and Glass, Indiranagar

The pub life is all about drinks… What else can sound better than “Bottle and Glass” for a pub which is located in the heart of Pub Capital of Bengaluru - Indiranagar. Competitive Pricing, Delicious Italian, Mexican and continental cuisine, bar with the decent collection of drinks and a rusty ambience totally gives Bottle and Glass a stand out appeal.

AMBIENCE

Your group suddenly feels like a gang, your dining experience appears to be like audition for roadies and conversations surely will go deep & true with the drinks. Yes! Bottle and Glass offers such an unique raw ambience. As soon as you enter the second floor a series of art made out of rusty metals will welcome you. The huge metal door made up of various metal parts gives you the feel that you are entering a fortress. The interiors wouldn’t stand different. First thing grabs your attention is their furniture made of metal. For the record they are equally comfortable as raw as they look. They also have high chair dining area for large crowds and an unique wooden dine-table setup which seems like reserved for a king & queen. 

The Bar on the other hand looks very classic with the decent display of the drinks, some of the famous wacky lines written on the black board at the counter will make you to think again. DJ console is located right next to the bar and it hangs from the roof with support of chain.

Dance floor is ideally located near the bar and it’s perfectly low lit. You just can’t avoid yourself by entering dance floor as the music pumps up!

I personally liked the open air balcony kind of setup they have, it genuinely feels relaxed as you watch the traffic passing so quickly while your life is paused out of those hassles for a moment.

SERVICE

Stewards and managers know their job very well. But I feel they need to be trained more in the hospitality aspect. However, they never missed any orders and delivered everything precisely in time. But some of us found it’s easy to get new drinks from bar counter itself instead of ordering from table. I think vigilance fact was quite low to the stewards and it is completely acceptable as this place is just few months old.

DRINKS: They have a good collection of cocktails. I tasted most of them and I felt some drinks needs to be improved. During the dining session most of the time I sticked to Beer as their food paired well with Beer itself.

FOOD:

STARTERS:

Babycorn Schezwan sauce: A crunchy version of Babycorn which was just irresistible. Though the menu stated that it was tossed in Schezwan sauce, the trace of Schezwan was very less and more over some of the chunks were too raw. However I liked it with the combination of sweet pudina sauce. 

Sesame Paneer: It was just brilliant, texture was worth prising. Chef has managed to bring the perfect balance of spice and sesame taste. Liked this starter to the core.

Lajawab paneer tikka: Paneer was well marinated but the balance between different spices were lost. This is the only dish I didn’t liked that much.

Mucho Nachos: Peculiarly this starter was served after Main Course. Many of my friends who are big Nacho fans were eagerly waiting for it. And when it arrived the bowl was emptied within minutes. The Mexican Corn chips were crispy and appeared like freshly fried, the veggies well mixed with cheese and served with tangy salsa and cheese. It was good.

PIZZA: 

To my surprise, Pizza in here can easily compete with any major Pizza serving restaurants. They have limited pizzas in their menu, but they are pioneers in those. All their pizzas are thin crust and prepared using wood fire. We tasted three varieties in their veg selection; 

Mushroom, Peppers and Olives Pizza: The speciality of this pizza lies in its base… Because the base is made up of Naan Dough. Yes! You read it right, naan dough… An unique fusion of Indian & Italian delicacies. It was topped with carefully chopped mushrooms, olives and light sprinkle of peppers. The Naan Dough was infused so well that finding the difference between true Italian base & this was really hard. I really appreciate their experiment as it tasted delightful.

Vegetariano: This was feta cheese pizza which had tantalizing toppings like Zucchini pepper and tomato. It tasted delicious as the toppings were fresh and it blended well with feta cheese.

Mexican Paneer and Capsicum Pizza: What’s Mexican Paneer!? Its nothing but desi paneer marinated with true mexican spices and cheese. Finely chopped capsicum stood as a great combination with the Paneer. I loved this pizza more than any other.

MAIN:

Subzi Matka Biriyani: The presentation of this dish was an absolute surprise! As it was served in a leaf bowl just like temples serve ‘prasadam’. At the beginning I thought someone bought it from nearby temple and it took me a minute to know that it was this restaurant’s way of presenting this dish. 

And about its taste, Mmmm… It was the best Matka Biriyani I had in recent times. It’s really hard to believe that pub like Bottle and Glass can serve such a great Biriyani. Because, many biriyani oriented restaurants has failed to provide an awesome biriyani.

Since the portion they served was very little, I ordered one more again. It was a wonderful combination of vegetables, well marinated paneer and fried onions which just trapped my foodie soul for a moment.

DESSERT:

Chocolate Mousse Shooter: They have very few dessert option and I think this was their USP. Though the caramel taste was over seeding the chocolate taste, for those who want to experience sugar rush it was perfect. Personally I think it was good enough to end your dining session.

EVERYTHING ELSE: Since it is located in second floor, they done the outer branding on the second floor itself which makes bit difficult to notice this place from fast moving vehicle. So, its better to depend on Google Maps. Limited parking space is available around this restaurant. I’m not sure about the valet parking facility.

Even though it has ambience of rusty metal, they have not compromised on hygiene factor. Each and every corner is spotless. They do have smoking area near balcony.

FINAL VERDICT: If you want to unwind yourself in macho style, the raw ambience of this place suits the purpose. Delicious food is an added advantage. I recommend this place for its food and ambience.

BAKASURA RATING

3.5 / 5

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Event Organised By;

53rd Bloggers Meetup by
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