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

FIND IT ON ZOMATO

Event Organised by:

GALLERY

AMBIENCE

FOOD

A hidden Italian gem in the backyard of New BEL Road : Scirocco

Scirocco, a well thought name for an Italian restaurant situated on a foreign soil. This is an absolute hidden gem in New BEL Road. If I hadn’t found it on Zomato, probably I wouldn’t have visited this place ever.

It is located on the first floor of the building which is opposite to Cafe Coffee Day in 80 Feet Road which connects to the MSR Junction. Due to trees and poor sign board it makes difficult to find this restaurant. You can depend on Google Map if you get confused.

AMBIENCE 

Elegant and cozy. They have branded their restaurant well right from the ground floor by mentioning appetizers name on stairs. It’s basically a cafe theme with an uniformity all around the place. Whether it is comfortable upholstery or the wall decals everything matches up to the theme. Especially the seating next to large window facing towards the road is enough to make your evening memorable.

SERVICE

I don’t know how long ago this restaurant opened, but the staff seems to be new and inexperienced. I’m not saying that they are rude, their hospitality is too good and I admire that. But when things come to handling the cutleries, right time to intervene the guests and prioritizing the order should be taught to the stewards. All staffs generally gang-up in a corner near service desk and when guests needs them, they should literally stand up or raise their hands to call the stewards. At least if one or two stewards present in dining area, service part can get better. 

FOOD

When you look at the menu it really surprises you by their huge collection of pizza, pasta, beverages, appetisers and desserts. I took around 15 minutes to order as I found it very difficult to choose from such great collection. However I narrowed down to 4 items and here is my experience with them;

Sparkling Strawberry: The fizz in this drink was just outstanding. And the pinching flavour of strawberry was really good. I just loved this drink and gave great start to my evening.

Garlic Bread Sticks: Compared contemporary pizza places of Bengaluru,  Garlic Bread was quite nice here. They have used very less cheese as per my request and the spices sprinkled on it gave a lovely texture and tasted good. It justifies the price tag.

Nawabi Pizza: Honestly I didn’t wanted to try any Indian version of Pizza in a restaurant which had true italian essence in it. But since my friend insisted on this, I had no other choice than ordering this. This was 10” thin crust pizza with the topping of juicy corn, well sliced capsicum, tomato and onions with the combination of spicy tomato sauce and  mozzarella cheese. The cheese over here had slightly superior taste compared to other pizza place.

Pizza Mellino: Since the foodie inside me was craving for true Italian pizza I order 6” Pizza Mellino and it tasted delicious. This was topped with some of the true Italian toppings like spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, green olives, pickled onions, roasted red & yellow capsicums and Jalapeno. The toppings were overwhelming and the taste of such great toppings with the fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese was just awesome. It felt like the pizza came directly from a kitchen in Paris. It’s just fantastico!

EVERYTHING ELSE: The whole floor is air conditioned and when it comes to hygiene factor, it’s spotless. Instead of sauce dispensers they keep sachets on the table which is more hygienic but gets messy when you try to tear it with cheesy hands. Parking wouldn’t be a problem as there is ample parking space opposite to the restaurants. As per my observation, it’s not too crowded and makes it a perfect place to have long conversation. The price on the menu are inclusive of tax and there is no additional charges. The entire menu was priced very moderately. 

FINAL VERDICT: Value for money and a lovely place for Italian food lovers. I strongly recommend this place for its ambience, quality and for pizza.

BAKASURA RATING

4.0 / 5

FIND IT ON ZOMATO

GALLERY

AMBIENCE

FOOD

KEYWORDS: Restaurants in Bangalore, Bangalore Restaurants, New BEL Road restaurants, Best New BEL Road restaurants, North Bangalore restaurants, Cafe Restaurants in Bangalore, Cafe near me, Cafe Restaurants in North Bangalore, Cafe Restaurants in New BEL Road, Pizza Restaurants in Bangalore, Pizza near me, Top food blog in bangalore, Pizza Restaurants in North Bangalore, Pizza Restaurants in New BEL Road, Italian Restaurants in Bangalore, Italian near me, Italian Restaurants in North Bangalore, Italian Restaurants in New BEL Road, Café in Bangalore, Café near me, Café in North Bangalore, Café in New BEL Road, Being Bakasura, Food Blog, Bangalore Food Blog, Pizza, Italian, 

True Italian Pizza in a cool roof top ambience : Onesta, New BEL Road

Onesta, one of the pizza place which was in my bucket list since I read the blog of  Navneeth Thimmappa (Life On Plates)  on Onesta, Koramangala Branch. But whenever I use to visit Koramangala, due to one or other reason I was missing to dine-in this restaurant. But when I heard Onesta has opened a new branch in New BEL Road which is just a few KMs away from my home, I couldn't able to resist and with in a week of its opening I visited this restaurant for dinner.

Honestly, I felt bit odd with my dining experience as I didn't knew they are running promotional trail. When the steward cleared me that its a free trail at the end, my whole odd experience got justified.

LOCATION: This restaurant is located above Mc.Donalds on the New BEL Road, it can be easily missed out from fast moving vehicle as the major branding has been done on third floor. Google Maps can help you to locate this place easily.

AMBIENCE

Its kind of Hybrid ambience, the front face of the restaurant gives a roof top dining experience and the inner part of the restaurant resembles a fine-dine setup with air conditioning. They have a open kitchen setup for baking the pizza at the outer dining area with a true Italian architecture and they have a bakery kind of setup in the inner dining area which houses desserts and starters. Overall ambience is refreshing, they have decorated the whole place with hanging flower pots, vibrant coloured windows and a country style cycle at the entrance.

We got the corner seat on the outdoor dining area which has a perfect view of New BEL Road. Table was quite small and they had stacked 2 comic books along with the cutlers. Being a comic fan I loved this concept and I hope they change them with new editions regularly. If so, I'll be a patron for this restaurant. 

SERVICE

Since they were running promotional trail, the service appeared quite straight forward. Instead of giving menu, steward dictated the menu and asked to choose 2 out of 4 veg pizzas and 2 drinks out of 4. The drinks arrived bit slowly, as we were not in hurry I didn't wanted to complain. But the steward was kind enough to replace the green apple drink when I complained that it was heavy on sweet side. Pizza were served at the right time and the steward didn't interrupted too much by suggestions which I liked the most.

DRINKS

Orange Mint Cooler

We ordered Orange Mint Cooler and Green Apple Cooler. As I mentioned earlier the Green Apple Cooler was too sweet, when steward wanted my opinion on drinks I honestly told about the problem. After he replaced it with another one, it tasted good. But, I wish Green Apple Cooler must had strong essence of Green Apple. On the other hand Orange Mint Cooler was perfect and refreshing. The texture of this drink was so tempting. I just loved this drink.

PIZZA

Farmhouse Pizza

We choose Farm House and Mexican Veg Delight, they served small pizza’s on a wooden pan. Farmhouse tasted good but I felt like they should work on quantity of topping. But the ingredients definitely succeeded in appealing my taste buds. Especially the crispy crunchy baby corn, lightly added bell peppers, roughly chopped onions and of course fresh black olives. 

Mexican Veg Delight tasted more awesome than the Farmhouse, cheese used in it was too good and the toppings were fresh. The quantity of toppings in this pizza was good. Main attraction of this pizza was cherry tomatoes which satisfied both eyes and taste buds. Along with the cherry Tomato it had capsicum, onion and tiny bits of red chili backed up with Tabasco sauce to give a perfect spicy twist. 

EVERYTHING ELSE: They do offer valet parking and two wheeler parking could be difficult as there is no parking place nearby. Hygiene has been maintained very well in every part of the restaurant. Seating is quite comfortable but it's not meant for long conversations. 

FINAL VERDICT: A perfect pizza place with true Italian origin and a great ambience. I definitely recommend this place for a great dining experience especially on a rainy evening. 

BAKASURA RATING

4.0 / 5

FIND IT ON ZOMATO

GALLERY

Green Apple Cooler

Mexican Veg Delight