'BreakFirst @ Monkey Bar', Bangalore

Breakfast is considered to be the most important meal of the day and considering the food scene in Bangalore, there is a world of option available for us foodies. In Bangalore, it can be a simple South-Indian affair or an extravagant affair involving global offerings. Depending on the cuisine and preferences, it can be eaten on either the street side, the neighborhood garage, or the restaurants housed in the numerous star hotels and everything in between.

But how about having breakfast at a pub? I stand corrected; at a Gastro-Pub?

Yes and this is exactly what my wife and I did. We kick started our weekend with ‘Breakfirst @ Monkey Bar’; known to be India’s first Gastro-Pub.

Well, what is a Gastro-Pub? It is a space that has the essence of a pub, but is backed by excellent food and service at accessible prices.

Menu

Monkey bar, on weekends only runs a special a-la carte breakfast menu starting 9 AM to Noon. The listing includes delicacies spanning across cuisines from the western hemisphere to the eastern hemisphere; but with a twist. The breakfirst menu introduced earlier this year, now has some new dishes introduced as a part of the Breakfirst menu offering gourmet options for vegetarians, eggitarians and non-vegetarians. Here is a glimpse of the ‘Breakfirst @ Monkey Bar’ menu.

The menu not only caters to the eggitarians (The eggs came first), the health conscious, or the ones with a serious appetite (The Big Bang) but also to those who believe only a ‘breakfirst’ cocktail can cure a hangover (Well, that’s a just a reason to drink). Yes, Monkey Bar serves signature breakfast cocktail 10:00 AM onwards.

What we ate:

Our breakfirst was really king sized with a lot of dishes making a visit on our table. It started with the 'Mutton Keema Bao', 'Eggs Benedictine' and 'Eggs Florentine' arriving first.

Bao is a Chinese steamed bun stuffed with either meat or veggies. It is something I ate first during my travel to US a few years ago and since have longed for a good one in Bangalore. I’d assume the picture speaks for itself; the bao was stuffed well with a spicy mutton filling and enjoyed best when eating steaming hot with the accompanying peanut- chilli sauce and the hot mutton broth served in a shot glass.

On request, our portion was split between an Egg Benedictine and an Egg Florentine. Benedictine, listed on the menu since start contains ham between the poached egg and the English muffin while the new addition ‘Florentine’ replaced the ham with creamy spinach. You may have noticed that my preference usually inclines towards the non-vegetarian option but Florentine was a winner this time. What worked was the marriage of the texture and flavor of the creamy spinach, the poached egg and Hollandaise sauce.

Soon to follow was a portion of ‘Eggs in a Blanket’ and ‘Toast to France’. ‘Eggs in a blanket’ was a fabulous preparation of egg stuffed between a flaky and light paratha served with mutton keema. I kept asking myself, “Could Breakfast get any better?”

Mention 'Toast to France' and I will always be reminded of the ‘French Toast’ that is served at Monkey Bar. It is a sweet and heavenly preparation of Jewish Challah soaked with numerous ingredients like egg, orange zest, cinnamon, milk and more. This was served along with maple syrup which takes the toast to another high.

Photo Credit: Kunal Chandra

By this time, we were stuffed but were not willing to give up without trying the newly introduced ‘Cinnamon & Toffee Pancakes’. This came as a stack of 3 fluffy cinnamon pancakes topped with sweet toffee and vanilla pastry cream. Of course, there was maple syrup too. Again, this was delicious and easily the best pan cakes I have eaten here in Bangalore. All thanks to its goodness, we managed to get through half the stack.

Photo Credit: Kunal Chandra

How can I miss to mention, all the food we ate was in the company of their ‘Monkey recommends’ – ‘Red Riding Wood’ – vodka based cocktail and a healthy smoothie ‘Green Goddess’. ‘Red Riding Wood’ was served in a mini vodka bottle with the plum and apple pulp floating in it. This drink exudes lovely flavors of fresh plum and apple juice. ‘Green Goddess’ failed to make its mark due to the over powering flavor of Banana. We wished the flavors of banana, peach, orange; kiwi and cucumber were well balanced.

Verdict:

Ohhh, what a wonderful way to kick start our weekend!!!

Monkey Bar with ease makes you believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and they take no time to do so. We loved every single dish that came on our table. As we drove back home after the hearty breakfast, we spoke about what we liked the most. For my wife it was ‘Eggs Florentine’ and the ‘Cinnamon & Toffee Pancakes’ and for me it was ‘Egg in a blanket’ and ‘has to be ‘Toast to France’. Bao – something I love; was good too but missed being at the top only for the lack of sweetness in the steamed bun which makes a lovely contrast to the spicy mutton keema filling.

The ambiance was welcoming and warm. Interiors are rustic and wood finished yet well balanced. Monkey bar does receive a pleasant amount of natural light through it windows which is a plus for me when I’m going for breakfast. The music was on with the sound levels maintained well for a morning visit. It was quite a contrast to how you will find Monkey Bar post evenings. The basement has a pool table and a foosball table.

What will be an average spend for a ‘Breakfirst @ Monkey Bar’ without alcohol and taxes? And What about parking?

Parking is the owner’s responsibility and can be done on the roadside. The breakfast at Monkey Bar averages about Rs. 1200 for two. Post this visit; I’d rate this sit down breakfast way over the extravagant but standard breakfast fare at numerous star hotels. Well, at least I do not want to walk around with my plate across a large buffet hall when I can have lovely delicious food brought right to my table.

Quick Tips:

‘Breakfirst @ Monkey Bar’ rocks! It was not just a meal but the whole experience that we loved. Where else do you get to sit in a NYC style diner and enjoy a gourmet breakfast in Bangalore?

Signing off with a collage of some general info on ‘Breakfirst @ Monkey Bar’

Address: Woods Street, Ashok Nagar, Bangalore

Phone Number: +91 80 4111 6878 / 79 

Fava, Bangalore

FoodLovers Magazine has been hosting a series of contests on their Facebook page and in one of them; I won a lunch voucher for 2. The lunch certificate entitled us to a 2 course prix fixe meal each which is served only during the weekdays. This was a good enough reason for us to break the work day monotony and catch up for a weekday lunch.

Menu:

The last 3 pages of the menu at Fava are dedicated to the Prix Fixe 2 or 3 course lunch. There is an array of dishes - both vegetarian and non-vegetarian that one can select from. The food mainly comprised of Mediterranean, French and Italian cuisine.  The listing was well classified between the first course, the second course and the third course – desserts and we were given an option go with any two of the three courses.

What we ate:

Having been given an option to go with any two of the three courses, my pick was Turkish Fish cakes from the first course and Crabmeat, Coriander and chili risotto and Puja chose to go with Balsamic Grilled Vegetables and mozzarella Panini for the mains and Kahlua flavored espresso and praline mousse.

While our food arrived, we were served Lavash with a tomato based sauce. The Lavash was nice and crisp and the sauce was creamy (thanks to the parmesan cheese) with the sweet and spicy flavor coming clear from the sugar and Moroccan chili used in its making.

Turkish Fish cakes arrived with a basket of 4 mini pita breads and plated with seasoned salad, Moroccan chili sauce and mint Labneh. The fish cakes were delicious and enjoyed best in the company of pita bread, the mildly spiced chili sauce and the very refreshing mint Labneh. A special note on these sauces that exuded such fine flavors that we couldn't help but ask for more.

Balsamic Grilled Veggie Panini was built with very simple ingredients and was packed with flavor of the grilled vegetables and the balsamic vinegar dressing. On the side with the Panini were served French fries and a salad.

The Crab-meat Risotto arrived with the aroma enough for anyone to assume that this dish was sea food based. What I loved about the Risotto was its flavor and creaminess but missed the crab-meat which I felt was sparingly used.

We felt quite full from what we had eaten so far but looked forward to our dessert – ‘Kahlua flavored espresso and praline mousse’. Did we get this? Of course, we did along with a complimentary bowl of chocolate truffles. The mousse was really nice and well balanced in terms of its sweetness for the dessert and the flavor of the coffee.

Chocolate truffles were gooey creamy balls of dark chocolate rolled over and coated with coffee powder dusting. We totally loved this and must admit that there was no better way that this to end a delightful meal at Fava.

Verdict:

We had a great time lunching at Fava. The food was simply fabulous. The portions were really generous and more than sufficient for a single person. The service was attentive, quick and prompt. The staffs were very courteous and polite.  They knew their menu and food well and can be depended upon for making a choice, if needed. We are definitely heading back here soon.

Being located in a mall, Fava does not offer valet parking or a private parking space. Parking is available on a paid basis in UB City.

We did not have to pay for this Prix Fixe 2 course meal. However, a scrumptious meal like this is a steal at Rs. 425 + taxes.

Quick Tips:

Go here for a relaxed meal, amazing Mediterranean fare and desserts. Mediterranean cuisine is really diverse and one of the ways to get started and sample this would be to try their ‘Tasting Meze Platter’. 

Address: #203, 2nd Floor, The Collection, UB City, 24 Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore

Phone Number: +91 80 22117444

Millers 46, Bangalore

2 of our friends were relocating bases in a gap of 2 weeks. One was relocating to Mumbai and the other to Vancouver, Canada. We had one meet up at Boca Grande for a continental breakfast and this time we met for dinner and our pick was Miller’s 46. Being a weekend, and since the restaurant runs full house, we decided to make a reservation over the phone while we headed there. In spite of being given a heads up that we might end up waiting, we did not change our venue. While we waited, we looked around the place which is spread across 2 levels. The ambiance is really nice and has a very Texas feel to it. 

Menu:

We were seated by the bar and provided with an option to place our order if we wished as steaks and sizzlers take a good 20 minutes to arrive. Fantastic! We were anyway getting hungrier with every passing minute. The menu was presented to us in a cow boy hat shaped card. We get a lot to choose from – burgers and sandwiches, Tex – Mex starters, steaks, sizzlers, desserts. The menu was very impressive with a lot of options available for vegetarians to choose from and I must say; the non vegetarians will drool as they glance through the menu.

What we ate:

On this night, vegetarians outnumbered us non-vegetarians. The score stood at 4:2 and for this reason, I will begin with the 3 items on the menu that grabbed the attention of my vegetarian friends. One was Grilled Veg. Ratatouille, another was Millers Mix veg. Grill and the third was grilled veg. Steak. For non-vegetarian, I placed an order for both my friend - who joined us late but well in time for being seated on a table and myself. So, Jamaican jerk steak and much heard about 46ers half pounder chicken burger it was.

Once seated on the table, hunger could no longer be pacified. We were almost immediately served complimentary baskets of assorted breads with delicious herbed butter. What must I say? It only whet our appetites for the scrumptious food that was to arrive soon.

Millers mix veg. Grill came sizzling; piled with a variety of ingredients. This sizzler was a mix bag of velvety smoothness of the spaghetti, crispiness of the veg. fritters, creamy croquettes, the soft cottage cheese/paneer with a crunchy coating and the lovely butter-boiled vegetables.

Grilled veg. Steak was platted with herbed Mexican rice and butter-boiled vegetables, a nice big patty put together with minced vegetables and mashed potato; topped with mushroom sauce. Rice flavoring was perfect, spice levels of the mushroom sauce and veg. steak was well balanced and the portion was more than sufficient for one person.

The grilled veg. ratatouille was not of the most impressive looking dish; but someone has said it right, “Looks can be deceptive.” This dish was totally fabulous, packed with a lot of flavor and arrived at our table with toasted garlic bread. Superb!

Coming to non-vegetarian, a humongous ‘46ers half pounder chicken burger’ as it is called made itself available with a side of French fries and coleslaw. Just a look at it and a friend asked in astonishment, “How the hell does one eat this big a burger?”  In between the bun was, lettuce, sliced cucumber and tomato, sautéed herbed vegetables like green peppers, onion, grilled, juicy and succulent chicken breast topped with a slice of cheese. 

The Jamaican jerk steak was a fantastic looking chicken breast drowned in pepper sauce served along with herbed rice and boiled-buttered veggies. We missed mashed potatoes and without wasting any time called for a portion of it. The chicken was nice and moist. The sauce was spicy and flavorful (just the way I like it). While the herbed rice was really nice, I would any day choose mashed potatoes with the meat when having it from a sizzler plate.

A Chilled bottle of ‘Miller High Life’ beer was a perfect accompaniment to the awesome food that was being devoured by us.

Verdict:

We were a good mix of first time visitors and frequent visitors. In no time, we were pitting this restaurant against other steak houses in Bangalore. No surprise, each of us loved the food so much that we declared it as the finest steak and sizzler place in Bangalore.

The service was excellent. The staff knew their menu well and was very cordial in their communication. Even with the restaurant being packed full house, there was not a moment we felt we were unattended to. Food, as must be; was brought sizzling hot to our table.

Parking is our own responsibility; the restaurant does not offer valet parking. Finding parking on Millers road can sometimes be a task. However, the by-lanes always come to our rescue.

An average meal for 2 with a couple of drinks, 2 mains and a dessert to share comes at about Rs. 1500.

Quick Tips:

A good idea would be to verify the waiting period over the phone before heading to Millers 46. On weekends, be prepared to wait to be seated especially if you happen to visit the restaurant for dinner post 9 PM.

Address: #46, Millers Road, Vasanthnagar, Bangalore

Phone Number: 080 - 41148022, 41131740/6