Tiffin Box etc, Bangalore

Working in Whitefield, Many of us are in a lookout for a quick meal and buffet lunches fit the bill for the following few reasons:

- No hassle of reading through the menu, 

- Waiting for the food to arrive post preparation,

- Covers various meal courses.

What becomes difficult is to find the right balance between spread and pricing. Most of the times, the spread is too large for what can be enjoyed in a quick meal or the pricing is too high for the spread that is being offered. 

Being in close vicinity, I decided to give 'Tiffin Box Etc' located inside 'In Orbit Mall' a shot and must say, "I am happy to have dined there." It is a fast paced restaurant offering delicacies from various regions of India. The emphasis lays on the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western specialties represented by major cities of the regions. In addition it also has a focus on Brimingham which is famous for Chicken Tikka Masala.

Menu:

Tiffin Box Etc boasts of being the first of its kind restaurant that offers novelty tiffin box options like Bangalore Tiffin Box, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi tiffin boxes on the menu. Each of these boxes contains delicacies specific to the respective regions. In addition this, there is a fair listing of A-La Carte selections and a lunch buffet that offers diners a fair spread at decent prices.

What We Ate:

We mostly focused on the buffet but also called for two of the tiffin boxes to get an idea of the offerings in it. The lunch buffet available Monday to Friday, includes a fairly sufficient spread of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. This spread includes a soup, a few salads, pickles, an appetizer each for both the vegetarians and non-vegetarians, mains, breads, rice and desserts.

Like always, my focus remains on the non-vegetarian food but based on the recommendation of my friends on the table, I tried the soup of the day, some papdi chaat and moongfalli vada from the buffet.

On the non-vegetarian front, I relished 'Chicken Tikka' - an appetizer was a nicely marinated boneless preparation from the tandoor. It was soft, juicy, succulent and went very well with mint chutney.

In the mains, it was 'Chicken Kohlapuri', 'Mutton Korma' that were delicious and were best enjoyed with fresh and hot butter naan which is served on the table.

Desserts offered on the buffet were blueberry cheese, caramel custard and butterscotch ice cream. Simple yet classic offerings. My favorite of the lot was the butterscotch ice-cream and the caramel custard.

While this was all about the buffet, in between we also tried a vegetarian Delhi and non-vegetarian Kolkata tiffin box. The Delhi tiffin had paneer butter masala while the Kolkata thali offered 'Kosho Mongsho Mutton' in the mains in addition to the rice, chapatti, yellow dal and gulab jamun which come with every tiffin. 

I absolutely loved the Kolkata signature; tender mutton in the 'Kosho Mongsho'.The flavor of the mustard with the other spices was bang on. The food was very much like home cooked food and the portions in the tiffin box were more than sufficient for two (may be with a side call of a few more chapatis).

Available on the a-la carte menu, the Nalli Nihari was another wonderful preparation from the kitchen of Tiffin Box Etc. Slow cooked mutton fell of the bone effortlessly and the gravy was rich in flavor. This makes for a delicious meal in the company of steaming hot white rice.

Verdict:

The buffet was really nice and did not go overboard in terms of the spread. Having said this, "I'd have loved to round of my mains with a serving or two of chicken or mutton biryani which apparently was not on the buffet that given day." Being an ardent lover of biryani, for me this was the only negative point in the buffet spread. The a-la carte presents some interesting dishes and the tiffin box concept is really nice and makes for a nice fixed meal menu for 2 in the company of some additional phulkas or chapati.

The ambiance is very simple yet very attractive with a lot of wall art, tiffin box lighting and more setting or representing the whole theme of TiffinBox etc. Very thoughtfully placed is a take away counter on the food court side of the restaurant where folks can do a quick grab and go lunch.

The buffet is priced well at Rs. 350 and an average a-la care meal for 2 will cost anywhere about Rs. 750 both exclusive of taxes and charges.

Quick Tips:

- Buffet is a great option for a quick meal with a nice spread to keep you content. 

- A-La Carte is available only for dinners on weekdays and both lunch and dinner on weekends. 

- Tiffin box is a great concept and the portions are large enough to share between two.

- Stay tuned to hear about the door delivery service of the TiffinBox meal...

- The counter in the food court is a nice option for a 'Grab N Go' meal.

Address: 1st Floor, In Orbit Mall, EPIP Industrial Area, Whitefield, Bangalore 560066

Phone Number: +91 80 2802 9599

Punjabi By Nature, Bangalore

Of late, it's been a lot of food belonging to the north-west part of our country or the north-west frontier itself. This spree continues with me now sharing with you my experience of dining at Punjabi by Nature in Koramangala. It had been on my list of restaurants to visit for a very long time and finally made a visit to this restaurant 2 weekends back to back. I'm sure the back to back visits speak about my experience but read on to know more.

Menu

It is a mouth-watering listing of delicacies from the state of Punjab. There is a lot to choose from for both the vegetarians and non-vegetarians. You will find the classics listed right from the start and all the way through to the end. The vegetarian and non-vegetrian food is well classified. I'm sure both the vegetarians and non-vegetarians will drool.

Punjabi By Nature is not just about food but also has an interesting Beer Garden; as it is called. Here, they brew their own beer and if you like brewed beer, you will find some interesting options.

What we ate:

Having made two visits back to back, I have been able to try both the non-vegetarian and vegetarian preparations. In vegetarian it was 'Tandoori Paneer Tikka' for starters which was 4 humongous chunks of paneer or cottage cheese. It was well marinated and well seasoned, the paneer was soft and fresh. The accompaniment with it was the lovely, creamy and rich mint chutney.

Moving on to the mains, we called for 'Amritsari Tawa Chicken' and 'Daal Punjabi By Nature' aka 'Daal Makhni'. All of this was eaten in the company of 'Laccha Paratha', 'Mutton Keema Naan' and 'Aloo Kulcha'. The breads here are quite large so please be cautious when calling for these. If you have a reasonably good appetite and prefer not to have left over food, the apt order might be 2 breads being called for 3 diners. 

The 'Aloo Kulcha' was nicely buttered, filled well, really soft and served fresh from the tandoor. It was delight eating this with 'Daal Makhni' which was equally rich in flavour, texture and composition. I'm a hardcore non-vegetarian but I can make a full meal of this combination. Again, this combination only gets better with some mint chutney and slivers of onion drizzled with chaat masala. I'd soon be in food coma.

Aloo Kulcha

Daal Punjabi By Nature

The 'Mutton Keema Naan' needs a special mention for its flavour and generous filling. If you love mutton keema, this has gotta be on your table. Its stands well by itself and needs no accompaniment if you wish to enjoy the flavor of the keema. The laccha paratha was nice and flaky. The image below I hope does justice and requires me to write no more.

Laccha Paratha

Mutton Keema Naan

'Amritsari Tawa Chicken' was delicious too. The chicken was tender and succulent. The gravy had a nice thick consistency and was best enjoyed with assorted Indian breads. This didn't end our meal; there was more to come and it had to be 'Lamb Yakhini Dum Biryani'. I know, you must be thinking I'm a sucker for biryani; I must tell you that, "Yes, I am." The biryani was aromatic made with tender lamb cooked on dum with basmati rice. The flavor was addictive. I wouldn't say it was one of the best biryanis I have had but it did make for an enjoyable and satisfying finish (No picture though).

For desserts, we had none but for me there is no better way to end a meal that with lamb biryani and that is how I did.

Verdict:

It was a great dining experience right from service to ambiance to the food. Punjabi by Nature is spread on a large floor area with some interesting seating options in it open roof, under roof and waterfall section of the restaurant. Whats even more interesting is you can choose to be seated by the bar. 

I'm in all awe of the food at Punjabi By Nature. I know this is the place I am heading to always for a North Indian meal. An average meal for 2 here will cost around Rs. 1300 ++ and this does not include any beverages. Of course it's expensive but you pay for the amazing food, good service and the wonderful ambiance.

Quick Tips:

Looking for wonderful punjabi meal? Head here. Do not miss to try their Mutton Keema Naan, Aloo Kulcha and Daal Makhni. 

Address: Near Forum Mall, Krishna Industrial Layout, Kormangala, Bangalore

Landmark: Between Forum Mall and Christ College

Phone Number: +91 80 4913 8800

Bharawan Da Dhaba, Amritsar

I was in Amritsar for just a day and had just 2 things in my to do list during this visit:
1) Pray (@ Darbar Sahib/golden temple)
2) Eat (@ Bharawan da Dhaba)

In this space, I will share my experience of dining at Bharawan da dhaba.

Being on a family holiday, 8 of us went to Bharawan da Dhaba which is located in the very much accessible - Town Hall area of Amritsar. The restaurant serves only vegetarian food and seems quite familiar because the taxi driver took us right there with just a mention of the Bharawan da dhaba.

The restaurant has a small entrance which was really crowded with people walking in and out of the restaurant. On entering the restaurant, I saw the restaurant's large hall packed with family, couples, and foreigners to full capacity. 

Menu:
Within a few minutes of being seated, we were presented with menu cards. Needless to say, the menu was filled with the rich and tempting Punjabi food options.

What we ate:

Being in Punjab, it is hard not to get tempted to try the paneer, chole and dal makhni. To devour all of this, we decided to call for a special veg thali which also included boondi raita, salad, rice, pickle, papad and 2 lacchha parathas. The paneer, chole and dal makhni were excellent and the portions too were well sufficient for the accompaniments. The lacchha parathas were hot and fresh from the tandoor loaded with butter on top. It was not only delicious to eat but also a delight to watch the paratha with butter smothered over it. Boondi raita was loved so much that we called for additional portions of it.

A meal in Punjab is best accompanied by sweet lassi and the one served here was very nice and refreshing. Unfortunately, I could not get hold of the glass for a picture.

There is nothing better than a sweet ending. My search for a perfect phirni ends here. It was served just the way I always wished to eat it - cold, in a small disposable vessel made of clay, nice thick paste like consistency, garnish of some dry fruits. Perfect! 

Verdict:
Indeed a very satisfying meal.

The service was very nice and polite. In spite of being full house, the service was brisk, food served was fresh and hot. Even better, repeat orders were entertained with a smile. The atmosphere was really nice, comfortable and relaxed with a nice mix of crowd.

An average meal for 2 here which includes a couple of thalis, lassis and dessert is very pocket friendly and will cost anywhere between Rs. 500 to Rs. 700.

Ohh and Yes.. 

The food here was loved so much that one of our meat lover (who planned to eat non-veg for another meal in Amritsar) said, “If I get such amazing vegetarian food to eat, I don’t mind skipping the plan to eat non-vegetarian food in Amritsar.”

Address: Town Hall, Amritsar

Phone Number: 0813 2532575