Big Pitcher, Domlur (3/5)

Background:

Another place I have visited twice before reviewing. First experience I feel in love with their pizza's and the second time I realised maybe hunger got the better of me during the earlier visit. 

Ambience (3/5)

The property is located 500mtrs into old madras road when you enter from domlur bridge side. This multi-floored property has a different theme and offering across different floors. 

I have been the ground, first and second floors (though I believe the real fun are in the floors above). The ground and first floors have jarring music and is over populated with boy gangs - effect of having 100ft road (the party capital) - less than a KM away. The second floor is relatively peaceful and might be a place to watch a sports event (the all blacks vs Australia rugby finals were on when we visited). The rooftop charges an entry for couples I was told. 

Otherwise the ambience and seating is decent. 

Service (4/5)

The staff are quick to respond to requests. Service is pretty good. 

Pricing (3/5)

Pricing is moderate. A meal with a drink per person for 8 cost INR. 4800, i.e 600 per head.

Food (3/5)

Some of their dishes and starters tasted pretty good. But across the visits I learnt the pizzas lack consistency. 

Among the starters - the chicken wings (served in drumstick style) tasted pretty good. Rest of them were quite ordinary. 

Beer

Not a fan of their beer. 

Cocktails 

Son of a beach and mojito were of good standard. 

On a summary note, despite the decent offering the place fails to attract the best crowd due to its location and proximity to Indira Nagar.

One Night In Bangkok, Indira Nagar (3/5)

Been hearing about this place from every foodie I spoke to and decided to visit them for some good Thai  meal and drinks last Friday night. 

Ambience (3.5/5)

What impressed me about the ambience was the effort taken to introduce the Thai theme to the Bar. They have wall paintings of MMA fighters and other art representing Thai. 

However, personally I did not enjoy the ambience enough on three counts:

1. Cramped seating arrangement and limited floor space

2. Dim lighting

3. Jarring loud speakers (sound quality was not the best)

Pricing (3/5)

Their cocktails were priced moderate; however, the starters were relatively more expensive. 

Cocktails (3/5)

Some of the cocktails we ordered were exceptional while some were unique and different. 

What I liked:

- Pattaya Sour

- Muay thai punch

What I was indifferent to

- Mango spice

What I did not like

- Passion Margarita

- Thai Basil Mojito

Food (3/5)

This place functions as a Thai bar and does not really have much of food options except for their starters and thai curry. 

The following veg starters were exceptional and are a must try if you visit:

- fried lotus stem with peanuts

- pad thai wrapped in egg

The thai curry and rice was also pretty good, except that the quantity of curry served was inadequate for the rice and chicken portion. The chicken was cooked well and had a barbecue flavour to it. 

Non veg starters we tried the following and it did not quite agree with our taste preferences:

- stir fried chicken with basil and young peppercorns

- bbq chicken isaan style (similar to the chicken served with thai curry and rice - was better of the two non veg orders)

Service (4/5)

The staff responded well to requests and replaced wrong orders without any complaints. 

On a summary note, the place needs to re-look at their food offering- both in terms of adding dishes and also improvement in the quality of few of their offering.

Chili's, Indira Nagar (2/5)

Had a very poor food & drink experience at chili's. 

We ordered for a triple dipper with the following:

1. Original chicken crisper

2. chicken wings

3. Cheese poppers

All three dishes were excessively oily. I concede that they are fried items, but the oil content was extremely intoxicating. The dips were unique from each other and decent though. 

As for drinks, I ordered for a sea breeze which was diluted and did not quite live up to the description. My friend ordered for a texas tea; this was relatively better and quite a concentrated drink. 

Pricing (2/5)

These three orders cost us INR.1600 - definitely overpriced and not VFM. 

Ambience (3.5/5)

We sat on the first floor. The seating space was quite cramped here. The ground floor definitely looked more attractive. 

Service (2.5/5)

Service was quite good until we placed our order. Refills for water and tissues took its own sweet while though. Nonetheless, the staff were friendly and courteous.

Punjab Grill, Koramangala (4/5)

Visited this place on a weekday for a late yet heavy lunch. Despite my heavy craving for biryanis chose this restaurant because of its easy accessibility from where I was working that day.

Food (4.5/5)

Considering the mood of the day, I decided to order a chicken dum biryani and a kesar pisteywali lassi for drinks.

The dum biryani would definitely find place among the best north Indian biryani's I have tasted. It had a luxurious serving of rice and meat - with at least five medium sized pieces in the dish. The curd (not raita) served as accompaniment was quite ordinary though.

The lassi was equally sinful and had a small piece of peda in it. It was garnished with nuts and served in a large glass.

A special mention on the portions: if not for the monster appetite I had- it is unlikely that one person could finish a biryani by them-self.

Service (4/5)

The service was quite prompt and the staff were quick in finding me a table, taking my orders, serving and clearing the dishes.

The staffs were courteous in their service.

Pricing (3/5)

This is probably the only possible reason restricting me from planning frequent revisits. The biryani and lassi order costed me about INR.1100 - which I would say is very expensive. However, considering the ambience, location and quality of food, the experience could be partially considered as deserving for the price they charge.

Ambience (4.5/5)

The restaurant has a beautiful outdoor seating filled with plants and greenery (it ks also the corner property and has a road facing view), a comfortable and classic indoor seating, live kitchen counter, private family dining area and a well stocked bar counter.

Would love to revisit and try more of their food offering.

The Boozy Griffin, Koramangala (3/5)

Was here on a weekday night with a few colleagues. Incidentally the day happened to be a karaoke night and we were hoping it would be an interesting evening. Unfortunately for us, the person who was supposed to organise the karaoke session met with an accident and could not turn up.

Ambience & seating (3/5)

The pictures of the place looked really attractive in the pics but somehow I could not completely appreciate what this place had to offer. This might be personal because I have had similar views on several other restaurants- primarily on account of the dim lighting during late evening sessions.

For seating we had to choose between high rise stools and backless couches. Considering we were looking to spend a hour at least we went for the high rise chairs. The adjoining tables had metallic poles separating the sides - which I found quite pointless. Also, considering we had people sitting on either sides this was only making interaction difficult.

Pricing (3/5)

The pricing is slightly on the expensive side; especially their main-course.

Service (4/5)

Each of the tables had a tissue holder which has buttons to call the waiter, ask for bill, etc. Unlike some of the other places where I have seen similar technology being used, the staff responded instantly.

Food (1.5/5)

The food was a major letdown.

1. Veg Nachos was bland and flavourless.

2. Chicken peri peri - was served with burnt chicken pieces in an over-spiced peri peri sauce

3. Lebanese mezze platter was quite ordinary. The tiny falafels was sub-ordinary.

The devils chicken skewers looked similar to the chicken peri peri order, but had a less spicy sauce as base. This was the relatively better order of the day.

Drinks (3.5/5)

Some of their bar special cocktails were unavailable. Nonetheless, most of our drink orders were of good standard and was quite unlike their food.

Would recommend this place if you are looking for decent bar mixes.