Weekend Lunch at 612East, Indiranagar, Bengaluru!

A few months ago I visited 612East with few friends. As the name sounds very interesting, it is one of Indiranagar 12^th Main’s popular spots for party, relaxed dining, corporate events or even dining with your date. We were there on a weekend afternoon for lunch and this place was hell packed. They have spread across 3 levels and their rooftop ambience is something which you can’t miss if you are looking for a sundowner party place. Often it’s not easy to get everything right – food, drinks, classy ambience, and service. 612East has got everything which makes its patrons visit this place again.

We started off with some interesting cocktails which were a visual treat in first place. All these times I have come across beautiful pics of their cocktails and what caught my attention was the very pretty drink – Mystic Candy which is a Rum based drink. Jagger Bomb shots were pretty good. I tasted Sangria Slush which my friend ordered, and it just didn’t work for me. As I prefer Vodka based drinks, I was happy with my Bubble bath, oops the drink :P The Bubble Bath drink had Orange Vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice.

Coming to food, they have an extensive menu with tons of options and the more you check, the more you will get confused. Their menu is a glimpse of popular world cuisines which includes European, Continental, Pan Asian, and Mediterranean. Baked, grilled, pan fried, deep fried, wok tossed, or whatever according to your taste, is on their menu. What I loved most– Honey Chilli Beef, Kurkuri Bhindi, Twice-cooked Pork Belly, Bacon Prawn croquet, Choux pastry Mushroom and Spinach Tartlets, Chutney Wala Paneer tikka,  Grilled Jamaican Jerk spice crusted Chicken, and Wood-fired pizzas, especially the Smoked Barbeque Chicken Pizza. We had few vegetarian friends in our group and they equally enjoyed their veg spread.

From the Main course menu, star dishes were the Coffee Rubbed Steak with Grilled Peppers and Tomatoes, and also the Grilled spice crusted Chicken with flavored Rice.

  

Among desserts, I loved the Cinnamon Churros served with melted chocolate and Key Lime Pie. As I was so full, I couldn’t enjoy the desserts much. But always there is a next time.

If you spend a long time in a restropub, that means either the service will be bad or you had an amazing experiencing. Mine was obviously the latter. I would love to visit this place again to have more fun and good grub. A meal for two would be ₹1500/- (approximately).

Address:

612East

#612, 12th Main

HAL 2nd Stage

Indiranagar, Bengaluru

For bookings, contact - 09110841695

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Check out the Parathe Wali Gali fest (19-28th Jan,2018) at 24/7 - The Lalit Ashok, Bangalore

If you are a foodie like me, you will understand that the most delicious food in any city you must have tried will be from the eateries in small streets and from the by-lanes. When it comes to street food, the first place comes to my mind will be the old streets of Delhi and 'Parathe Wali Gali'. I haven't traveled to the Capital city but from the food stories and TV shows, this place is very familiar. Inspired by the concept of Delhi street food, 24/7 by The Lalit Ashok is having a festival, 'Parathe Wali Gali' from 19th -28th Jan 2018. My first luncheon this year and I was so happy to visit one of my favorite hotels in Bangalore.

My friend, Nishita and I loved the overall setup at the Hotel for this festival. The Alfresco seating area next to the brunch counter is really cool especially to spend time on a lazy weekend afternoon. As part of this festival, they have introduced 15 types of parathas (parantha,  as they may call it)  and out of which 9 are veg parathas.

 

The staffs at the hotel are friendly, helpful and polite. One of the staffs, Mr. Madan helped us in selecting the dishes and we ordered the following parathas:

• Makhuni Sattu Paratha
• Dal Hing Paratha
• Mutton Kheema Paratha
• Samundari Khazana Paratha 

Paratha thali had the following accompaniments - Aloo tamatar Rassa (Potato gravy), Matka curd, White butter, Sirka Pyaaz (pickled shallots), Mirchi fry (fried chilli), Chena Burada (in common) and Kaddu Chokka for veg Paratha and Meat gravy for non-veg Paratha. Chef Abhishek explained us each dishes and upon his suggestion, we tried the Kele (Banana) ki chutney which was simply amazing. 

Parathas were so damn delicious that we finished it off within short time along with a glass of Lassi. The richness of Paratha, tastiness of the stuffing and authentic flavors from the accompaniments made the right combo. Each Paratha was created to perfection and if I need to choose any one which stood out, then it’s the Samundari Khazana Paratha for its unique masaladar seafood stuffing.

By the time we finished our lunch by enjoying a poolside view, it was almost tea time. They had a Chai tapri (tea stall) and a lovely lady prepared ‘garma garam (piping hot) cutting chai for us and it was served in the traditional way.

The menu is priced at ₹ 400/- for Veg and ₹ 500/- for Non-Veg Paratha (all inclusive of taxes).  The festival is on until 28^th Jan 2018 and you gotta try it :)

Don't forget to check out this cute elephant at the lobby. At The Lalit Ashok, they believe in spreading love and the rainbow colors denotes gender neutrality <3

Address:
24/7 at The Lalit Ashok 
Kumara Krupa High Grounds
Bengaluru

For more information and reservations, contact - +91 9900064314

Check out their FB page - The Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru

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Nolen Gurer Payesh (Rice pudding made of Date Palm Jaggery) recipe!

My first blog post this year - Welcome 2018 :) I would like to thank each and everyone who supported me till date. I am happy that this year's blog starts with an interesting recipe post. Most of my friends keep asking for recipes of dishes I post on Instagram. Mostly I share the recipes through Whatsapp messages. Tak tak tak I will type the message and send it. Unlike most of the dedicated Food bloggers, I have no patience in checking the ingredient measurements and step-by-step procedures. I am very lazy in that way! This year I see some scope for improvement and you will get to read some interesting recipes. To start with, I prepared a healthy dessert for this Makara Sankranthi - Nolen Gurer Payesh ( Rice Pudding made of Date Palm Jaggery). Date Palm Jaggery is easily available in winter season. A bowl of hot kheer on a cold winter night makes a perfect combo. There is no added sugar (white) or condensed milk in this Payesh/Kheer/Payasam. So its a guilt-free indulgence.

I am enjoying a post surgery break which started much before Christmas 2017. A friend visited me recently with some mouth watering Bengali sweets -Mishti Doi and Langcha from Bancharam and before even I could forget the taste of those yummy sweets, here comes the festival - Makara Sankranthi/ Pongal/ Bhogali Bihu/ Lohri. I wanted an easy yet drool-worthy dessert with simple ingredients and that's how the idea of Payesh ( Payasam) came in my mind. So here is the recipe for Nolen Gurer Payesh. (Don't forget to read the note)

Serves: 4+

Cooking time: ~60 mins

Ingredients

Rice                                     - 70 gm (Gobindobhog or any short grain, flavorful rice. I used Jeera rice)

Date Palm Jaggery (Nolen Gur)  - 180 -200 gm (crushed)

Milk                                    - 2 litres (full fat milk)

Dry ginger - Cardamom powder  - 1/2 tsp

Ghee                                   - 1 tbsp

Cashewnut and raisins       - for garnishing

Salt                                     - 1/4 tsp

Preparation

1. Wash and soak the rice for 30mins. Then drain the excess water and keep it for drying. Once rice become dry, coat 1/4 tsp ghee, mix well and keep it aside.
2. In a frying pan, heat ghee and fry the nuts.
3. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat milk. Let it boil by stirring occasionally and volume should reduce to half the quantity.
4. Add rice and on a low-med heat cook till rice is done.Once rice is cooked add the dry ginger- cardamom powder.
5. Switch off the flame and add salt, palm jaggery, fried nuts and mix well.
6. Keep mixing the Payesh and Palm jaggery will melt on that heat.
7. Close it with a lid for sometime before serving.

Note: I was not sure how to use Palm jaggery with milk, I did a proper research before cooking this tasty Payesh. Checked few palm jaggery recipes and videos before cooking. Make sure that you use good quality of Palm jaggery. If there are impurities, it will spoil the milk. Test a small portion of Palm jaggery before making Payesh. Also adding a pinch of salt in desserts like Payasam/Kheer will enhance the taste. Some people add water while preparing Kheer, I don't like it. With simple tricks and techniques I got the perfect Kheer/Payesh with right consistency.

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