Olive Beach

"We serve only Meditterranean food mam", the lady on the telephone warned when I called to book a table. "Perfect!" I said, "Table for two, please. 7:30 tonight. And where exactly are you located?"
"Wood Street mam. On Richmond road, take the last right turn before Shoolay circle "

A friend of mine has been raving about this restaurant called "Olive Beach" that he had been to, and I was eager to try it. Olive happens to be one of the renowned brands of restaurants in the country. This one I hear, is co-owned by singer Sagarika. So we went there last saturday night.

Now picture this: A candle-lit courtyard. White sand and pebbles. A large, circular, rustic mirror on the wall. Cherry trees. Cozy tables, cushioned chairs & couches that look ohh-so-inviting. Relaxing jazz playing in the background.

Ok, you can come down to earth now. That was a preview of Olive's courtyard. It was love at first sight! You gotta see it to believe it!

If you choose to sit inside, the decor is no less impressive. The color choice is elegant - mostly white and blue. Most of the light is from candles. The electrical lights are inconspicuous and are placed at the strategic spots. Fat candles and jars placed on pseudo window sills give the place an exotic feel. Low, long benches serve as bar stools at the bar where an eager-to-please bartender dishes out a range of aperitifs, cocktails and mocktails.

The menu looked interesting, especially the appetizers. Olive's signature appetizer Mezzanine sounded promising, so we ordered that, along with a couple of drinks.

Just as I was preparing myself a traditional olive oil & crushed pepper dip, the appetizer arrived. A neat row of nine ceramic cups on a long wooden platter, each cup containing a dip. The plate of bread and crisps that comes with the dips is rather scrimpy. But not to worry - a bread basket with an assortment of breads is complimentary and goes very well with the dips. Every dip is unique: baba ganoush (eggplant), cilantro, sundried tomatoes, sweet red chilli, chickpea, black bean,tzatziki, butter and hummus. Delicious! We devoured it in minutes. Needless to say, my olive oil dip lay untouched :)

For the main course there was a choice of Mediterranean entrees, home-made pastas (which the waiter mentioned was a favorite), Grills with a wide choice of sides, and pizzas. We tried the Verdure gratinate (Grilled marinated vegetables with parmesan) and Gnocchi Formaggi. The veggies was way too cheesy I thought. The Gnocchi was just perfect. The portions are not too large, but then considering the amount of bread n dips we had eaten, we were glad they did not serve too much.

For dessert, ordered the Chocolate mousse. Expected a divine treat, but naah, I've had better. Probably I should have picked Olive's signature Chocolate Fondant. My bad.

And now the wallet factor. What do you expect? Ofcourse it's expensive :)

A couple of cocktails, an appetizer, two entrees and a dessert left us poorer by Rs.2600. But look at it this way - you're paying for experiencing a southern European beach sitting right here in Bangalore!

PS: If the last argument doesn’t convince you, go there atleast for the appetizers. They come with enigma's moneyback guarantee!*

* Terms and conditions apply ;-)

Seriously Speaking

Came across an article in Business Week, on How Cisco's CEO works the crowd with his speeches. The article says that John Chambers "..is undeniably one of the most charismatic speakers in Corporate America today. His speeches are astonishing. Now imagine how successful you would be in your business if clients described you as 'astonishing'.. "
I have listened to Chambers speak, and must say, the man's more than astonishing!
Have you ever listened to a great speaker like Chambers and wished you too could deliver such a flawless speech? Ever wondered what makes them so charismatic and confident? Were they born with it?
Well, I guess you do have to be born with some traits (blame the DNA?) But there are other skills you can actually develop - but how? There are probably scores of ways, but for starters, you could try Toastmasters!

Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization committed to helping people improve their communication skills. Their website has all the details you need, so I won't talk abt it here. Namma Bengaluru has its very own Toastmasters club. The club meets every Friday evening.

TM club meetings follow a typical pattern - a couple of prepared speeches, and a few impromptu speeches (what they call Table Topics), followed by evaluations. Your first speech is called the ice-breaker. For every speech that you deliver, there are certain key points that you focus on improvising. After 10 speeches, you'll be awarded with the title "Competent Toast Master". You can then go on to scale greater heights - like Advanced Toast Master and then Distinguished Toast Master.

There are several companies in Bangalore like Infosys, Cisco that have their own Toastmasters clubs (which are inturn a member of ToastMasters International) and are encouraging employees to participate in the club activities. They even organize inter-club contests and stuff like that.

Interesting, right? Apparently, these guys do mean serious business!

Blogalooru?

Just realized that there are sooooo many Bloggers from Bangalore. I mean, every fifth blog I come across is by someone who belongs to, lives in or has lived in Bangalore. Maybe we should call the city Blogalooru from now on..he hee

Enjoy maadi!

Almost every Indian language has an English mixed version, more popularly known as Hinglish (Hindi + English), Tanglish (Tamil + english) etc.

Kannada is no exception. And I personally find Kanglish (Kannada + English) pretty cute :) So here's a small crash course on Kanglish. It's easy! You just have to remember three things:

1. Append every question with an "aa".
For eg. "Tomorrow holidayaa?", "You're comingaa? When? Nowaa?"

2. Append every noun with a "u". The very first words I learnt in Kannada were: Leftu, Rightu, Straightu. (to give directions to the auto wallah ;) Can also be added for words like Boss-u , address-u, market-u, gate-u, blog-u, job-u, shirt-u, bike-u....ok ok, I know you get the point-u!

3. To every english verb, add the word "maadi" - it means "do", and is nothing but a dummy verb. For eg. Call maadi, work maadi, talk maadi, adjust maadi.
And ofcourse, the ever popular, versatile phrase, the King of Kanglish : "ENJOY MAADI" !
Not only do you say it when you want to wish someone a good time, but also to end a conversation (instead of "Take care" or "have a good one") or maybe sign off an email :) There was a time when I was so addicted to this phrase, that I'd use it a dozen times in a day :D

End of lesson!

What ri, finished readingaa? Now comment maadi ;)

Drama in October

Ranga Shankara's October Theater Fest is here.
Like always, there are plays in Kannada,English, Hindi, Bengali and Marathi. You can choose from some of the best productions by professional theater groups. Check out the synopsis of the featured plays:
Flowers (Girish Karnad's...am looking forward to this one!)
Makadchya Hati Champagne
K. L. Saigal
Kanase Kanasu
Cotton 56, Polyester 84
Numbers in the Dark
Bankubabur Bandhu & Samudrer Mouna
Jameela Bai Kalaali

There are also platform performances by college teams and corporates - entry free. The fest is on from 8th to 15th October. More details at Ranga Shankara's website.

Chai, chai, chai garam chai!

What comes after cake? Ofcourse, it's Tea!

Amidst the zillions of "Cafe Coffee Day"s and "Barista"s, there are a few "Tea bars" in the city trying to cater to the tea lovers.
Here are among the best: My Tea House at BSK 3rd Stage, Infinitea on Cunningham Road and Cha bar at the Leela, all of them brewing a wide selection of Indian and International teas.

My Tea House is a pleasant joint on 100 feet ring road, BSK. My favorite combo is a pot of hot Arabic tea and samosas , followed by another pot of Ginger tea. Aaah! If you are an early riser, don't miss the Happy hours!

Infinitea is a quaint li'l place on the ever busy Cunningham road. They've got some exotic sounding teas on the menu, like the Enigma on the rocks, Avongrove Stupa, Tanwan Rose, Wild Balsam Pear and the familiar Masala Chai.

Hidden inside the Oxford Book Store at the Leela Palace is The Cha Bar. Needless to say, swanky and vibrant. And surprisingly reasonably priced! If you're adventurous, you should try their Fruit Tea.

Am currently on the lookout for more Teabars in the city..

Cake a Walk to this place

So Ka wants me to write restaurant reviews. Thanks,Ka, I was gonna! For a hopeless foodie like me, it just gives me an excuse to try out new places ;) What say I start with something sweet today?

Name of eatery: Cake Walk.
Category: Cakes, pastries, pies, quiches and the likes.
Location: 100 feet road, Indira Nagar. A hop, skip and jump from CMH road junction.

The first time I noticed this place, I was intrigued, cos there was (is?) this cake shop called Cake Walk in Chennai (Montieth Road near Cisons plaza) that used to be my favourite haunt when I lived there. So the first thing I do is walk into the 100 feet road joint and ask them if they are the branch of the Montieth Rd cake shop.. and turns out it is!!Was almost as thrilled as one would be on meeting an old friend :)

If you have a sweet tooth, this place is a must-visit. Their cakes are the softest in the world (yup I've tasted ALL the cakes in the world :-p) - baked to perfection, topped with a generous layer of not-too-sweet cream that melts in your mouth, and decorated with cherries, nuts, slices of fruit or chocolate chips.
My favorite is the "Fantasy" section - Sinful slices cut out from a dome shaped cake - in Strawberry, Pineapple, Orange and Butterscotch flavours...sluurrp! Believe me, with every bite into the layers of cake and cream, you'd find yourself grinning wider and wider with joy :)

They also have a decent spread of bakery stuff like breads, cookies, quiches, pies, rolls etc. and an assortment of "home made" (whose home, I wonder?) chocolates in interesting shapes. The seating is mostly open air , a perfect joint for a get together with friends on a perfect Bangalore evening!

The next time you eat out at 100 feet road, drop in at Cake Walk for dessert, and let me know how you liked it!