Food on Cunningham Road

Due to immense public demand ( public = my ex-colleagues at Amazon ), I am posting an insider's guide to fine dining in and around Cunningham Rd.

The eateries covered are in descending order of my preference, but there are so few places in this area, it really doesnt matter...


1. Ramana's - A great place in the Standard Chartered building on Cunningham Rd. Mellow ambience and mildly spicy veggie north-indian food that is easy on the tummy. The tariffs are quite reasonable for the location, and the service is pretty good. A place that you can visit daily without ruining your tummy or burning a hole in the pocket.

2. Masala House - A cosy little place tucked away in an unobtrusive location on Cunningham Rd, opposite MSIL. This is a slightly upscale place, and has a bar too. They have an interesting menu of veggie & non-veggie Indian food with some unconventional options. (I would recommend the sesame-fried babycorn appetizer) My non-veggie friends say that the place serves some good seafood too. The tariffs are quite high and the service is... well... dont go there if you are in a hurry !
I personally enjoy their paranthas and the sinful,heavenly Methi Malai Mutter...

3. InfiniTea - On Cunningham Rd, opposite Sigma Mall.
This is not really a lunch-lunch place, but does serve some interesting rice/pasta options. These can be combined with a variety of teas ( hot/cold/flavored ), to provide a light lunch-alternative. A note of warning - cheese seems to be the chef's favorite ingredient for most of the dishes.

4. Fresco's - On Cunningham Rd, close to Indian Express junction.
This again is not really a lunch-lunch place. The place does have more options than InfiniTea though; mostly continental. And they make a good Spanish Omelette.

5. Miller's 46 - At #46, Miller's Rd
A steak & sizzler joint. Good ambience, decent sizzlers, appropriate serving size for a lunch, and attached bar. Not many veggie options though. But worth a visit for the Corona Beer, and the gratis bread & butter. :)

6. Chalukya Hotel - High Grounds
One of the landmarks of the city, and not surprisingly, the place is chock-a-bloc at lunchtime. Serves a very respectable south-indian lunch buffet, which doesnt have too many options, but is quite wholesome. You can go a-la-carte too, though I've never tried that.

7. Moti Mahal, Sigma Mall
Very good Mughlai food, albeit at a ridiculously high price.

8. Oriental Spice, Infantry Road
Serves a decent Chinese buffet. But not very exciting, if you are a veggie.

9. Pizza Hut/ Domino's - On Cunningham Rd
Well... if pizza is what you want, you can get it here.

9a. Chandrika - Cunningham Rd
Basically a south-indian snack/coffee place, but he does serve the stereotypical north-indian thali. I reserve my comments on the quality of the food, and am covering this place only due to death threats received from certain quarters.

10. Food court, Sigma Mall
An assortment of places serving different cuisines. Most options are mediocre in taste, and mostly of the oily/greasy variety. Avoidable unless inevitable.

11. McDonald's, Sigma Mall
If burgers/pepsi/fries is what your heart wants...

12. Aura - Cunningham Rd
A nice place serving a good north-indian lunch buffet for 150 bucks. The place has shut shop now, but I thought it deserves an honourable mention...

Well, thats about it for the Cunningham Rd area.... If I have missed something, please do let me know...

Also, would really love to hear your opinions on the places covered !

Ads...

Started thinking about some of the ads from the past, and found a few of them...

The iconic black coffee ad. Talk about mindshare and brand recall !

Another cute one - Bru Coffee, capturing the quintessential south-indian psyche to a nicety...

A recent one, really cute and very retro - Tanishq.

There was this Yamaha ad, which was aired for a very brief while. The ad didnt strike any chord with the audience, but the song was great.

...and my personal favorite, the Hamara Bajaj ad.

I get goosebumps everytime this jingle is played. Wonder if its the ad, or just a sign that I am getting old...

The Science of Scotch

Here's something to lift your spirits....
http://nyas.cachefly.net/scotch.mp3

And more...
http://www.thescotchblog.com/2006/02/into_the_wood.html

The ubiquitous liftman

I find it very annoying when I enter an elevator in a public building, and find a lift operator within. I just don't understand the value that this individual adds to the situation. How hard is it to lift up a finger and push a button ? Instead, one is now compelled to have a conversation(albeit brief) with a person, who invariably looks extremely bored. ( can you really blame him ? )

An American friend and me went to a restaurant today, and seeing a lift operator there, we got to talking about this situation. Apparently, this is something rare in the US, and my friend was aghast that someone would actually choose this as a profession. The conversation veered to other things, but this got me thinking on the way back home...

Why does a business establishment hire a lift operator ? And why does a person choose to be a lift operator?

The second Q is probably easier to answer; most parts of India are still not "shining", and this is as good a job as many others for the man to put food on his family's table. ( I know for a fact that the lift operator at my previous office gets around Rs 4000/pm for his efforts, and he must be struggling to make ends meet in Bangalore. )

But, I wonder why an organization would feel the need to hire a lift operator...
To me, it can only be because they feel it is beneath their employees' dignity to operate an elevator for themselves. (not sure if the employees concur on this; most of my acquaintances share my view on the situation.)
This, combined with the fact that it costs next to nothing to hire a lift operator, reflects poorly on the state of our nation.

In my mind, India would be a step closer to "shining" when I no longer see any lift operators around. To me, it would indicate two things :
1. Each one of us doesnt believe it is beneath his/her dignity to perform simple tasks such as operating an elevator.
2. There are so many better employment opportunities available, that nobody wants to be a lift operator.

I miss my bike !

I really do... I never should have parted with my 2000-model Suzuki Fiero 150cc ride...

I cant help reminiscing about all those long rides that we used to go on, mostly in the middle of the night, when the world was sleeping... And you always treated me well; had only 3 serious falls and just one near-death moment !
But we had to move on... u understand right?
The big bad guv-ment wants me to wear a helmet... And the ride wouldnt be as enjoyable with protection, u know that, right ?

Anyway, thanks for the memories and hope you are doing good with your new ride... For me, there probably never will be another one after you... The car's not as exciting, but she cares more about me...

The upcoming aussie dhulaayi

Dhulaayi is Hindi for washing.
Which is what will happen in all likelihood to the Indian Cricket Team on their tour to Australia. A very clean Surf-Excel whitewash.
Though a die-hard India supporter, I cant help but shudder at the prospect. Just a look at the itinerary - http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ausvind/content/series/291320.html?template=schedule - makes it hard to hope for anything better than a 0-2 result for India. We will lose the traditional first test, and definitely the Perth one.

Why?

1. We are going into the Tests after exactly ONE tour match. How the #@$% is that enough acclimatization after the Indian flat-tracks ?

2. We dont have the bowling to take 20 wickets in a Test match.

3. Aussie pace - Tait, Johnson and Lee are seriously quick. The Indian batsmen's ability to play genuine pace will be found out.

4. Indian batting. Each batsmen deserves special mention.

Wasim Jaffer - Flat track bully. Will be cruelly exposed.
Virender Sehwag - Very shady selection. Hasnt done enough to inspire confidence. Will be attacked in the rib-cage area, and on the offstump corridor.
Rahul Dravid - Of late, is showing some weakness against the quick incoming deliveries. Surely the Aussies have noticed that too. Still, remains one of the best hopes in batting.
Sachin Tendulkar - Reflexes have noticeably slowed down, and he is quite suspect at handling fast bouncers.
Sourav Ganguly - Not the best technique or footwork against pace, but he is playing for his place in the side, might do decently.
VVS Laxman - The dark horse to me. I think he has the best chance of the lot against the Aussie attack.
Yuvraj Singh - IF he gets to play, he will be an impact player. Will either be dismissed within 20 or will make big scores.
MS Dhoni - Not the best technique, but lots of temperament. Should give a good account of himself.

IMO, the ideal batting lineup will be Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Pathan, Kumble, Murali, Harbhajan/Pankaj Singh, Zaheer

No place for Sehwag & Jaffer in the team. 5 bowlers, with Pathan playing as an allrounder.

But does Kumble have the guts to make the tough calls ?

Sivaji The BOSS - The day after

Just watched Mr Rajnikanth's latest movie, and I dont know what to say. Actually, I want to say too many things at once...

For one, its a long movie. Well over 3 hours on the clock, but seems like the end of all time on the theater seat.

Secondly, the heroine - Shriya. Wow! Looks great in every frame; even in some of the most outlandishly-shot song sequences. Probably the best reason to watch this movie.

Then the ambience. Probably a multiplex is not the best place to experience a Rajni movie. I was the only person to let out catcalls and whistles through the whole movie. Sad, but true. Multiplex-goers suck ! Having their hands full of nachos, popcorn, bottled water doesnt help either.

The storyline? Formula Shankar-fare. Protagonist is a man of integrity, gets frustrated of the corrupt system and takes the law into his own hands. Nothing new. The humour is good; Rajni has always been good at that part, and his sidekick-Vivek does a good job. So much for the substance. The form? Like Janice ( of F*R*I*E*N*D*S fame ) says, O...My...Gaaawd... Mr Shankar seems to think that saying "Cool" at the end of every sentence is cool. I dont know what to say. Also, there is substantial skin show, but discreetly done only in the song sequences. In the other scenes, the heroine is the typical Bharatiya naari. A great balancing act between Rajni's clean family entertainment, and the current trends. Bravo Mr Shankar, u got that one right !

Finally to the man himself... The BOSS ( which incidentally stands for Bachelor of Social Service ). Well, the Boss is in pretty bad shape. At 58, he can hardly move his hips. Every scene requiring some physical exertion appears to be excruciating to the Boss. I cant help but compare him to his older peer, Amitabh Bachchan, who at 65(I think?) is acting in half the Hindi movies made and shaking his leg with Gusto on screen and in award shows. The Boss looks to be badly in need of serious medical attention.

Overall, it was a mediocre experience salvaged only by some bits of good comedy and Shriya's presence. But, for all Rajni fans, this movie is a must-see; it looks like the last movie he will ever make, by the looks of it.