Consumers... Behave!

You might say the service is bad, or the waiter should be more responsive or they should anticipate. I only agree on the word - anticipate. This is a beautiful contrast int he last 10 years that we didn't see seeping through. Wonderful read and some of us might be more considerate with what we do and how we behave as a customer in the shop. This is taken from The Meta Picture.

Unforgettable Sunday brunch @ Yauatcha

When you are headed to have lunch at a Michelin-starred restaurant from London, you skip breakfast and probably your morning coffee too. When I reached Yauatcha, a dimsum tea house, located at #1 MG Road Mall, Bangalore, it was a pleasure to meet Snehal, their CEO, service team and was floored by the service, decor, smiles and the food, especially their food. As a foodie, I have been on the quest to find out new places, new tastes and new cultures and food. If there is one place, I would love to revisit with my family, that would be Yauatcha. Let me tell you why!

"Our food is served hot from the kitchen. Though we don't have buffet for your today, I assure you, you would have more food than you can imagine!" When you hear this from the GM Operations, you know he is serious, especially when he proceeds to show us our seats and assigns the best people on his service team to your table.

The look and feel of the restaurant is maintained to reflect an old tea house where people dined together chatting and sharing. They have tried to retain the same materials, ambiance, noise, especially by having the kitchen inside the restaurant where you can see the food being prepared clinically almost like a music recital.

The lunch starts with a question asking about any allergies you might have so they can suggest you to avoid certain things you might need to avoid. You know it is an advantage to know the ingredients. For a place that doesn't add any MSG in their food, they are really careful. And then comes tea, in a porcelain pot to be served hot in your cup while you are prepped for the dimsums to arrive.

Now to explain the way dimsums were served I would have to ask you to imagine a play with cute little interesting characters each with an important role to play in the whole game. You are left to watch it all without realizing you are also a part of the play and once it is done, the experience leaves you changed and you are a different person. At Yauatcha, dimsums were served not just to tickle your taste buds but also to bring the goodness of Chinese cuisine home.

How do I pick my favorite? Should I say, the delicate Har Gau or Truffle edamame dumpling? The vegetable chui chow dumpling or the vegetable chive dumpling or should I say, my favorite chicken and prawn shumai or the leafy looking chicken wrapped in Pokchoi. Did I mention, the crispy prawn cheung fun, Shanghai dumpling, chicken charsui cheung fun and the veg Peking dumpling?

Or the ones that was requested to be served again - Wagyu Prawn Puff, crispy duck roll, sesame prawn and chicken fried Balls, Golden fried vegetable puff? And just when you think you are full comes the stir fried chicken rice  warped chicken in pepper and stir fried beef... Oh! How do I tell you the experience? It was like witnessing someone else having the food while you were just about to wake up and imagine all this as a dream.

When you thought this was all coming to an end and you could eat no more come these beautifully decorated, wonderfully crafted and most efficiently planned and served desserts who I must say are the showstoppers of the whole show. Not one of us could resist giving them a standing ovation while we had conflicting emotions to eat first or click a picture first!

First came the soft looking mango mousse with her glaring red raspberry delice who marked her territory with red velvety touch. Then came the sinfully delicious chocolate hazelnut mousse with her partner in crime, the delicate religieuse with curly topping that demanded immediate assault. While all the desserts disappeared to the fencing match between forks and spoons while we devoured on the beauties, we were treated to the good luck charm, the assorted maccarons and when you felt you were full and were ready to walk out with a heavy tummy, I was surprised to feel very light, as if there is still some space, which I was sure didn't exist.

How can you describe a good meal? I should say, when you want to have some more but have no space left! Sunday brunch at Yauatcha is not just another lunch, it is an experience fit for the kings. If you are in Bangalore and have not been to Yauatcha, then you are definitely missing the chance to be treated like a king, na, like an emperor. Head out to Yauatcha today with your girlfriend, boss or children and you might get not just a thank you but a hug too!

Address: Level 5, 1 MG Road Mall, MG Road or call 1800 266 1000.

Here are Tiger's ratings:

• Ambiance: 4.5/5
• Service: 4.5/5
• Food: 5/5
• Value: 4/5 

For more pictures, click here for my facebook album.
Special thanks to Blogger's Club for inviting us.

Oye Amritsar!

Well... wanted to post about it since Dhiru took us there. Oye Amritsar is a wonderful restaurant to get away from the regular closed environs of a restaurant to chat, eat and catch up with your friends. I loved the place, their taste & variety of food. Ambiance is awesome too. Ever wanted to get out of the buzz in the city and enjoy a good meal on a road side dhaba, travel in a truck with careless abandon but couldn't? Decked up in mass estyle, for some 300 bucks you can get that here. Worth a try.

Here is MJ's review.

Cuddapah special

I was at Cafe Cuddapah last week and was stunned to see it was as good as Bangalore stuff. I was not expecting such a neat environment and food there. So when Sarah asked me to visit this place was a bit skeptical and gave it a try. Cafe Cuddapah is an example of a great business idea well implemented. With about 30 seater space and almost 100 varieties of dishes available in a place like Cuddapah or Kadapa as it is now rechristened it suits well. The prices were normal and the stuff available is amazing. You could have Italian, French, Indian and Chinese dishes at affordable prices. The whole cafe was air conditioned and peple well trained and behaved. Here are a few clips of the ice cream which was their special called Cafe Cuddapah special! I was delighted to see my expectations (which were a bit low ;)) exceeded and turned to delight. If you are in Cuddapah this place is a must visit.

Click to enlarge

A few details...

• Managed by Nammura Hotels, Bangalore
• Records more than 300 walk ins on a regular day and about 600 on weekends
• Well trained staff = Good customer service
  
• Good ambiance
  
• Average prices and great food
  

My rating: 3.5/5

The Nagarjuna Experience

We went to Nagarjuna Restaurant at Jayanagar 4th block the other day for lunch. My right thumb was bandaged and hence eating from a banana leaf is not comfortable to eat with a spoon. The food was good as expected but they didn't have a plate.

Why can't you keep a few plates? I have this question for others as well. Malls don't have facilities for handicapped people, not enough washrooms (even if they exist, they stink), escalators don't have attendants, trail rooms don't have fans, CCD doesn't have parking, many malls don't have emergency exits, working fire extinguishers and what not. Why can't you be ready and be ready for emergencies.