Coorgi food is all about the spice - the very special kachampuli, a homemade Coorgi vinegar, the green chillies in the garnish, the turmeric and red chillies in the marinade, finger-licking pandi (pork) curry, The kadumbuttus (dumplings), rice rotis, the pepper rasams, the pepper frys in chicken, mutton and liver... I could have your mouth water till you get dehydrated.

I heard of Wild Spice quite some time back. This is on Residency Road right after the signal that turns in to St Patrick's church (a one-way). It is in a place that used to house Bangalore's Central Perk earlier. Don't expect great decor or any for that matter... at best the place can be described as dingy. The orange paint is peeling off and you have cane rice sifters serving as lamp shades as an attempt at traditional decor. The chairs are the plastic election campaign variety and the kitchen is down a even dingier looking corridor.

The menu is a printed sheet that is wrapped in plastic. It amusing to see that the Kadumbuttus are described as hot Snow Balls (so much for imagination). The menu is simple - you get dishes to mix and match or you can choose set meals. For instance you can have a choice of akkii (rice) rotis or kadambuttus or ghee rice or steam rice with a curries in mutton, chicken and fish when in season. You can also choose these curries to come paired with Ghee rice.

I selected the Ghee rice and pork. The pork was the real deal, kachampuli and all. The meat was well coated with the onion and spice powder paste and the amount of kachampuli was just enough for it to be tangy and oh so Coorgi. I am yet to master the art of using kachampuli the right way. And also the proportion of meat to fat was right. Not too much of either. Oh yes and the ghee in the ghee rice is definitely made at the restaurant. It was neither too strong nor too weak. The ghee rice had a nice crispness to it.

Should you be ravenously hungry then the meals in fish, chicken, pork and mutton will satiate you. The meal comes with akki roti, a vegetable, two Coorgi sambhars, a generous portion of rice, the meat dish of your choice and a sweet. Sudhakar went in for the pork meal and the sweet for the day was payasam. The sambhars were one of bean and the other a mixed. Both slightly thick and on the sweeter side. Of course if you can't live without yor rasams... then the menu also offers you that.

We also ordered the chicken pepper fry which had a generous number of pieces. The marinade of turmeric, chillies and ground pepper teamed up superbly with curry leaves used to impart that great smell and taste.

We also asked for the lime and ginger soda which was thankfully not a concentrate with soda but the real thing. Anoushka was generous enough to empty one onto my lap and so we ended up ordering a third. The payasam too was great and we ordered another portion of that as well.

Now for a place like this I had real doubts on whether there was a rest room or not... But there was and thankfully it was clean enough. As for the hole in our wallets. Well!! for a ghee rice and pork, a pork meal, a chicken pepper fry, 3 rounds of ginger lemon soda and bowl of payasam, we parted with Rs 300. You tell me whether I will be going there again!!!