Bangalore restaurant reviews
Breakfast
budget eating
Legends Motorcycle Cafe & Museum
Tuesday, November 29, 2011Me! In wordsOne Saturday afternoon I was on the call of duty (something I seem to be doing most saturdays despite having promised myself not to) - I had to visit a very charming lady in Panduranganagar near Apollo Hospitals on Bannerghatta road for a story on miniature gardens that I was working in. Once I had the story in the can, it came down to the eternal question of where do we head to for lunch. Sudhakar asked if I was up for a drive - why not? I didn't have any other story I was working on so on we drove... and geographically challenged that I am, it was only when we crossed Commercial Street did I realize that we were heading towards Frazer Town. From then on it was just the question of "are we there yet... are we there yet.... are we there yet... ARE WE THERE YET!!" till finally we were there - outside Legends Motorcycle Cafe & Museum.
The menu is in a sliding folder and is a photocopied handwritten one, with little sketches in the corners for some of the dishes. We decided to go with what the menu recommended and what I happened to see on one of the certificates that the place has got. And so for starters we had the boneless tenders with chilly flakes and the stuffed mushroom moiley.
The tenders were well... tender, marinated in a slightly chinesey base and fried with chilli flakes. Despite which it was not overly spicy. In fact, it is just the thing you would like to be nibbling on if you had a chilled beer open on the table. The stuffed mushroom moileys were real neat in their presentation. Little mushrooms stuffed with potatoes, peppers, dusted off in battered breadcrumbs and fried. Really yummy... but don't do what I did and pop the whole thing in your mouth in one go, the center is deceptively hot and you risk losing the tasting member of your faculties.
Sudhakar went in for the Club sandwich with chicken, cheese and egg. He has been here before and refuses to progress beyond this sandwich. When it arrived, I could see why - between three toasted slices of bread, you have a nice omelet, diced chicken (quite a generous portion) some mayo, diced onions and tomatoes. Anoushka loved it so much that she manually deconstructed the sandwich and had a good portion of it. But put together, it can make one great lunch option.
I decided to go for the one thing on the menu that sounded really different - Chicken Baldonia - I was told it was diced chicken, in a spicy sauce with a peppers based rice. Bring it right on! I scoured the net to see if I could find anything about this dish and broaden my horizons a bit - but nada! Maybe I should go again and bug Prabhu about what it is. What came was quite the quantity of diced chicken in a distinctly, tomato, onion, herbs based gravy. Not spicy at all and a three pepper rice. I did try replicating the rice at home a couple of nights later and found that junior much appreciated the tri-color in it. The perfect hot plate of food that you would want on one of these cold nights that we are experiencing these days (and as if to contradict me, the sun is peeking out of the clouds just as I type this).
Anoushka is almost done with her soup spree and is now into penne pasta. Of course Sudhakar's club sandwich came first and so she filled her stomach with that, leaving us to split this dish between us. There is the option of having a simple aglio olio styled pasta - Prabhu suggested we add fish instead of chicken since it had just come in and so that is what we did. And from the picture you can see how generous the cheese was. Herbs and chilli flakes completed the picture and it was another really pleasant dish.
Apparently one of Sudhakar's non-coffee drinking colleagues converted to coffee after having the black version here. I personally can't get myself to drink coffee, but Sudhakar had one and it did look like something a coffee lover would appreciate.
A nice small cafe with walls that were filled with picture frames. In fact in one corner you will even find the pictorial chronicles of owner Prabhu's biking adventures. The seating arrangements were all wood based. Nice salon styled high chairs against a massive wooden bar table (though the place serves no alcohol). Everything in the decor has a very "been there done that look", as though each piece can tell you of a good biker adventure. The one Singer sewing machine table was quite the cute thing. But what is really cool about this place is the small bike museum on the first floor. I don't know much about bikes but you can take a look at them in the slide show below and - each and every one of them is in working condition, having been ridden to this spot by the owner.
A view of the decor (above and below)
The menu is in a sliding folder and is a photocopied handwritten one, with little sketches in the corners for some of the dishes. We decided to go with what the menu recommended and what I happened to see on one of the certificates that the place has got. And so for starters we had the boneless tenders with chilly flakes and the stuffed mushroom moiley.
Boneless tenders with chilly flakes
Stuffed mushroom moiley
Sudhakar went in for the Club sandwich with chicken, cheese and egg. He has been here before and refuses to progress beyond this sandwich. When it arrived, I could see why - between three toasted slices of bread, you have a nice omelet, diced chicken (quite a generous portion) some mayo, diced onions and tomatoes. Anoushka loved it so much that she manually deconstructed the sandwich and had a good portion of it. But put together, it can make one great lunch option.
Chicken club sandwich
Sudhakar's colleagues happened to drop in for a quick family lunch and I was able to sneak a photo of their meal. Grilled seer fish with a lemon sauce, blanched veggies and herb rice. Not to miss the heart shaped presentation for the rice. Their verdict was that the fish was really fresh, the sauce light and zesty and the grilling just right. Again, am guessing that the meal was great and that's why it vanished off their plates at the speed it did.
Grilled fish in lemon sauce and blanched veggies
I decided to go for the one thing on the menu that sounded really different - Chicken Baldonia - I was told it was diced chicken, in a spicy sauce with a peppers based rice. Bring it right on! I scoured the net to see if I could find anything about this dish and broaden my horizons a bit - but nada! Maybe I should go again and bug Prabhu about what it is. What came was quite the quantity of diced chicken in a distinctly, tomato, onion, herbs based gravy. Not spicy at all and a three pepper rice. I did try replicating the rice at home a couple of nights later and found that junior much appreciated the tri-color in it. The perfect hot plate of food that you would want on one of these cold nights that we are experiencing these days (and as if to contradict me, the sun is peeking out of the clouds just as I type this).
Chicken Baldonia
Pasta with fish tossed in olive oil with herbs
Black coffee to round off
The most expensive dish on the menu is Rs 200. The crockery is a mix match of stuff giving the feel of being fed in a friend's kitchen. You may not say that about other places, but this one really does have that ambiance. Our meal came to Rs 600. The cafe is at the corner of a road and has a rounded off entrance. A small bike parking space up front does have bikers (maybe not in the true sense), roll up, have a bite and head on back into the traffic. The museum is worth seeing for any biking buff. The place is a great hangout. The loo is so-so.
Address: No: 15, Wheeler Road, Bangalore
Phone: 9448081969
Cuisine: Continental
Wallet factor: Rs 500 for two
Cards Accepted: Hmm.. not too sure. We paid cash
Parking: For bikes yes to an extent. For cars, call in a favor with Goddess of Parking
Phone: 9448081969
Cuisine: Continental
Wallet factor: Rs 500 for two
Cards Accepted: Hmm.. not too sure. We paid cash
Parking: For bikes yes to an extent. For cars, call in a favor with Goddess of Parking
