So after three long years, we are celebrating Christmas in Bangalore. We go home to Mangalore every holiday season and this year, I insisted that we celebrate here, in our home. Pentatonix and Michael Buble are on loop, am dusting off the Christmas Tree (yes am late) and making plans to pick up more decorations (heaven knows I can open a store already) and Mum and I are planning Christmas Day lunch already. While nothing can beat a good home roasted chicken and stuffing and I believe there is no harm in scouting around to see what interesting Christmas offerings Bangalore's restaurants have to offer this year.

We were invited to a preview of the Christmas Turkey meal at Plan B, Richmond Town. Sure, almost every restaurant is going to have something interesting up for Christmas, but what piqued my interest in this one was the fact that a pub was offering a full loaded Turkey meal. Something worth checking out.

And so we found a seat close to the large glass wall (the blogger in me calling out for better lighting for photos) and waited to be wowed. The menu is a set one and really enormous, so wearing your Jughead/Joey Tribbiani pants would be a good idea.

This menu will be available starting December 24th evening for dinner and from December 25th to December 27th for lunch and dinner. Each meal is capped at a maximum of 20 people, with the minimum for reservations being 9. Of course, pre-plated dinners will also be available for smaller groups on prior reservation. The meal will cost you Rs 1950 all inclusive and will offer 1 glass of sangria, domestic wine or beer per person.


And then we move on to the meal that comes to the table, all guns blazing. The Plan B Christmas meal has a Roast Butterball Turkey as its star attraction. Thick, gorgeous slices of turkey, covered with jus along with a range of accompaniments. Let's go through them one by one beginning with the Turkey. We have had some Turkey here in Bangalore, and this one is, by far, the most memorable of them all. The meat is as tender as cake to a knife and the crispy crackling atop completes each delicious bite. The meat is moist, and the jus brings in perfect harmony.

The accompaniments are plenty - the sausage and bacon stuffing has a nice creamy consistency to it and am guessing a bit of the pan juices of the Turkey as well. Hidden under the Turkey is the Garlicky Green Pea Potato Mash - smooth, creamy mashed potato, with flecks of green from the peas and bits of roasted garlic. Also on the plate were Roasted Baby Potatoes, Orange glazed carrots, and blanched veggies. Though garlic bread is served on the side, it was pretty much ignored till we took some to mop up the little remnants on the plate.


Now remember those Jughead pants I mentioned - Here is where it will come in handy - Each meal also comes with Camembert Mac and Cheese with walnuts. A single portion is technically good for two. Below that crunchy, cheesy surface lies your one-way ticket to cheese-filled heaven. We barely got through half of one, so pace yourself during this meal.

The meal ends with a Christmas pudding, which we did not get to sample since all the ingredients are still currently working their magic and will be ready only in time for this promotion. Going by the rest of the meal, I am sure this one will be as indulgent.

There was no way Lil Miss would have got through a meal of this nature and so we opted to go with something from the a la carte menu which will also be be available on days of the promotion - pastry wrapped pork sausages came to the table as did a dish from what will soon be a part of the holiday menu - Pork Belly with mash and veggies. This menu will be available from December 15th to December 10th. Happy Lil Miss, very happy parents.

Fancy that!! Sudhakar was passing by Sapphire, the toy store (besides Lifestyle and close to Garuda) and happened to see a series of new restaurants in a building. He came home that day and said that we must try them out. And so we headed there this past weekend. The place houses three outlets - Calypso, a Euro-American Place, Drum Sticks - and Indian Barbeque and Tango - A jazz retro bar. Doctor Thomas Chandy, better known as Doc Chandy owns the place. The staff told us that the place has not officially been inaugurated and that's the reason no one has heard about it yet.

We decided that we would head to the Euro-American restaurant. Decor is upmarket since fine dining is what is being touted at this Bangalore restaurant. There were multiple wine glasses, forks and knives per person at each table setting. The only thing was the forks were the same size and not different based on courses. Same went with all other cutlery and so it kind of defeated the purpose.

Anyways we opted for a window seat and sat right below a picture of Mona Lisa smoking a joint! Nice! The menu is a very limited one and had quite a smattering of Italian than Euro-American. We started off with the Caribe chicken which was described as baby breast of chicken steeped in caribe spices with roasted garlic and onion and a trilogy of peppers. Loved the presentation and the bite sized meat pieces were really well spiced and went really well with the carrot-pepper puree at the side. Junior had a plate of french fries.

Main course for Sudhakar was the Pollo Cajun which was Cajun seared chicken on garlic mash with stir fry broccoli raisin jus. Again generous proportions. The picture hides the mash which was quite nice and garlicky and healthy in quantity.

I had the Calypso Carbonara which I asked for in spaghetti rather than penne. For some reason I feel that sauces mix well only with spaghetti than with any other form of pasta. Anyways this carbonara was described as being injected with vodka and salt water prawns. Didn't really feel the vodka barring which the pasta was great and the number of prawns were substantial as well. Junior too liked what I had and I ended up sharing most of it with her.

We opted out of dessert simply because there was only Tiramisu and another, the name of which I forget. Didn't really sound enticing. A couple of things. The wait staff is still getting the hang of the menu at this 15-day old place. But they are courteous and take the trouble of getting the chef out for the smallest possible request. They had a gentleman singing that night with a bass guitar and pre-set keyboard - maybe a song list that is a bit more contemporary than "golden hits of Bryan Adams" would do nice. The sous chef did come out for an interaction and this was real nice. The only little grouse I had was the meat based dishes were not piping hot. But am sure this is a fixable thing.

I would definitely like to visit Drum Sticks and the Jazz Lounge. The bill at Calypso if you were to include a drink a head as well as dessert could hit Rs 1500. The loos are clean but a little difficult to squeeze into.

Read this review on the Sify Food Site as well.