Three Quarter Chinese has opened its second branch in Jayanagar. This is at the Cosmopolitan Club and is part of the set up that includes Amoeba - bowling as well as the games floor for kids and grown-ups alike. After an unsuccessful attempt at going bowling - the floors were packed and the music was loud enough to blow down the pins sans the ball, we headed to the top floor where Anoushka had a whale of a time on all the kiddie rides. We too made good with all the electronic games out there.

Anyways, all done, we headed to Three Quarters for dinner. A five minute wait for a table and we were seated. Looks like we made it at the right time, because 10 minutes later, people were waiting on the staircase as well. Three Quarters has got huge floor space and a central buffet set up which they plan to start soon. Anyways, it took a good 15 minutes to get the attention of anybody. No water was served neither were the menus brought. On 3rd attempt we got the menus and then another 15 minutes of attention grabbing tactics to get our order taken.

For starters we ordered the Chakori Kebabs. Morsels of boneless chicken, slathered in green chutney and skewered and dumped in a tandoor. Served with onions and tomatoes, it was just like the kebabs we get at any local takeaway joint.

Main course was Nalli ka salan with Baluchistani paratha. The guy taking the order said something very strange when we asked for Nalli ka Salan. He asked us if we had eaten at Samarkhand - the Afghani restaurant. And when we replied in the affirmative, he said that Nalli Ka salan was their famous dish!! I wonder whether he was mistaken about where he was working. Anyways the salan was really nice, with the gravy being well spiced and not overly watery or thick. The meat was really tender. The presentation as you can see was sloppy.

The Baluchistani paratha was a bit strange. It was regular parathas with thinly sliced onion on top with some coriander leaves sprinkled with tomato sauce!! Am really not sure what baluchistani paratha is supposed to taste like but I sure don't think tomato sauce is a part of it.

The Nalli Ka Salan came with two Taftans. This is supposed to be rotis made yogurt and milk and is supposed to carry a slight tangy taste from the curd. It is also supposed to be really soft. This was neither really soft nor tangy. They were so-so. Nothing as great as the one served in Copper Chimney. We also ordered a Dum Saffron Rice for Anoushka, which was ok.

Didn't really bother with dessert because of the amount of time it took get the wait staffs' attention. The one sad part we have noticed about most new restaurants that have opened in Jayanagar is that they just don't seem capable of handling a full house well. We had asked for the starter to packed up because we just wanted to get home. We got irritated with the fact everything from starters to main course was brought together. It took an eternity for the bill to come. And after all was done, they couldn't find our parcel anywhere and so that took some time. The loos are clean enough but the one door in the ladies room did not lock and I happened to choose that one.

This review is also available on the Sify Food Site

There have been several times when I have enjoyed eating butter chicken. There are a few places especially, where I really like to them from. For those who know these places - Mangala in Mangalore and Janani in Manipal - I don't think any one can do it better than them. And a little secret I learnt in Manipal - butter chicken and curd rice!! Yes I know how it sounds, but trust me this is one of the best and strangest combinations I have ever eaten. The hot buttery chicken and the cold curd rice. In your mouth its an explosion of textures, flavors and even temperatures.

Anyways, butter chicken has a number of tedious recipes. I don't dispute that they may be better than what I am about to post, but this one is both tasty as well as really easy to make. So here goes!!!

Ingredients: 1 kg chicken, 100 gms butter (amul will do) (and yes you can forget about calorie counting), 3 medium onions, 3 medium tomatoes, 3 green chillies sliced, a handful of cashewnuts, 6 tbsp (yes! 6) of coriander powder, 3 tsps of chilli powder (or to your taste), 3 tbsps of tomato ketchup or puree, 3 cloves of garlic and an inch of ginger chopped. A few cloves, elaichi and cinnamon sticks

Method: Take 50 grams of the butter and fry the onions in it. The onions will have to be sliced. Once they are translucent, take it off the fire, dump it into a mixie along with tomatoes and the handful of cashews. Blend into a smooth thickish paste.

Take the remaining butter and splutter the cloves, cinnamon and elaichi. Put in the chicken and fry for a little while. Add the 6 tbsps of coriander powder, the 3 tsps of chilli powder, 3 tbsps of tomato ketchup/puree and fry for a while. Now would be a good time to add in the salt.

After a little while put in the onion/tomato/cashew paste. Mix well and leave it too cook. When half way done, drop in the sliced chillies and the chopped garlic. And leave to simmer till done.

This goes well with rotis, and with jeera or ghee rice, the latter being throwing complete calories consciousness to the winds. Also why don't you try it with some curd rice.

And so a New Year begins. This was our first weekend back in Bangalore after all the reveling in Mangalore. Yes! I know I never got around to to profiling all the Kuswar (X'mas sweets) on the blog like I said I would, but then that's because it all ended up in our stomachs. This first weekend, we decided to splurge on an expensive restaurant, our once-a-month indulgence thing. And so based on recommendation from a good friend Mazhar, we headed to Paparazzi.

This restaurant is on the 10th floor of the Royal Orchid Hotel in Manipal Centre on Dickenson Road. An excellent view of the city and its traffic. Am sure the night view is better than the day time one. We made an 8PM registration and found the place deserted when we got there. But by the time we left it was packed. So good thing about the reservations. Decor is the upmarket types, but I personally found the lighting to be excruciatingly dim. I am the kinds who needs to see what I am eating and this place was lit up by the equivalent of 10 candles in an auditorium.

Now for the food. Paparazzi's menu is based on the favorites of Hollywood stars. So everything on the menu is a favorite of somebody. Just wish they mentioned who - it would have made for nice trivia when we were waiting for the courses to be served. For drinks - Sudhakar opted for a draught beer. I had a Lord of Passion which was Tequila shaken with passion fruit, fruit liquer and sour mix. Draught is draught - nothing much to say on that. The cocktail smelt quite potent and was one of those slow-to-take-effect type.

We were served a complimentary chicken starter. This was bite sized crumb fried chicken with a mint and chilli chutney.

Complimentary chicken starter

As starters we ordered the Five Spice Scented Piggy ribs - which obviously is pork ribs coated in five spice and double cooked. We were served exactly two ribs - one for each. I wonder if this dish is served based on the number of people who are at the table. It came with an interesting dip which was light mayo mixed with chopped apples, walnuts and slivers of lettuce. The pork was excellent in taste and well cooked. In some places a bit too well grilled leading to a few really tough mouthfuls.

For main course Sudhakar opted for the Blackened chicken. This chicken fillets served on a bone, coated with crushed black pepper and served with steam vegetables. A bit too peppery even for someone who loves pepper the way Sudhakar does.

I went in for the Lamb and Pork casserole. The one thing I found annoying about this place is that you have to order your accompaniments separately. I mean, what is a casserole without some buttered rice or garlic bread. And that is where this restaurant makes a killing. So for Sudhakar we ordered the Creamed potato mash with dill and for me the Garlic loaf infused with cheese. Both of which added significantly to the bill.

The casserole, while it tasted brilliant, was not how a casserole should be. There was no baked layer of white sauce and cheese or the layer of baked potatoes that covers the thick meat gravy on the inside. Instead, a steam boat shaped bowl full of pork and lamb gravy with potatoes was served. Can't fault the taste, but the presentation was all wrong.

For Anoushka, on her request we ordered a chicken fried rice, which we ended up parceling. One bite was enough to say that it tasted like the fried rice for an average Chinese joint. What I was really looking forward to in the restaurant was the fact that it served risottos. And I was keen on one since most places, barring Bangalore Bistro use Indian red rice instead of the customary arborio. And though I like experimenting - a corny chicken tikka risotto was not really something I wanted to order.

We bowed out from having desserts simply because we were full. Service is courteous but the time taken to serve courses and even the drinks is quite long. The restrooms are outside the main restaurant but are clean and well kept. A meal for two with drinks and dessert can touch Rs 3000. Quite on the steep side and a nice restaurant for that once-a-month splurge.

I am in Mangalore right now, basking in the joys of being pampered at home. For two weeks now, no cooking, cleaning, running behind junior. All I seem to be doing is gorging on Kuswar (traditional Christmas sweets) and all the yummy things that mom seems to be miraculously bringing out of her kitchen. And so when I today finally logged on to the virtual world, I thought it would be best for me to finish the reviews that I have been hoarding and get on to the Christmas goodies that I just have to showcase here.

Java City in Jayanagar is part of this three-restaurant set-up that comprises, Annabrahma on the first floor and Chung Wah Opus on the the semi-open terrace. Java City on the ground floor has a nice open air space that runs around the entire building and is done up in customary wrought iron seating and green umbrellas. While the pastry counter is at the restaurant entrance, the kitchen is on the other end.

We went there on a weekend for lunch and was surprised that the place was empty except for us. There were two of the wait staff, but it was a good 10 minutes before they approached us. The restaurant was promoting waffles - savory and sweet. So I went for the chicken and cheese waffles while Sudhakar opted for the waffles with blueberry sauce.

The waffles took a really long time in coming and were a total disappointment. They were definitely not freshly made but rather the heat and eat variety. This could be attributed to the fact that all chain restaurants often have a central kitchen from where food is packaged and dispatched. Mine had one measly slice of chicken folded in half and a slice of cheese. The whole thing was very chewy with absolutely no taste. As for the Sudhakar's, his came with a small cup of blueberry sauce, that sadly did not do anything to up the taste factor.

For Anoushka we ordered chicken nuggets, which again was a measly lot served with ketchup and mayonnaise. It could easily have been a packet of Venky's or Suggies or Bamburries frozen foods opened up and served. You can't go wrong with fries and thankfully this place didn't.

To drink, I had a berry and yogurt drink while Sudhakar had a cold coffee, the name of which I don't remember. Both were nice without being spectacular. Funny though that despite Java City being a coffee place, we were told that hot coffees of any type were not available.

Dessert was an apple pie which looked a bit hard when it came. And after the first bite, it was safe to say that I was not wrong. The filling though had more apple than raisins which is hardly the case with Coffee Day which should reconsider naming their apple pie to raisin fest.

Overall, would prefer the other two restaurants in the building. Service is oh-so-slow and from what we had, the specials are nothing to talk about. The time between ordering and the stuff coming to the table was an eternity and we spent the time rolling over laughing at the typos in the menu. Again the loo here is only the one on Chung Wah Opus.

This review is also available on the Sify Food Site

And I finally made it here. Cafe Thulp has been recommended to me so often that I lost count. I wanted to go the place with a bigger group so that the review would be a well rounded. So when we decided to have a mini class reunion of the Manipal group, Cafe Thulp seemed to be the best place and everyone agreed. And so it came to be that seven of us and three children made our way there. Picto-review time - saves space and gets to the point faster.

El Poco Loco - strips of crumb fried chicken, garlic bread, mashed potatoes and two amazing dips that I haven't totally been able to figure out as yet. The bowl to the left was a creamy spinach dip and the other a honey based vinaigrette topped off with some cardamom. Once all these elements came together, it was all quite yummy.

Pigs on the wing - A BBQ pork sandwich with coleslaw and herbed potatoes. Juicy and yummy and oh-so-difficult for one person to finish

Bella Gamba - Fresh tomato + basil +home cream garlic cheese = one loud burrrp after one great sandwich.

Moos your daddy. There were three versions of this that were brought to our table. One without the works, one with half the works and one with the works - bacon and all. And I am totally proud of my husband who had the one with the works and actually finished the whole thing. A friend Chandy too have ordered this and had it cut in half to share with his wife. Halfway through he forgets that his wife had the other half and started to poke fun at Swaroop and Sudhakar for hardly making it through theirs. A few minutes later however, the joke was on him

Boston Cooler - a float of cola and ice-cream. Swaroop seemed to totally enjoy though I am not one for floats.

Apple and cinnamon yogurt shake. Chunky apple and yogurt blended together with cinnamon dust sprinkled on top. Yummcious!!

Orange and mint yogurt shake. Weird combination of ingredients you may say, but they came together quite well.

Mushroom and potato soup. This was ordered for one of the juniors and turned out to be a disappointment. It was really bland, tasteless and absolutely watery.

Chicken wings with a mayo dip. Hot chicken with a cool dip, perfect combo on a cold night.

French fries with mayo. This set of fries came with the mayo and chilli flakes already mixed in. Thanks to the kids, three rounds of this was ordered.

The Zorba Greek sandwich. Grilled eggplant, tomato, spinach, lettuce, cheese. Who said the veggies eat boring stuff.

Banana and Praline yogurt shake. This yummy drink ensured that we ordered a round of all the yogurt shakes that were on offer

The service is pleasant and so is the seating. The bookshelf, I was really happy to see also had stuff for children, which kept my junior at bay. The loo is unisex and could do with some cleaning up. The wet basin syndrome seemed to persist here as well. The bill was a sizable amount considering what we ordered. We were so stuffed, that desserts were not ordered. It roughly works out to Rs 300 a head. A nice place for a 'filling' meal.