Mast Kalandar - a slice of North India in South India

Mast Kalandar is the first choice of diners for North Indian cuisine restaurants in South India; specially in Bangalore and Chennai for the variety of North Indian food they offer.

I was invited to taste some of their newly launched wholesome and calorie conscious menu along with my other blogger friends. I was stupefied to see that the restaurant was all packed by sharp 12.00 pm. I perceived the fact then that Mast Kalandar is "the" place to hang out.

Welcome drinks were served which included the all time favorite lassi, chaas, mango lassi, masala cola etc. From the Jhatpat chatpat menu, we got to taste the cholle samosa chat which was authentic. We then savored the rest of the items on the menu like dahi puri, dahi papdi chat, aloo tiki. They were rather served as starters to us.

The "Curry Sutra" segment on the menu is a must try as the name says that this is the rule how a curry should taste and indubitably they were. Dal tadka, karela gharwala, aloo ka choka, dal makhni, paneer makhni, kadai paneer were served along with some breads like masala kulcha, stuffed parantha, Amritsari kulcha, Bhaturi etc. They were the every other day partake of food but were gastronomically satisfying.

I was baffled as the choice of desserts was limited. They had only Gulab Jamun, Sooji ka halwa and Gaajar ka halwa. I wish for more on the menu.

Mast Kalandar has got desi kebabs, Family Curry Packs which they call it as FCPs for everyday and weekends as well. And for the rice lovers they have biryani, pulav and also combos like Halka Phulka and parantha.

Meal at Mast Kalandar was like a short trip to North India and was remarkably gratifying.

Brunch experience at Fairfield by Marriott Bangalore

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food", being a food lover I was super excited to visit Fairfield Inn by Marriott, Rajajinagar, Bangalore to savor their lately lofted Sunday brunch menu.

The live music engendered the intensity of the aura of the Kava Restaurant.The mystique upholstery of the restaurant made it a favored one in the town. There is also a pub attached to it. I started off my lunch with pasta and panipuri from the live counter which were put up in the lobby of the restaurant.

To taste next were the healthy salads like roasted almond salad, Insalata Caprese, Zucchini and olive rolls which were pretty good. Later was my best loved pick from the tandoor- kebabs like Murgh malai kebab, lal mirch ka murgh tikka, lamb seekh kebab, fish tikka etc in non veg; and karare paneer, shikampuri kebab, baby corn Amritsari etc in veg.

I had to keep space in my tummy to try the Kava special curries like Butter chicken, lamb rogan josh, Bengali fish curry, paneer lababdar, miloni tarkari, Kava signature dal, and the biryanis.

There were live counters for Dosa, appam, noodles,Quesadillas and pasta - having them custom made was consummately  unique experience.

William Powell said "Dessert is probably the most important stage of the meal, since it will be the last thing your guests remember before they pass out all over the table" and I felt that Kava did a bang on job to have heavenly desserts like Walnut chocolate Brownie, Cream Caramel, Chocolate Almond Slice, Rasamalai, baked yogurt, Mysore Pak, Gulab Jamun, Cake and of course many  flavors of icecream.

The secret of Success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside and this is what precisely I did and thanks to Kava in helping to discover the big foodie inside me.

The pricing of the buffet is pretty economical and cost effective. Altogether the encounter with such exceptional food and service was a worth visit. It's very reasonably priced at Rs.699+ Taxes for non-alcoholic menu & Rs. 1199+Taxes for alcoholic menu. It was also nice to have a caricature artist and live musician at the brunch!