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 ‘Eight Days a Week’ -one of the famous songs from The Beatles exactly 50 years ago, in 1964 stretched the week to eight days for rock music lovers and the teens to express their mutual love. The Restaurant Week sponsored by the Citibank and fashioned after similar events held globally, stretches the week to 10 days making it delightful for the Gourmets to binge on their favourite food at their favourite restaurants without feeling pangs of guilt about spending too much or expanding their girth-it’s party time!
A quick comparison, suggests that the denizens of Bangalore are luckier- not only do they have great eating places to eat in general, but they have to pay much less than people in bigger cities like Mumbai and Delhi during this Week. The scheme entitles you to book online a meal at the rate of Rs. 1050++ for lunch and Rs. 1350+ for dinner but the gourmet in Bangalore needs to shell out only Rs. 900++ for lunch and dinner, making it up to 50% more expensive for us in Delhi or Mumbai for dinners. In short, this is an offer no gourmet should pass!
One usually likes to go to a venue of his or choice rather than look at the Menu, but the organizers have displayed all the Menus, timings, and the availability of seats very professionally, for which they do charge a nominal fee of Rs.100 for each such booking. But a quick look at the various Menus suggests that Yauatcha on MG Road in Bangalore would be a sure winner for offering the best dinner deal followed by their Restaurants in Vasant Kunj in Delhi and BKC Complex, Mumbai.
For Rs. 900++ one gets soup, 4 dim sums, 2 Mains and a choice of rice or noodles with 1 dessert of choice in Bangalore. This means that if there is a couple or more, one can have double the number of dishes to be shared. If this is not fabulous-then, as the Bollywood star Akshaya Kumar once said in a movie, ‘ Bacche ki jaan lega kya?!’ What I find surprising is that all the 1030 pm slots are still available –and most others. Sitting in Delhi I find that very perplexing-Do they not love such high quality Chinese food!
Blue Ginger at the Taj Bangalore has much limited choice with a Bento box that offers only a soup, salads etc, one Mains and a dessert. But it must reflect its popularity as the gourmet restaurant perhaps, that several slots have been already booked up. Bene at Sheraton offers a much bigger choice although it is strictly 3-course but worth a try if there are two or more of you.
Delhi Yauatcha also offers a feast if there are 2 or more but of course, at 50% higher than the Bangalore venue at night. Similar offerings at their Mumbai restaurant should make it the gourmet’s choice for the best restaurant with Chinese cuisine.
Not surprisingly, Akira Back the latest gem in Delhi’s shining gourmet skyline, has been the only restaurant booked out totally-and not only for its delectable Japanese cuisine with a Korean twist that Akira Back, the ‘Best Chef of Las Vegas’ has crafted for the restaurant at the JW Marriott at Aerocity. His assistants’- Chefs de Cuisine, Curt and Jason have worked under him in Las Vegas and the quality of food is always at its best. Unfortunately, the restaurant does not serve lunch and surprisingly did not opt for the second shift that all other restaurants opted for.
Pernod Ricard appears to be one of the wine sponsors and this is where the disdain or at least indifference of the organizers shows. The only option-a glass of Jacob’s Creek sparkling wine is available at most restaurants at an additional cost of Rs. 350+ for a 125 mL glass (6 glasses to a bottle instead of the de-facto standard of 5 glasses-beware!). It’s surprising that most Bangalore restaurants do no display Jacob’s Creek sparkling wine in their Menu lists unlike in Delhi and Mumbai. Even ‘Bene’ at the Sheraton, dishing out Italian cuisine does not mention the aperitif wine. In the absence of any such schemes, it is not a bad bargain to add a glass or two with your meal. Price is not as fabulous as the food menus suggest but it is not astronomical, for which most 5-star hotel restaurants are infamous for.
For details, visit www.restaurantweekindia.com
Buon Appetito and Cin-Cin!
Subhash Arora
Indian Wine Academy or delWine is in no way involved with the scheme. The Article was written subsequent to a couple of bulk emails and an analysis on the Net. We urge you to check the site for details-editor |