Ready for some “OYE” treatment in our very own Bengaluru?

Bengaluru has not been called cosmopolitan for no silly reasons. Moreso, the cosmopolitization has further gnawed into Bengaluru’s very own IT locality – Koramangala. The locality is already known for some 300 odd good restaurants to eat in, and just when you thought it may not grow further, the Punjabi’s decided otherwise!

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Enter “OYE Amritsar”. The very own Punjabi joint to tickle your palates one step further. We decided to check out on this restaurant for lunch a couple of days ago. It was an office team lunch and time to dig into what OYE had to offer us. After a good long walk, we reached the place. Thinking it would be like any other restaurant, I walked in. And the first thing I notice – is the language. Punjabis are known to misspell English and as far as they put forth the point, they don’t really care how the language is used. My apologies to the grammatically correct Punjabi friends, but this misspellings are the things that make OYE an interesting place to eat in.

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The food is only half the story. The shiny old Lambretta scooter at the front, the BarBar shop shutters depicting the types of hair cuts offered, the references to bollywood, London, and finally the big bold Sardar with his Kudi depicted on the walls – everything is part of the dining experience. One word – this place is a must go, since its mood changing. It has the potential to uplift even people with the worst of moods to uncover the grin on their faces.

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Coming to the food, the customary drink was I think Jaljeera, but it was so intriguingly tangy with twists in every sip. Now a drink must leave you wondering, and thats what it was at OYE. The usual salads later, came the rotis and rajma dal, with butter panneer masala without which its nothing is a complete Punjabi restaurant. Some sweets and ice creams, and after a heavy dose of meals, came the knockout punch for those who dared it – sweet lassi. I would say this lassi alone is enough for lunch. Drinking it along with the buffet means you are either a hardcore punjabi, or you’re sure to swoon into a heavenly nap after the lunch.

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And for those whose stomachs cant hold more, there is always the TOLET, oops – I mean the toilet for the JENTS and LADISS.

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If you guys and gals want something seriously different for the first visit, OYE Amritsar is the place. In short its full paisa vasool. Just ensure someone’s around to drive you back home, coz I dont think anyone would want to attend office after something like this as a meal. The charges are reasonable as well, so nothing incomparable with other restaurants. Eat your fill!

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And while you are there dont forget to notice the posters, subtly hinting that our current prime minister is also a singh, RELAX SINGH to be precise :-)

Bonsouth, the posh south indian restaurant in Koramangala, Bengaluru

I had written an article about South Indies, a south indian restaurant in Indiranagar where I had been to sometime last year. The occassion was a meeting with my best friend Kishore, on his visit to India from USA.

To just tell you more here, Kishore and I know each other for more than 15 years now, he is more than just a friend to me, he is part of my family and one of the key influencers of my life. Well, without digressing much, it was one year more of not seeing him, and this time he landed in Bengaluru once more. This time we decided to head straight to BonSouth yet another south indian restaurant in Koramangala, a stone’s throw away from my house.

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BonSouth is a restaurant, which is situated bang on the 80′ Road Koramangala and it is built on a huge piece of land. As usual as one would expect, you cannot park anywhere closeby thanks to BTRAC and thousands of no parking boards everywhere (I think this BTRAC aims at inconveniencing people rather than helping them). So BonSouth currently has taken up the land next to their restaurant for parking purposes. These days I find this is being the norm of many people including MTP (More than Paranthas) another Delhi based restaurant in Koramangala adopting the same approach.

We had gone by two wheeler, and I didnt have a problem finding parking for myself. It was night and we landed up for dinner. Knowing and having seen South Indies before I must have realized the costs of going to Bonsouth, but I was not too surprised looking at the menu card. Firstly we were handed over the spirits menu, where it showed one bottle of champagne to be about 12,000 bucks (roughly 250$) which I thought was on the higher side. After some discussions, we decided no to spirits (especially understanding the fact that a brahmin iyer family would not allow me in if they smelt alcohol :) ). We then wanted to go straight to that part of the menu which was synonymous with its name – BonSouth.

The ambience was just right with enough room to talk and catch up for a long while before the food was served and finished. The items on the menu were arranged according to the states in South India – Andhra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, each sporting its own famous cuisines. We settled down on cabbage vada for starters, and some lemon rice and curd rice, along with some andhra veg soup – now dont ask me the names, they were bizzaire! :) A candle was lit for us, and we went ahead and started our meal.

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What is of significance that I did not know then but later understood, is the fact that both South Indies and Bon South belonged to the same person and he was running this food chain promoting southern specialities in each area of Bengaluru. So much so also that, I came to know the whole place for both these restaurants were landscaped by a firm called Terra Firma, a company started off by Rohit Marol a well known landscapist today.

The indications were strikingly similar – well dressed waiters (perhaps there is a much more respectful term than this), with suits and coats, all having wireless PDAs to take orders and well mannered too. The landscaping of the place was also done up well with small water bodies here and there and the lighting to suit the mood. Overall for about one starter, two rice items, and one soup (without dessert) the bill was about Rs.800, more or less the same as what we paid at South Indies ealier. But I somehow felt that the food in BonSouth was much better than the one at South Indies given that I could not find any difference in the ambience.

There is also a buffet lunch and breakfast options available somewhere around the Rs.275 mark if you wish to take part in it. Overall, we had a nice dinner and our pockets were lighter by a grand at the end of it. However, given that the prime importance is for the time spent with friends, and a peaceful atmosphere, I would recommend this place as a must visit – atleast once, for the experience, if not again and again. So head straight to BonSouth, and get a taste of what south has always meant to you! :)

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