Au Bon Pain - Don't we all love Bread..??

Last weekend was car hunting and I did manage to roam different parts of the city under the baking hot sun in Bangalore. Saturday afternoon around 2 pm found me near JP Nagar 3rd phase, starving since I did not have lunch yet. That's when I saw the Au Bon Pain outlet right on the main road - close to the Delmia signal on JP Nagar ring road heading towards Bannerghatta Road. For people who have not heard of them, Au Bon Pain is a chain of restaurants originating from Boston, USA catering a range of bakery products and also salads, sandwiches, ascribing to the concept of a wholesome but healthy meal. Starvation took over and my wife and I decided, why not..:-)

Walking in, we were struck by the warm well lit ambience and pleasing yellow colors and chairs and tables arranged neatly. The surroundings were clean and well maintained and you could see a bustling of activity behind the counter. Since hunger was a main issue, we decided to go the whole nine yards - soup, sandwich and dessert. Running through their options, they have a couple of veg and non-veg options (minestrone, cream of pumpkin, three bean chicken and chicken broth). The pumpkin soup looked ravishing and we quickly picked up a bowl each.

This soup, to me, was the dish of the day. Absolutely fantastic and spot on. The sweetness of the pumpkin was mated well with natural spices (giving it a hot spicy  but sweet flavor and an unbelievable aroma) and the soup itself was light yet creamy thick. All these conflicting descriptors turned that soup into a superstar for me. Although it was piping hot (a prerequisite for soups) I managed to down the cup in record time. The main course was for me a 'Create your Own Sandwich' option. Apart from a selection of standard sandwiches, you could put together your own one too - and I promptly went for it. Grilled chicken, turkey slices as protein options, ciabatta for the bread, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumber slices, olives, jalapenos and corn as your choice of condiments (all of these are free) and for sauces, you had chipotle, mayonnaise, mint chutney and schezwan. Protein choice is 1 out of the various choices (extra meat options can be taken at an add-on cost) and two from the sauces list.

The bread was fresh, a little bit salty and the crust was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, excellently baked.The veggies were fresh and you could taste the crispness of the condiments while the meat was well prepared and seasoned. All in all, a great light sandwich which was undeniably fresh and full of health and nutrition. Finally, to top of the meal, dessert was the last destination. Their selections were kept tantalizingly in the open glass cases near the seating area and they do their job well - enticing poor hapless customers like me :-). A nice selection of muffins, cakes, donuts, danish, cinnamon buns beckons you - after a lot of deliberation, I picked the black currant danish and boy, I was not disappointed. The pastry crust was light and crispy and crumbled in your mouth while the black currants were fresh and gooey in the center exploding in your mouth with bags of flavor. Fantastic way to finish any meal.

Now to the important points - wallet factor. The above meal comes close to Rs. 300/- for one person which I think is definitely worth the taste and goodness factors. Wrapping up, a fantastic place not just to enjoy the bakery products but also to have a balanced full meal. As the French would say - to good bread.. enjoy it in all forms..

Location: 15th Cross, 6B main, JP Nagar 3rd Phase, opposite Barbecue Nation, Bangalore

Ambience: Neat, clean, friendly staff

Wallet Factor: Medium expensive

There are multiple other outlets all over Bangalore for convenience. 

Late night food cravings.. ?? Empire is the place to be..!!

Its been quite a while since my last post and work has been all around and some stuff going on too. So, in an attempt to redress that hiatus, let me try getting up a few long due posts - starting off with this classic eating joint of Bangalore which most locals (familiar with the night life) frequent. Hotel Empire is a chain of restaurants spaced all over Bangalore providing some delectable vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare at affordable prices. Well, before I get ahead of myself let us go through the entire evening's session at this restaurant. A group of us had gone to watch an IPL cricket match at the stadium on a Saturday evening. By the time the match got over, it was close to 11 pm and we were starving. There was only one place that came to our mind and that was Empire hotel. We headed to the nearest one on Church street and plonked ourselves on the first floor. First impressions, it was a bustling bee-hive of activity even at such late hours. Fresh aromatic fragrances of spiced meat wafted across the place welcoming one and all. The ambience is typical to any fast food chain of restaurants but it is clean and decent. A waiter walked over to our table the minute we sat down and plonked a bunch of menus and ran off to take the orders of another table. Did I say this place is bustling..?? :-)
There were four of us in our group and only one vegetarian in that ecosystem. We quickly ordered - Malabar (Kerala) parathas, Boneless Butter Chicken gravy, Mutton Kheema dosa, Appam with vegetable stew and a plate of their special ghee rice. There is a fresh fruit juice stall right outside attached to this restaurant which makes it worthwhile ordering seasonal fruit juices - we ordered watermelon and mango. Now to the fun part - tasting :-)
As always in any restaurant, I am lucky enough to get my dishes out first and so it happened here too. My Malabar parathas along with the butter chicken gravy popped out first and i dug into it with gusto.

The parathas are golden brown and absolutely crisp, making that pleasing crunchy sound as you bite into them. This is brilliant considering these are layered parathas and the smell of ghee emanating from them is truly intoxicating. The butter chicken was top of the class too - spicy like a traditionally prepared Kerala dish but with tender pieces of chicken well cooked in a thick gravy seasoned with curry leaves for that bags of flavor taste. Next came the Mutton Kheema dosa - and a sight it was to behold.

Finely minced Kheema paste of choice mutton meat - the meat was well cooked and very spicy to boot. The texture of kheema dishes are extremely critical - too fine its a bad paste in your mouth and not properly minced there are big lumps. This was perfect kheema where you could roll your tongue over the textured mutton pieces and also bite into it with gusto. The flavors were spot on and the most important part - the dosa was crisp and well made. This dish vanished off our plate without even troubling 5 minutes of our watches.

Finally up were the Appams and the Ghee rice. The appams came with coconut chutney, a masala spiced sambar type of gravy and the most important complementary side dish - the stew.  Crisp, light and fluffy were the appams and most importantly (a simple usual mistake that often happens is that the appam center tends to get lumpy with excess batter accumulating) perfectly built up at the center. The vegetable stew had the right essence of spices and sweetness in it - cloves, cinnamon for the biting spice and coconut milk for the sweetness and the vegetables were well boiled and soft to taste. The ghee rice is a specialty dish out here and must be ordered. It can be had either with the chicken gravy or the stew and it just goes brilliant with both.
Downing all of these with the fruit juices kinda hit the sweet spot and of course appeased our hunger. The best part is the cost - very affordable and inexpensive. The above meal set us back by around 600 Rs. only. A couple of other special noteworthy dishes to try here are the chicken kebabs, tandoori grilled chicken and the shawarma rolls.

Ambience: Decent, bustling and crowded
Quality: Excellent Kerala style food (especially non-vegetarian fare)
Cost: Economical, easy on the wallet
Location: All over Bangalore (Church Street, Castle Street (both around MG Road), Koramangala, Central street, Frazer town, Indiranagar and other locations. Check http://www.hotelempire.in/ for more details.