Karavalli came highly recommended- especially by Mr. Fox. Since work got me to the Gateway, I decided to give it a try. I usually don't like eating at the hotel restaurant I am staying at unless I have to but I was more than pleasantly surprised.
Well first of all the Karavalli is set in a charming Mangalore type house garden with a little pond. Its what Mr. Fox calls an urban oasis. Secondly, the service is outstanding, the staff is well informed and explain the cuisine beautifully. As a matter of fact I requested Mr. Vinod serve us each time I went there because of his knowledge of the cuisine and his wonderful demeanor. Third- in the past few months I made several trips to Bangalore and made sure I had at least one meal there. And let me tell you each time the food was flavourful and surpassed expectation. It is a hard thing to uphold quality, I have noticed in the hospitality business.
So what did I eat? Below is a visual poetry of my meals at Karavalli. Each time I tried to order something different. Let me tell you about my indulgences- fish wrapped in banana leaves, their chicken and lamb curries, banana flower vegetables, pineapple stew, beef fry, lamb legs (to die for), Kerala parotha, appams. Each meal started with a glass of hot rasam and bowl of fried papads. The flavours are a mix of all coastal cuisines- Goan, Mangalorean, Kerala. I love coconut curries and these made my heart sing.
I can easily say that the Karavalli is one of my favourite places to eat in Bangalore.
Enchanting outdoor seating
Lunch with the lovely Maddie
Always a great host- Vinoth
The Urban Oasis
With the Chef and Vinoth
A cold beer - the best accompaniment
Eating traditionally on banana leaves
Fried fish.
Fish wrapped in banana leaf
Juicy!
Fried fish all gone
Rasam in a lovely cup
Beef fry- spicy and succulent
Pineapple stew and vegetable pepper stew
Payasam (ooh check out my nail polish)
Paan to cleanse your palatte
Just the kind of place that takes you away from all your worries.
Thank you for the brilliant meal.
I leave you with this song that went so well with this meal.
The Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR) is synonymous to Bangalore. Early morning breakfasts, filter coffee, lunch thalis, bisi bele bhaat, kesri bhaat, sweet boondis - an entire range of food that represents the Karnataka cuisine is served here. I was in Bangalore quite a bit last month and in between my crazy schedule begged my driver to take me to the original MTR located near the Lalbagh Botanical gardens. This place has been around since 1924.
I asked my friend Gopal of the Mumbai Paused fame for suggestions and he said order a rawa idli, a masala dosa and the sweet of the day. And so it was.The idli was soft and speckled with dal and whole peppers. The sambhar along with it was thick and not watery like elsewhere in this country. There was a generous helping of ghee on the side just in case. The masala dosa was a surprise. It was much thicker than dosas I've eaten in Chennai or Mumbai. It had the most comforting sour dough taste ever. My fingers were slick with ghee and ofcourse there was more ghee on the side. The Kesari bhaat was surprisingly not too sweet but again rich with ghee. The filter coffee hit the early morning spot. My server very sweetly allowed me to step into the kitchen where dosas, boondis, idlis, large buckets of sambhar, chutneys were being mass produced by a few smiling men who let me photograph there process.
Post MTR a very full and satisfied me had to go for a walk around the Lalbagh Botanical gardens to see the lovely glass house which was built in the likeliness of the Crystal Palace in London. The weather was perfect for a post breakfast exploration walk under the shade of the massive rain trees.
