BENGALURU: With new restaurants serving mouth-watering cuisines – from Karnataka’s own masala dosae, to Korean barbeque – popping up at every corner Bengalureans suffer no gastronomical dearth. Several outlets and pop-ups have now upped the food game to exhilarating heights with experiential dining.
More Than a Midnight Snack
Ever woken up at midnight craving a bowl of warm, hearty ramen, only to discover that your pantry is empty and nobody delivers at midnight? Neon Market, Indiranagar recently launched a midnight ramen dining experience that promises to hit the spot. Sharing the mouth-watering bowls on offer, Aly Payne, an American expat who co-founded the establishment with husband Srijit Panicker, says, “We have a spicy pork tonkatsu with a broth that’s made over 20 hours to boil down the collagen in the fat from the pork bones, and its very creamy. It’s popular because it’s got a special hot Tari – a mix of imported and local chilies.”
Sakare - Sucre - Sugar
Subtler than other experiences in this list but just as unique is Sakare by Chef M Jenny Clinta and her sister, M Steffi Clinta. Operating out of Jenny’s apartment, this eight-seater space has become a place for dessert lovers to partake in a delicious five-course dessert meals. “Sakare, or sugar, became sucre in French, and later sugar in English – that’s what we’re trying to showcase – how a simple ingredient connects us globally,” explains Jenny, who creates new desserts every month combining her Tamil-Andamanese heritage with her French culinary training.
Step into Surrealism
The story of Surrealist painter Salvador Dali and his wife Gala was rife with infidelities and drama, but full of character; this relationship between muse and artist has inspired a unique experiential bar on Museum Road: Dali and Gala. Featuring original art by one of the founders Siddharth Kerkar, stepping into the bar is like entering a Surrealist painting.
“We have six different rooms with different ideas – we have a mirror room with a giant mirror and eyes all around which move every 10 minutes; an ant and rooster room because Dali was obsessed with ants; we have a rose room, where the wall is covered in roses and moving butterflies; even six heads that keep blowing bubbles,” explains one of the founders, Vipin Raman.
Theatrical Time Travel
Step into this 100-year-old mansion in Cubbonpete and be transported to a charming lodge in newly independent India, featuring eccentric characters from around the country of the time. “The idea is that you walk into a story and walk out having had a five-course meal. We see people being immersed in this story because it’s happening around them –the actors are sitting amongst you, they’re asking you questions – it’s really sensorially (sic) immersive,” says Divya Rani KV, co-founder of PaChaak!, the curators of this experience. Each character introduces a dish special to them and connected to the place they are from. “These dishes aren’t something that you might make at home. The ingredients are slightly different, and there is a story to why certain ingredients are used,” explains co-founder Deepa Rani KV. In the city for the first time, the experience will be available till Jan 26.