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| Aira : 4343-1100 |
7, Bhuvanappa Layout, Hosur Road, opposite Forum Mall
HSR Layout |
| Daily noon-3.30pm and 6.30-11. |
| If ambience were everything, this lounge would be everyone’s new favourite destination, worth braving the traffic outside Forum (on the Hosur Road side) to get to. The sofas are extremely comfortable, with spongy Fabindia-type gold and pink cushions. The aura of warmth bestowed by the soft, yellow lighting from the wrought iron chandeliers and the lone candle on the table is offset only by the cool Bangalore breeze that, like an old friend, gushes in without invitation, and playfully swishes the long curtains about.
Alas, ambience isn’t everything, nor is the friendliness of the staff. Their warmth won’t pre-empt your having to send back the Gunner (Rs 150) and Bora Bora (Rs 150) mocktails if they are nothing but over-sweetened juices like ones made for a kid’s birthday party. Or having to repeat which brand of alcohol you’d prefer in your martini – a question that’s rarely asked twice.
The chilitini (Rs 300) made from Belvedere vodka, ginger, lemongrass and sour mix, will burn itself into your memory and will, most likely, be the highlight of the evening. Then there are the naughtily-named cocktails: the blue Viagra (Rs 325) and the tie-me-to-the-bar (Rs 350), with vodka, gin, rum, tequila, crème de banane, blue Curaçao, sour mix and lemonade. Off the food menu, the kababs are the safest bet. The non-vegetarian platter (Rs 795) has an assortment of meats, though they may not seem all that distinctive in flavour. And the energetic dance music that gets louder by 9pm halts all conversations across the table at reasonable volumes. On the whole, an evening at Aira could leave you with mixed feelings, but perhaps, you should give the ambience a second chance. Debaushree Dutta
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| Balaji Bar and Restaurant : No phone |
81, Hosur Main Road
Main Road |
| Daily 10.30am-11pm. |
| From a distance, this roadside stretch of Madiwala, directly opposite a new restaurant under construction called “The Little Libra”, resembles a display rack at a mall. The offices, shops, and business complexes are tightly packed in, with signage and display boards crammed next to each other, like they were inviting you to reach out, pick what you wanted, and drop them into your shopping cart, before moving on.
The boards spell out brightly-painted names such as “Al Hind”, “Geepee”, “Jabbar”, “Kaleshwari” and “Yesbee”, and you realise they’re all ticket sales counters for inter-state bus services. Somewhere in the middle of all these boards, you’ll find one that says, “Balaji”. Apart from Mas Restaurant on the corner, this is perhaps the only other chamber in the hive-like complex that doesn’t deal in travels.
You’ll find the little porch in front of Balaji packed with travellers lugging bags, suitcases and other travel accessories too, and, if you look closely, every one of them hanging about this entrance will have pet bottles in their hands. But that’s only because Balaji serves as the dive for that one last drink (or two) before you hit the road from here – safely too, as you wouldn’t expect to be driving out. And also, because they encourage you to get a “mix”, or mix your drink (standard rates apply for the booze) in pet bottles of aerated drinks, making it easier to carry around, rather than get measures poured out.
The few people without bags at the counter, downing measures out of plastic glasses, aren’t travelling light; they’re going nowhere. Joyce D’Souza |
| Amoeba Sports Bar : 4125-5467 |
B-22, The Leela Palace Hotel, old Airport Road
Airport Road |
| Daily 11.30am-11pm. |
| The main purpose for visiting Amoeba is to have a beer or two close at hand, to exult with after bowling a strike, or to try and drown oneself in after a succession of gutter balls (the bowling charges range from Rs 100 to Rs 150 per person depending on day and time of the week; they also have video games and air hockey tables).
The service is courteous, but most of their attention is focussed on the bowling alley. Etiquette be damned; the only way to catch the eye of a waiter is to wave frantically from left to right (or right to left, if you’re so inclined). That technique mastered, the evening proceeds without any major hiccups, except those resulting as a consequence of the flaming-red but highly addictive crispy chilly potatoes (Rs 113) and the chillies in the five-spice chicken (Rs 175). The whiskey cocktails include whiskey sour, Manhattan and old fashioned
(Rs 280 each), which make up for any slight deficiencies in taste by being generous with the alcoholic component. Arati Rao
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