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Sunday lunch at Ente Keralam. Opened a few weeks ago, on Ulsoor Road - right next to Benjarong, which I also believe is theirs.
Four of us, had a fairly decent meal + soft drinks, bill came for just under Rs 1900.
Valet parking, ambience is decent, food was outstanding. I have eaten kerala / coastal cuisine at Sana-di-ge, Coastal Junction, South Indies and Coconut grove in the last few months. Ente Keralam to my mind was far better VFM. Of special note were the appams and the Syrian beef fry. Will definitely revisit.
Needed to wait for about 15 mts before we could get a table, there were several others I saw who had to wait longer. Probably worth reserving a table, especially on the weekends.

1) Had a horrible experience at Kamat located at the Reliance fuel pump on the Krishnagiri route (just before A2B). The food, cleanliness and the service were horrible. The Pongal I ordered looked like a pile of c*ap (literally), didnt even touch it; and the Idlies and Poori's tasted like prepared a week ago.

2) Went to Aangan in Bellandur for dinner yesterday and was utterly disappointed with the dishes. The fried-rice were tasting so-so, the babycorn crisp was bad and the chilly panneer curry was pathetic.

Visited Khansama (UB City) on saturday night. This is the place to visit if you're looking for authentic north indian/mughlai cuisine.

Some Good points:

Amazing ambiance
Well behaved waiters and floor managers
No sky rocket price tags
And ofcourse!! The best north indian food!!

Friends decided against visiting SSS, so visited Sultans of Spice instead. This is located exactly opposite Jyothi Niwas College in Koramagala. The food was excellent, as was the service. The rates are reasonable.

The only Kamat restaurant worth eating at is the Lokaruchi on the Blr-Mysore road. All the other Kamat restaurants are quite terrible actually.
There are 2 Kamats on the NH4 between Blr and Chirtadurga and they seem to be competing to see who can come up with the soggiest puris, stalest idlis and most insipid dosas. Unfortunately, the only other options are a Barista and Coffee day near Tumkur and their breakfast menu is a farce.

Roy, :)

I've written about a similar experience while on our trip to Goa. We visited the Kamapt Upchaar just before Karwar. The first time, it was dismal. Very disappointing. Soggy puris galore! But the second time round, we were mighty impressed. The food was fresh and tasty! I'm not even sure if I can recommend it to anyone! :p

Well Suhaas, since I'm quite a bit older than you, I could probably talk about the great dhabas that were around 'in my time' when all highways used to be 2 lanes, but that would make me a liar! Fact is, once you are out of city limits, its quite a challenge to find a good meal unless you're willing to settle for 'Oota'. Being a dedicated meat eater, I often skip lunch hoping that a great biriyani place will magically appear on the horizon, but of course it never does.
The situation is slightly better on the NH5 in Orissa (where I grew up) but cleanliness is a serious issue here.
For a while CCD at Dobbspet had biriyani on their menu.

I agree. It's quite sad. The dhabas aren't actually dhabas anymore. Or the sort of Dhabas we expect, at least! :D Our kind of dhabas are sprouting up inside the city now! :Shockked: For example, Bobby ka Dhaba that's situated next to the Gurudwara/Ulsoor Lake, 2 minutes from Trinity Circle!

Biriyani on the Menu at a Cafe Coffee Day outlet?! I wouldn't never even dare to try it! Yech! I remember I tried their 'dosas' and 'idlis' once. I will never make the same mistake again.

True - We had really good dhabas on the outskirts of Bangalore towards Nandi Hills. The food used to be fresh and tasty. All of them have now become Resturants. Guru Dhaba, Sanjay Dhaba etc .. i really miss them now. There are still some boards on the way but they arent dhabas any more . They are Multicuisine resturants ... not sure if they can be called so :Frustrati

Roy/Suhaas- CCD has apparently taken the feedback & improved the menu as well as quality ! The early attempts were a total disaster !

Chicken biriyani is back on the menu at the outlet next to the petrol bunk on the way to Tumkur, I had passed through the last weekend & noticed a customer polishing it off ! The snacks available are a better bet though. (samosas, burgers, puffs, pastries, etc)

Miss the old style dhabas, the Kamats are nothing but a joke :( Most of them are filthy, food is a gamble & prices not worth it at all. Service is also pathetic, seems they havent heard of customer satisfaction & are sittting smug with their "brand name"

I wish we had more CCD's on the highways, (though they need to work on improving the quality & taste) A few more Mcdonalds & KFC's too are required !!

Oh that's good to hear! clap: I wouldn't mind trying it out sometime then.

At least they've taken the feedback and criticism well and have improved. Like you said, there are several 'old timers' that sit smugly, pride and all, and don't bother to offer better customer satisfaction. I've been to Kamat several times. Each time left us with different verdicts. One day, it would be outstanding and on another, it would be an utter disaster!

The days when we will get to see McDonalds and KFCs on highways are still far away if you ask me. How much business will they make? Most of these restaurants cater to truckers and cabbies.

Let's hope India get's somethings like Autogrills. It's the European equivalent to Dhabas, only much cleaner and eons better! :)

Had been to Mysore with parents today.

Skipped all of Kamath's food joint, since we had taken an oath not to enter any kamath food joints for its filthy food.

Went to Adiga's just after Maddur.

The food was Horribly good :) Each and every item is tasty and well presented.

While returning, we hopped into Kamath Lokaruchi.

yelch.............! The TEA is suffering from identity crisis, the Maddur Vada was stale:Frustrati Never again in my life at this place, even if i am starving.

So you actually tried CCD idlis??? :eek: Must have been quite an ordeal.
The biriyani was not too bad though. OK I admit it. I tried it a couple of times. Whats a poor meat eater to do on our gastronomically challenged highways??

Pity. Their North Karnataka style meals with ragi/jowar based rotis and mudde used to be really good. What the hell is wrong with them. Will try out Adigas next time.

I used to visit these dhabas in my college days. But these were not really places that catered to the highway traveler. Food used to be pretty good.

I feel for you Pavan. I've been there.

Yes. The Idlis, per se, were not thaaat bad, but what killed it for us was the sambar. I don't think I should even speak about it. No word will ever be able to describe the horrible feeling that came over me when I tasted the idli-sambar combination at CCD. I regret it to this day! :Frustrati

for the mutton lovers, "Zeenath" at Mandya.

the first major junction you hit from bangalore to mysore in the starting of Mandya town, you will find a church and road opposite to the church. Take this road, around a KM on your left is this hotel.

The mutton dry fry is good.