La Marvella
on South End Circle

There was a time when one had to go all the way to the central business area at MG road and West Bangalore for a fine dining experience. But a burgeoning IT boom has seen South Bangalore boasting of good dining experiences and the latest in the bouquet of upscale hotels is the opening of La Marvella, a unit of SVG Hotels is the latest in the bouquet of upscale hotels of Bangalore that was recently opened near South End circle, known for the lush lung spaces, hospitals, schools, colleges and tree lined roads. The location, design, aesthetics, functionality, amenities and the novelty is what defines this new entrant.

 

With technology at the finger tips enabled through an Ipod that controls the lights, TV, door, curtains etc. this 5 star business Boutique hotel is the ultimate in sheer style and luxury. Understanding that the room is a personal space, the pampering is to be experienced in its suites and rooms. All the staff seemed gung ho to be working here. The Executive house keeper, Jayashree Nagaraj even at 9.30 pm was full of beans telling me with justifiable pride that the uniforms are in house. Vice president Venu Rao sees this as opportunity of creating a brand that will make waves in South Bengaluru and this project is very special for him.

On the 6th floor is the fine dining NW frontier Saarangi with attached bar, to be opened shortly that will have live instrumental music that hopes to bring alive the rich tradition of royalty. One can look forward to the best of Nawabi/Awadhi cuisine here with lots of creative inputs. The fiery red and earthy browns of the seating area complement the grandeur of the royalty peering down from the niches on the walls.

The Golden Oak is the multi cuisine restaurant where one can work up an appetite for the best in Indian, Continental and Chinese fare. The lunch is buffet (Rs350/=) but one can go back for the dinner a la carte fare. The action in the live kitchen additionally gives one a glimpse of the oven fresh pizzas being made as the Italians do.

At the Cocoon, the new age Lounge Bar, the space comes alive with psychedelic colours and music which could be rock, retro, pop, techno, house on specified days of the week. It's a place where one can either dance away the blues on the wooden dancing floor that was fairly big or relax and enjoy the bartender's special which is what we did with the choicest of decent DJ music that could have been a little livelier.

I started the evening with the Cosmopolitan, a known Vodka based drink with cranberry and lime juice. It was a bit sweet and could have done with a little less of cranberry. Otherwise the drink was well done. My young friend Roshan had the Mojito, a Rum based drink puddled with mint leaves, lime chunks and a lot of crushed ice. This is a drink for those of the star sign of Pisces that has to be sipped leisurely. The gimlet is gin mixed with fresh lime juice, lime cordial and crushed ice. It was done strong and neat. Lemon dip was a vodka based shooter that had orange liqueur in it. Since I could not down it at one shot I finished in two sips and was extremely nice. It was quite a treat for a wet evening and this fiery drink could do away with the tame name. The senior bartender with rich experience of working abroad recommends the fourth degree (gin vermouth) and the international Long island Iced tea cocktail, the shooters being Brain Damage and Kamakaza. The signature drink is Cocoon Paradise of strawberry crush, and cranberry juice. Try it out.

The Vegetarian starters at the Cocoon comprised a platter of Kebabs. With the monsoon setting in, it's just right to tuck into piping hot Kebabs and surprisingly all of them were light. The Tandoori vegetables of Broccoli, capsicum and paneer were lightly marinated and spiced that teamed well with the drinks. The Hara-Bhara Kebab was potato roundels with greens that is an old favourite, well marinated. It's a melt in the mouth. Paneer Tikka Kebab was a little bland and could do with a slightly spicier marination as Paneer by itself is tasteless. The Fried Wanton was crisp and the stuffing of vegetables well cooked. It tasted great with the chilly sauce dip.

For the Non Vegetarian starters Roshan fell in love with the Fish Hariyali Kebab swearing that it's the Best of Kebab tasted so far. Not a fishy fan he opined that it was perfectly spiced (herbal) where all the flavours could be felt. The fish was delicately cooked and marinated in ground mustard seeds that simply burst bringing out the slight tangy and bitter feel of the mustard. Full marks to the chef. The Mutton Sheekh Kebab was very succulent and delicious though the dish could have done away with the frill of the chilly powder sprinkled on it. The Chicken Malai Kebab is a favourite as the chicken was well cooked and tender and luscious and the malai is what makes it a tad bland for those who are fond of their spices. It was fantastic with the mint dip. We said enough of the starters with a small helping of the chef's in-house Pepperoni Pizza. The non veg portion had a lot of basil giving it a touch of the Italian authenticity similar to the taste of the one I had in Rome. The base was thin and very soft, unlike the one in the veg pizza. Can be ordered on its own too.

Moving on to the Main Course at the Golden Oak we had Diwani Handi which was Mixed Vegetable Subzi in subtle gravy that had freshly ground whole masalas and not powdered giving it more flavour and tastes though it did not make us Deewani. Paneer Labadar was bland. Harvi chicken cooked Moghlai style cradled in spicy gravy had a completely new taste to it. The gravy of fresh coriander was innovative though I could not make out the other ingredients. It was very good. I wonder if the same could be tried with boneless chicken. Kashmiri chilly is used in the cooking and not the regular one.

Saarangi Dal, a creation of the chef was better than the ubiquitous dal makhni. This was black lentil with gram dhal and served conveniently in vatis (cups). The black lentil was just perfect.
Moti pulav had a lot of beans, carrot, cauliflorets and paneer pieces spiced with jeera and cinnamon. It would have tasted well with raitha as we had it with the dal.
The Bread basket was a mix of Roti, Naan, Kulcha, Kastha Roti and Paranthas in small sizes that will not go waste.

For Dessert we could not go beyond Ros Gulla that tasted very nice but was a little difficult to cut into which was a mistake as we should have had it desi ishtyle plopped in one piece.
And the Pyaaz Ki Kheer: This was easily the signature dish and it wasn't even too sweet without even the slightest hint of onion. It was boiled thoroughly till the pungency is lost and in the last boil adding the milk, rabri, green pista and kesar. This is good indulgence and a true winner for which we doff our plates to Vikram Singh from Delhi brimming with ideas and rearing to go with varied experience of working in the best of star hotels abroad. The South Italian and Mexican section will be opened in two months time says he. Keep watching as lots of things will unfold in the days to come.

On this sweet note we had a lovely evening and I sign out.
On a scale of 5
Ambience 4
Service 4
Food 3.75
Feel good factor 4
Where #1, 14th Cross, South end Circle, 2nd Block Jayanagar.
91 80 4333 5333/ 5334
How much Rs 1500/- without drinks

Kebabs come with a little history too. It was a feature on the dining tables of Jehangir and Akbar. The kebabs have to be rotated frequently on the skewer at the right temperature and basted with ghee at intervals so that it does not dry out and the meat kebabs have to correctly marinated.

Not many know that Karnataka had a tradition of brewing indigenous alcohols and liquors from rice, ragi, and fruits like grapes, mangoes, jackfruit, coconut and dates. A dosage of ghee and herbal concoction prevented the "one too many feeling" and a hang over. Prayers were given to Madhudevate and mother Earth. According to a KPMG India report the Indian market for alcohol is projected at a 10% increase over the next five years. CHEERS!!!!!!!!!

Watch the High Tech I Touch Technology and the Interview with the Vice President Mr. Venu Rao on News 9.

 

Githa U Badikillaya