Lemon tea at the Queen of England’s caterer

Arriving in Bangalore (arrghh, I mean Bengaluru) for an office shoot, I met up with a colleague of mine post the shoot. It was a free evening for both of us and we got together to have a boys night out. Although Ashwin was working with me in our Mumbai office, he’s originally from Bangalore (ok, I give up) and was back home on a 2 week leave. Considering he sees enough of the office folk in Mumbai on a daily basis it was kind of him to don the guide’s hat and show me the sights of Bangalore.

The benefit of having a night out on a Monday in Bangalore is that the streets, pubs and restaurants are devoid of crowds and relatively empty compared to Fridays, Saturdays and Wednesdays (Wednesday is a major ‘getting rid of midweek blues’ day in Bangalore). As Ashwin explained, it’s a matter of simple logic. Wednesday is generally a slow day for pubs, so ‘ladies night’ was introduced, where the women get in for free, get a free drink, or other incentives for women are on offer. Now if the ladies come, the men will follow. Bangalorean pub owners are laughing all the way to the bank on the basis of this simple logic.

We began the evening with a light dinner at Truffles, a small eatery off St. Marks road. My chicken burger was a tad rubbery and I spent the better part of the meal eyeing Ashwin’s pasta arrabiata, wishing I’d ordered the same. We then sped off on Ashwin’s Yamaha bike to an old style café. The orange neon signing proudly proclaimed this british era café to be Parade café, but my guide tells me that this “irani café with a colonial hangover” is more famously known as Koshy’s. Started in 1940, the café shifted to its current location in 1952-53. Besides a mix of bangaloreans who frequent it, Koshy’s has also played host to dignitaries like Former PMs Nehru, Indira Gandhi and even Queen Elizabeth II of England.

The haunt of bangalore’s creative junta, the tables have a mix of youngsters and graying men eating, chatting and indulging in fervent discussions. 2 tables from us was the celebrated cartoonist Ponnappa, digging into his biryani. We order 2 cups of the famous lemon tea. Ashwin insists on serving it in ‘the correct way’, which involves him putting 2 scoops of sugar in the tea strainer and squeezing half a lemon on it. He then proceeds to pour the hot tea over it. Watching the sugar melt, I can’t help but think that this is actually a better way to pour tea rather than adding sugar after pouring the tea and then stirring.

Here’s where we decided to let Ashwin’s trusted speedy demon rest, while we transversed the neighbourhood on foot.

A tip for non-indians, any road that bears the name of the father of the nation (Mahatma Gandhi) is definitely in the centre of the commercial district of that particular city/town. So that gives you some idea of the location of Koshy’s and the other restaurants, given that M. G. Road is 100 feet away. Besides numerous pubs and restaurants, the neighbourhood also houses the offices of Times of India, Deccan Herald (leading English dailies) and Times now, a news channel.

Depending on your music preference you can choose your watering hole, whether its old classic rock, Jazz or Blues.

But a must visit is Peco’s (Brigade road), allegedly the oldest pub in Bangalore. Don’t let the peeling wallpaint and filthy exterior fool you. Peco’s is the place to hang out at. Posters of groups from the yesteryears adorn the walls and a metallic spiral staircase serves as a connector between the 2 levels and terrace that Peco’s is spread over. But the crown jewel is the wall behind the DJ console, which has shelves filled with music cassettes. In an age of CDs and mp3 Pecos still offers you music from cassettes. A heady mix of the past and the present.