RRR!!!

Cuisine - Andhra Style


Location - Sri Harsha Road, Mysore

They don’t have more than 40 items on their menu. They don’t have more than 20 tables in their restaurant. But they have more than 10 people waiting to find a table every single day, during lunch or dinner time!! An iconic restaurant of Mysore, the Andhra sensation and a blessing for the non vegetarians - RRR

 If you have dads or granddads who have frequented Mysore, ask them about non vegetarian restaurants here – I bet, the first restaurant they will talk about, is RRR. It has been around for many years and has done a fine job feeding the people of Mysore!

This review will not be a one - time account of the restaurant. It will be a review based on my collective experience of more than eight visits to this restaurant!

Walking in to this place, there is only ordinary interiors that one would notice. The place is small and accommodates about fifty people at a time.  Being an out-and-out Andhra restaurant, they serve the food on the banana leaf and have the chutney powder, the fried chillies and pickles on every Table.  For those of you who don’t know what the Chutney powder is – it is the powdered form of roasted daals with spices, used to make food spicy and tasty.  It is to be mixed with rice and savoured. A little ghee, the chutney powder and rice is a heavenly combination.  The fried chillies can again be combined with the rice and rasam or eaten raw, just to make it hot!

At RRR, vegetarians have limited options.  They, however, need not be disappointed because the veg. meal is splendid. It is the typical Andhra style meal. An unlimited amount of four different side dishes – curries and chutneys, rice, sambaar and rasam are served.  The other options for the veggies include biryani and noodles.  For a completely non vegetarian restaurant, the taste of these veg items are quite commendable.  

Now coming to the all important (atleast at RRR) non vegetarian dishes. The biryanis here are a must try. Although many places in Mysore give stiff competition to the RRR biryani, this still happens to be my favourite! The rice is flavoursome with well cooked chicken. Most Mysoreans are known to take ‘parcels’ of the chicken biryani from RRR. It marks the beginning of many of those all night parties!

 The chicken fry, chicken roast and chilli chicken are all a delight for the taste buds. Hot, spicy and luscious, these items can be your starters or become a part of your main course. The chilli chicken, however, can be slightly spicier. That’ll ensure all the Andhra guys give a thumbs up!  The sea food lovers can try the fish fry which is again very delicious.

 Of all the times I have been to this restaurant, the food has never disappointed me. One of the best things about this restaurant is the consistency with which the quality and taste is maintained. Also, the service here, is very quick. Sometimes I wish the waiters would smile a little more, but the speed with which they bring the food in, makes me forget all about it! Another delightful aspect of this place is the pricing. It guarantees a beam on my face at the end of the tasty dinner. Recently, the prices have been increased a little, but otherwise, a meal for two would cost approximately Rs. 200.

Many people avoid this place because of its size and the hustle, but if you do have the patience and the desire to taste some good Andhra food, go to RRR and I assure you, you will not be disappointed. Otherwise, take aways are always an option!

Mysore Foodies Ratings

Food – 3.75 buurps

Price – 3.5 buurps

Ambiance – 3 buurps

Service -  3.75 buurps

A warning that all of should heed (Especially the non Andhra crowd) – The food here is too hot to handle. Make sure you have trained your tongue enough before you walk in!!

Spicez Fusion!

Cuisine- Multi-Cuisine

Location-Hotel Roopa, 2724 C Bangalore-Nilgiri Road

The decorative mirrors and changing colours!

There was so much buzz about this new place- Spicez Fusion and few of our fans asked us to review the place.. so here you go the “Spicez Fusion” review  by the Mysore Foodies. By the way..I am Sam- the vegetarian foodie and Suma is the non-vegetarian foodie.

First thing first- You guys should know..this restaurant takes its name very seriously. It is THE place for spicy food!! We walked into the place and were amazed by what seemed like colourful crystal sheets. A moment and the colours on those decorative mirrors kept changing and all of us went … WOW!  The interiors are plush wooden classy brown and the tables are very neatly laid. The ambiance of the place is mesmerizing.  

Menu Snap Shot

We were quickly attended and a menu that said “Globe on platter” was handed over to us. Indochinese, Mexican, Thai, Indian… what not? The place had a reasonable number of dishes from all round the globe. The menu is well designed- with vegetarian food listed in green and non vegetarian food listed in red and description for all the food items.

I started with the tomato crème soup while Suma ordered the Tom Yum Soup which everybody seemed to be talking about! My soup was way too tangy. Little disappointed I looked at Suma who seemed lost in the zesty but tasty Tom Yum Soup- which was an excellent start for her dinner!

I ordered the peppered vegetables and Suma chose the Chicken Nuggets for starters.  Fifteen minutes later we witnessed what I would call food art! The Chicken nuggets could have been crispier but what the heck..we were too impressed by this….the presentation!

Food art!

 They say food is 30% how it’s presented. Spices Fusion definitely knows that!!

The peppered vegetables also tasted fine. The place boasted an interesting a long list of desserts and I decided to settle for a Veg. Sabzi Biriyani to save place for “Fried Ice Cream”  in my tummy.  Suma ordered a Chicken Shepard Pie which she said was cheesy and yummy!! The quantities for all the food items were sufficient for a meal for two.

The Veg. Sabzi Biriyani was a delight on my tongue. The right amount of spice and well cooked vegetables in the right quantity and combination. I guess the food rating can go little above four this time!

Finally my much awaited Fried Ice Cream arrived. One dig and I just knew what its ingredients were. It was a vanilla scoop layered with a slightly baked crisp pancake batter! Innovative.. my friends later told me it was very famous dish in the western world.  Thanks to Spicez Fusion for bringing that delicacy to namma Mysore!

Suma went classy and ordered a Crème Caramel which had a mild sweet taste which complimented the spicy dinner. While the taste was near perfection a warm layer of caramel would have added to its taste.

Creme Caramel

Other dish ordered was Moong Dal ka Halwa. I helped myself with generous two spoons and it was yuuuummmmmm!

The service was good. We had a waiter who constantly maintained a friendly smile on his face which is a rarity these days!! The food took little time to come to the table. But the perfection with which it arrived made the wait worthwhile. Of course the interesting decors kept us occupied.

The prices were around Rs.150 for the non-vegetarian items and around Rs.120 for the vegetarian dishes. A good meal for two with dessert would range about something close to Rs.400-450.

To sum up our experience I’d quote our friend Robin, who happened to be dining at the same place-“Authentic food! They prepare things like they should be prepared.”

Ratings by the Mysore Foodies:

Food- 4.10 Buuurps

Prices- 3.75 Buuurps

Ambiance- 4.0 Buuurps

Service- 3.75 Buuurps

Our recommendations for the place:  Tom yum soup for those with a taste for fiery food, Sabzi Biriyani and moong dal ka halwa for the dil se desi, Chicken Shepard Pie for the cheese chicken lovers and Fried Ice Cream for the experimenting foodies!!

PS: It makes good place for elegant romantic dinners ;) 

Parklane!!

Cuisine – Multi- cuisine

Location – Sri Harsha Road, Mysore

Pic Courtesy-Shamitha Raj

A favourite of the tourists in Mysore, a place which defines the diversity of this city- parklane bar and restaurant.  As you walk in to this restaurant, you will notice that it has a range of themes intertwined in it. On one hand there is the rustic, village backdrop, with lanterns, mud walls and paintings representing the rural life, on the other there are benches which one would typically see in an urban park . The sounds from the tabla and the shahnai beautifully play in the background and add to the multifariousness of the place. 

As we settled down at our table which was in a separate chamber, we looked around and mostly found tourists. It was interesting to note that the Indian setting and village theme captures the interests of the tourists so much. We could hardly find Indians! 

The separate chamber gave us our private space but we had difficulties reaching out to the waiters and manager. The music probably made it a tad bit more difficult to throw our voices outside. We had to wait a while before we could place the order. 

The menu here is elaborate with North Indian tandoors, Chinese noodles and American Chopsueys – both vegetarian and non vegetarian.  

We had ordered a vegetarian starter, the crispy vegetable, which arrived first. While I waited for the non vegetarian starter, hunger had gotten the better of me and I couldn’t help eating most of the crispy vegetables! It was a great start. It had just the right amount of crispiness and the taste of the various vegetables was evident. The non – vegetarian starter, kalmi kabab came in after that. The three pieces were fine looking and tasted good; however the outsides were slightly burnt.  It was difficult to enjoy it in the typical way I would.

The main course followed without much delay. Here again, the vegetarian food – the schezwan noodles and American Chopsuey were delightful. Sweet American Chopsuey did justice to the normal standards while, the spicy Schezwan noodles exceeded the expectations of our vegetarian foodie. She gave a big thumbs-up for both items. The non vegetarian kadai chicken with roti was commendable. The kadai chicken, however, could have done with a little less salt in it. However, a couple of lemon squeezes to the chicken made the taste much better!  For all those who swear by dessert to complete a meal, there is a good variety for you  – Ice creams, cakes and shakes.

The rates here are quite modest mostly ranging around Rs. 100 for an item. The quantity for all the items is large enough and the variety is good. A meal for two would cost about Rs250-Rs350.

So at Parklane, what do we recommend?? We recommend a good vegetarian meal with a starter like the crispy vegetables and some tasty noodles for main course.  

Ratings by the Mysore Foodies out of 5:

Food – 3.75 buurps

Price – 3.5 buurps

Ambience – 4 buurps

Parklane is a great place to hang out with a bunch of friends where you can spend a comfortable number of hours.

It is truly meant for those leisure dinners with family and friends when there is a lot of catching up to do! 

What do you have to say about Parklane? Do you love it, hate it or do you choose to ignore it? Tell us! Write to us or post your comments  and rate it below. Your feedback is valuable to us.

Authentic Chaats- Jwala!

Cuisine- Punjabi

Location- Sai Krupa Complex, No. 2820, 8^th cross Adi Pampa Road, V.V.Mohalla

Jwala is a very well know Punjabi Restaurant in Mysore, equally famous for the food, the service and the very amicable and warm owners Mrs. & Mr. Phokela.  A restaurant that assures you authentic Punjabi Khaana in the heritage city of south India, Mysore.

When we walked into Jwala for a Punjabi meal we got to know that the restaurant remains off on Mondays. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find its much awaited Authentic Chaats wing open. We ended up hogging mouth watering chaats of all kinds and forms-of course everything served with a Punjabi twist. Bhalle papri, soft Bhalles dipped in tangy chutney along with crispy papri is a must try of all those with a taste for chatpata food. The vigilantly trained and innovative chefs make sure they have something new every time you walk in. You will either be greeted with a board of Today’s Specials or you will be informed of a new entry on their menu. 

Something we found interesting here was the Chole Tikki. A splendid mix of the right spices – it is like a party on the plate. The extent to which Jwala goes in ensuring that we like what we eat is clearly understood by the generous serves of different chutneys- spicy or sweet or mint, along with these chaats, to make sure we can customize it as per our tastes.

Mysore houses many Pani puri wallas from thellas to chaat places. We being pani-puri fanatics have tried almost every possible place. But, the fresh mint flavoured pani served with the pani puri at Jwala gets our votes.

It is not just all chaats. There is something to pamper your sweet tooth too! They have Jalebis, Jamuns and the interesting and Yummy Kadai Doodh!!  Kadai Doodh is what we would call the Punjabi version of the Khova of South India. It is a rare find in a place like Mysore which makes it a must try!

Mysore foodies rating out of 5:

Food                      4.0 Buurps  

Tangy, Spicy, Khatta-meetha and Chatpata Mysore foodies think hands    down the taste of food here is unbeatable!

Price                      3.5 Buurps

The chaats at Jwala are priced in the range of Rs.25 which is little higher than standard rates for chaats around Mysore.

Ambiance            4.0 Buurps

Jwala gets brownie points for excellent space utilization.. interiors designed from the memories of Mr.Phokela’s past- the Pinewood from Shimla, Bamboo from Assam, Tent ceiling from his Army bringing up and lanterns from UP gives it a very exquisite look.

Guys take a break from the regular chaat places..visit this place and tell us what you think..  Authentic, hygienic, reasonably priced and tasty... what else can we want?

So.. what we finally have to say for Authetic Chaats Jwala- Oye Chak de Phatte!! 


Rate this restaurant below(out of 5)

Mysore Foodies

Mysore is a city that houses great diversity which is best seen in the kind of food it serves its people – locals, tourists and everyone else who comes here. You can spend anything from Rs.20 to Rs. 1000 for a tasty meal. You can choose to enjoy your meal mesmerised by the classical carnatic music playing in the background, or enjoy a crispy dosa on a bustling, noisy street. The options that Mysore offers us are listless. There are buffets, unlimited burger offers and restaurants peaking from every nook and corner of the city. What better place to satisfy our palates?

We call ourselves the Mysore Foodies. We are two friends who are passionate about food. Every week we explore different restaurants in Mysore and try out the myriad cuisines offered by this city. From the Mylaris to the Metropoles, economical lunches to pricy dinners, South Indian dosas to North Indian kebabs, Italian pastas to Tibetan momos - we try them all!!

Here we bring to you our reviews, criticisms, appreciations and suggestions. We will tell you about the price ranges, locations, what food to try and what not to, special offers and everything else you want to know about Mysore restaurants.

Watch this space for our first review. Don’t forget to follow us on facebook!