A Terra-fic 7 PM Breakfast

As I was finishing up at work today , I thought to myself – what better way to inaugurate my culinary journey than with a breakfast place? Unfortunately the timing was about 10 hours off! Nonetheless, I signed out and was on my way !!So let me start off by letting you in on a secret - I wasn't originally supposed to go to this place tonight, but rather to another place nearby called "Hole in the wall". As my companion and I journeyed along the bustling, traffic-stricken streets of Koramangala, we reached this place only to notice that they're closed on Mondays!! Irritated and now much hungrier, we started to walk along to our eventual dinner destination - Cafe Terra. Read on for a bite of insight.

First impressions first : it seemed unassuming and laid back, with barely the capacity to seat 20 people. There's a nice shelf up against one wall where there are stacks of all kinds of comics - at first sight I could see Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, MAD and most of the usual suspects. There's a huge framed award on the wall by a popular food review portal calling it "Lazy and laid back" and I thought to myself - there are certainly no pretences about this place in its homeliness and low-frills. Now all I hoped was that the food would be robust and no-nonsense as well.

The menu is basic, and tries to do the simple things right. There is an array of starters, sides, entrees, omeletes, pastas, sandwiches and muffins - very characteristic of a well stocked breakfast place. We started out with the Lemon Coriander Soup, The aloo tikkis, and the Egg and Cheese sandwich. The soup was the first to arrive. It was a clear soup with a coriander leaf- flavoured broth infused with lemon along with tiny pieces of really soft cottage cheese. All the ingredients came together quite nicely, although I would have liked it a lot thicker thereby giving it more body. I highly recommend this soup for the warm beginning that most people look for in a meal.

The Aloo Tikkis were a pleasant surprise. Most places aren't able to make it as crispy as they're supposed to be, but these guys seem to have nailed it. They were flavoured with coarsely minced, perfectly seasoned potatoes infused with chilli flakes and pan-grilled to crispy perfection.

The Egg and Cheese sandwich was quite forgettable, as it was merely finely chopped up boiled eggs with grilled cheese on bread. I found myself lacking some tangy barbecue sauce in the middle. The sandwich came with potato wafers that weren't quite fresh and left a lot to be desired.

Although reasonably full at this point, we decided to order up some more. Next on the list were the Brussels waffles with vanilla ice cream, The Sri Lankan curry with rice, and grilled potatoes and tomatoes.

Lets start with the waffles. Ideally waffles are supposed to be eaten right out of the waffle iron. These were really fluffy and well done, but were not as hot as I would have liked. However, the melting vanilla ice cream and heavenly maple syrup did perfect justice to it.

The Sri Lankan curry was a pleasant surprise. A very flavourful, spicy, green coloured concoction of mixed veggies served with fresh steamed rice. The veggies were cooked perfectly and complemented the rice perfectly. This curry was very wholesome and seems the ideal choice for 2 people who want to share a quick lunch.

The grilled potatoes and tomatoes arrived at the very end and proved to nicely complement all the food. The potatoes and tomatoes were boiled and then char-grilled and lightly seasoned. Quite the wholesome accompaniment, if I may say so.

To accompany the whole meal, we chose the classic Lemon Ice tea which was quite lovely, and a glass of their Blue Lagoon - highly forgettable and tasted unusually like toothpaste. I guess these guys aren't kidding when they say they provide the true breakfast experience !!

Finally after we couldn't eat another bite, we decided to call it a night and were astounded to see a ridiculously low bill of INR 495 !! A total value for money, robust meal no doubt ! In my opinion, some minor revisions to the menu, and a few more tables could really have this place using up its full potential. Definitely worth a visit at least once, for the low frills, wholesome, high value for money experience.