Around the world in an hour and a half !

If you're an avid follower of the ritual of trying that new restaurant every week, then you'll agree with me on the following truth - eating out's changed since we were kids. Today its about the authenticity of the meal, the feel of the ambience and the overall dining experience. Does someone wanna tell me when we shifted focus away from the food ??!! It's appalling that mediocrity in flavour can be compromised with trivial things such as fancy china and comfortable chairs. Trying to get rid of this thought and not be too hard on our restaurant for tonight, one of my oldest friends in Bangalore, Uday and I walked into our dinner destination named "Phileas Hogg - Around the world in platey days". How did they do ? Read on for a bite of insight.

Lets start with the ambience. This dedication to the racy Jules Verne novel doesn't fall short in terms of novelty decor. We were greeted with a well-lit, easy going atmosphere adorned with wall paintings of Native America (including a spectacular wall-sized map), railway decor, half a ship , and many other subtle things that would even please the heavy traveler. The high ceilings and the fact that we were on the 4th floor, really helped keep it reasonably cool.

The menu is extensive, and tries to cover all possible popular cuisines including Japanese, Malay, Thai, Chinese, Italian, Mediterranean and also Mexican, American and Indian. I had already walked in with a game-plan. First it was essential to test the chef's ability to keep it simple, and then during the course of the meal, increase complexity and hope to God that he can keep up. We started out with the Hummus and Baba Ghanoush platter (Pastes of chickpea and eggplant served up with fresh Pita bread and olives) , The Veggie Yakitori (vegetarian version of this, ours contained tofu , mushrooms and broccoli) , and the Paneer Zafrani (saffron infused Paneer).

The platter was near perfect ! The hummus and baba ghanoush were seasoned to perfection and the pita was light and fluffy. Much more authentic than expected, it was very pleasing and wholesome and was a wonderful start to our meal. The paneer in the Paneer Zafrani was extremely soft (was probably made from full fat milk) and was seasoned and marinated beautifully. The Yakitori skewers were char-grilled to perfection and the ginger-infused soy sauce served as the ideal accompaniment - a very light appetizer which was high in flavour.

After a first course like that, we leisurely read through the extensive menu to make sure we order perfectly for our next course. As I mentioned earlier, this was the chef's turn to show us his real mettle. We finally settled on the Minestrone Soup, The Chelow Kababs with Saffron Risotto, The Chicken Stroganoff, and the Veggie Pizza Pie.

The Minestrone Soup contained very traditionally Italian vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, carrots and zucchini and was quite soothing.

The Pizza Pie was the absolute biggest disappointment of the evening. For those of you who don't know what a pizza pie is, it is supposed to look and behave like this. We on the other hand had what was basically liquid gooey ingredients sort-of filled into a doughy boat of a container. When we cut it open, it all oozed out and made it impossible to eat ! My talk with the chef about it later informed me that they were trying to make a pizza pie without an oven !!!! Yes you read that right - without an oven !!!!


Next came the Chelow Kababs, a speciality of Iran. This version was basically Paneer and zucchini marinated in what seemed like a kilogram of saffron and salt, served on a bed of - surprise surprise - saffron risotto. The saffron taste , originally supposed to be subtle, turned out to be the more than dominating flavour thereby diminishing all other flavours from the dish. Another very forgettable dish.




The Chicken Stroganoff was pleasant, with a midly flavoured cream sauce served with a quite bland, herbed rice. The chicken was tender and seemed to be marinated in some lime juice. The whole dish was garnished with pickled gherkins which were obviously out of a can - something which I don't always approve of. In any case, fresh or canned, pickled gherkins didn't seem the right garnish for something as light and subtly flavoured as Stroganoff. In any case, not a bad option if one feels like eating without wild experimentation.


To drink we had 2 cocktails, again with the hope of keeping it simple. My Lemon infused martini was dirty as I like it, but committed the criminal mistake of being flavoured with Vodka. For all those think martinis are traditionally flavoured with vodka, wake up and smell the Gin ! its always been Gin and I hope it stays that way ! Uday's Whiskey Sour on the other hand would rank up there with some of the best whiskey sours I've ever had - a truly perfect drink to accompany any meal.

To sum up, Phileas Hogg seemed to have got the basics right, but seemed to falter severely when it came to complex flavours. In retrospect, ordering 4-6 plates of starters and some drinks would still help you experience the diverse menu this new restaurant has to offer. The value for money aspect is so-so, which led to us spending close to INR 1700 for the above mentioned meal. Considering this restaurant is just a couple of months old, I feel that with the encouragement and constructive criticism from true-blue foodies like me, they are well on their way to being a favourite for many. I'd definitely recommend a visit at least once for the well stocked bar and elaborate menu.

They can be found at :
No.90/3,4th Floor, Opp Innovative Multiplex, Sarjapur Outer Ring Road, Marathahalli, Bangalore - 560037