Caperberry

It was Friday evening and it wasn't a special occasion or anything. In fact, it was merely because there was an IPL match at the Chinaswamy Stadium which means a normal 20-minute drive home would’ve taken us an hour. Besides, it’s been way too long since our last visit to Caperberry. It’s about time.

To my surprise, we got a table without making reservations beforehand. A fine-dining restaurant like this in New York or Bombay on a Friday night would have starved me until 10:30pm before they would offer us a table or even worse, turn me down because reservation is full for the next few weekends to come.

Instead of a proper 5-course French dinner, we decided to dine tapas-style.Here’s what we ate:


Alfonso Mango and Chicken Salad – So very refreshing and a great combination of sweet, tart and savory all on one plate. My friend Moots liked it so much she ordered another one.


Two different types of crostinis – The chorizo one had caramelized onions as a base, a nice compliment to the saltiness in the chorizo. The pesto chicken one I thought was just OK, maybe I’m getting a bit bored with the combination of chicken and pesto.


Fois Gras – I know, we're all over the place with our meal tonight, but here’s a rarity in Bangalore. I was apprehensive (because if you don’t cook the liver right, it becomes tough and powdery) but this one turned out pretty good. Served on slices of green apples and roasted tomatoes.


Calamari Rings with Aioli – What! Who ordered this? Why are we wasting stomach space on food you could find at Herbs & Spice or TGIF? To be fair, this has got to be one of the best calamari rings I’ve eaten in Bangalore. Perfectly seasoned (do I see a bit of rawa-style?) and fried, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.


Cooked in an actual patella.


Chorizo and Chicken Paella – Not on the menu anymore, but my dining mates were craving for pork that night, so they made this especially for us. The rice (I’m guessing Arborio) was tender, slightly al-dente and was nicely flavored by the capsicum, saffron and chorizo. Topped with a bit of aioli.


Chocolate Duet – I am going to be absolutely honest, I don’t like chocolate mousse, so I didn’t enjoy it much. The rest of my dining mates didn’t enjoy it either because they were making fun of it (they were very imaginative). The cakey side of the chocolate is also a so-so for me. There is a salty taste in the fudge which I found a bit overwhelming.


So French. Complimentary little pieces of petit four.

Overall Ratings:
Po's: 8.5/10
A's: 8.5/10

Would we return?
Certainly.

Address:
48/1, Ground Floor, The Estate, No 121,
Dickenson Road, Bangalore

Phone: +91 (0)80 2559 4567

Spanish Cookout at Caperberry

Last weekend, I attended the Spanish Cookout at Caperberry. I won't go in details here what we made (and ate) but you can read about it in on my other blog.

Instead I'll tell you about what Chef Abhijit Saha served us for lunch, after our cooking class, when we were already quite stuffed from eating all the tapas we just made.


Tapas that we had just learned how to cook. (L to R) Fried calamari, chicken al ajillo and minted lamb chops.


Mushroom Soup with almonds, quite the usual mushroom soup but nonetheless, very tasty.


Gazpacho. I actually liked this a lot and I usually don't like cold soups.


Pan-fried grouper with creamed spinach. The fillets were very moist and creamed spinach comparable to what you'd get in a restaurant in NYC.


Vegetarian entree option. I'm guessing grilled vegetables with creamed spinach.


Grilled chicken with tomato sauce. "A" liked it so much he finished the whole plate!


And for dessert, churroz with dark chocolate cream. Not quite like the ones served in a cafe in Madrid but so good by itself, it doesn't have to be compared. I loved the dark chocolate cream. If we had it our way, we would've poured the rest of the chocolate cream into my purse and taken it home.

More stories on the cooking class.