B Flat Bar !

Yesterday was a fun evening.

first there a was a little bit of a frantic hunt for a birthday gift. I tried to put myself into pri's beautiful flats (& sometimes big heels) and think of what i would like to give myself. I thought for a long time & looked at everything with a "is this a good enough gift?!!" eye but then i was too distracted....by the clothes at M&S, the new collection at Forever new and the lovely smells of Body shop. (No one else I know can make papaya smell so divine)

SIGH:) Shooopping!

well, finally we had the gifts in hand and made a mad dash to the party venue.....not without making a quick pit stop at KFC.

we chomped our hearts out & glugged bottles of water.It was a slow motion moment, i tell you.crispy fried chicken with melting cheese & warm bread. This heap of carbs is so sinfully delicious...its hard to look away.(I can almost hear my Gym instructor shrieking into my ear)

Bflat is on 100 ft road, HAL.

It has a nice lounge setting.A bar, running the length of the place, a small performance area which features upcoming artists & bands or doubles up as the screen area for the never ending cricket dramas in India. I have been there on more than one occasion but haven't really gone past 2 drinks or a kakori kabab at max.However, you'll need some solid daylight & some non alcoholic beverages to see the cracks in the wall and the missing doorknobs (if there are any).

so pri's birthday gathering was a good way to get to know it better.

Like any party scene, the drinks were pouring in......glasses being cleared & replaced in quick succession....food that disappeared fast enough & lots of hugs & voices in the air. we had everything from the innocent sounding mango bloom to the very spicy bloody Mary.

The starters were in good portions.The pork sweet & chewy.The beef spicy & the chicken favourful & light enough to have even some vegetarians dig into it.

The main course was forgettable.The chicken was very bland.very uni-dimensional in flavour & the rice didn't contribute much either.The Long island ice tea despite being pretty & potent didn't grab too many marks.

maybe a couple of drinks later.....it doesn't even matter......

Plans were made, accusations were thrown around,trips to the loo happened, glasses were clinked & forks were strewn around like soldiers in a battered battlefield, bye s were said & hugs exchanged.......what a lovely way of living it up right in the middle of the week!

ICE & SPICE

Events and other fun things to do in Bangalore are scarce.

There is always the option of going out to catch a bite or the winner option of a "house party" but much else is not a regular option for Bangalore.

So after dissecting all the online forums and Time-Out Bangalore in an attempt to land myself onto an interesting Friday "welcome the weekend" celebration, the only thing R & i did find was a play.

So we reached the venue only to realize it was a kid's event and most of the audience was a parent to one of the performers.we quickly found our way out & drove half way across the city.

All the while brainstorming and throwing our options in the air.

After juggling around a bit with the possibilities, we grudgingly settled on Ice &Spice.

The place is on St.marks road nestled between a Kebab place & A wine shop.Both the kebab place & the wine shop are so bursting with the florescent light of a million tube lights that the yellow lit ice & spice with a small as small can be cafe set up is charming.the black interiors and the Quiet graphics of the board is comforting.

The desserts are marvelous and we sampled some on R's birthday when we dug into a delish cake coated with an almost burnt brown shade of chocolate.

We stepped in only to savour some cool AC atmosphere but we didn't realize that the cacophony of the 15 yr olds out with their monthly pocket money were bringing down the roof with their decibel levels.I now know that saying "My ex" is mandatory every 4 sentences & that a certain Aman likes his women to dominate him"(or something like that! )

I ordered a pasta Arrabiata.It was tangy & creamy.Served in a wide white dish with 2 slices of garlic bread. I am very delighted when i see the waiters walk up to me with geneous portions and it certain makes me feels like i'm in a hospitable place....but the warm sticky summer feeling, the noise & the heavy pasta was just the mix of things to make me feel like running out of the place.

R ordered a chicken gravy with some rice.The gravy again was thick & creamy and very white.

High on fat..low on flavour!

However, the place is perfect for a quick bite and the portions are abundant & the staff friendly.

The prices very pleasing and the place is alright.If you can brave through the teeny-bopper crowd, you have yourself a nice time!