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!

Coffee and conversation / courtesy: Barista!

Barista requires a review and an emotional one according to me.

I generously award it 4 stars cause it has tugged my heartstrings...with memroies that were rays of sunshine in dark delhi days and also with occasional extra helping of choclate sauce in my regular cafe' mochas and smiles that assured recognition.
I have been a fan of coffe since the day i walked past the shop selling freshly grounded cofee powder..my nose still sniffs around when im in the same area hoping to catch a whiff of that familiar headiness.
Although i must say at this point that Barista was one of the places i detested before full blown consumerism took me by arm and all.. * I now greedily lap up the offerings with no shame!!*
Barista, greenpark/new delhi was one of the more discreet cofee shops, blocked out of view by the delhi metro constructions..and it was inside where i waited amidst many other regulars who knew my frequency of vists and schedules as well as i knewtheirs.....i waited amidst Mr.X/beady eyed watched people from the corner of his eye while he pretended to read or the grizzly bear look alike who seemed like he had given up everything for a life of chess...and the shortcropped hair / pretty girl who everyone turned to look at atleast once when she enetered.
We usually went about our business real quick...entered..after we served our little waiting period, which we both did by turn, we would go order our regulars, dilly dally and pull weird faces around the counter while we decided what muffin we would gorge on(it turned out to be blueberry each time)......and would go and proceed to the important matters of the week such as work, bitching about bosses/ clients/ relationships / life / auto drivers (for R ) / bus rides( i lived a meagre life in comparison to R who lived in delhi and made me believe that she was in Manhattan).

What i liked best was that hey would replace the order if we fussed about it even and it probably helped that we were regulars and R had quite a smile!

I also like thier chicken chettinad sandwiches which are nice and spicy and fresh and recently discovered in bangalore, their smoked chichken sandwiches which is a meat extravangaza for a snack food *yummeh* I loved that they had a small section outside with tables and umbrellas and the otherwise unlikely Barista paraphernelia which made me feel a little less like i was sitting in a small coffe shop of a proabbaly large chain!!

Me and R loved it all 3 times a week we frequented it! and they loved it that i proabbly lavishly spent a huge part of my small stipend on them 3 times a week for a long long time!