riddlegirl

The place is a haven if you want to spend time eating some great food, guzzling down mugs of beer, catching up with some friends, even watching the Australian Open, all while listening to some really AWESOME music. I'm in love with the place!

The food is very good - from the Kerala beef fry, pork curry/fry, rice & Kerala ulli theeyal, kappa & fish curry, appam & chicken stew, shredded beef fry, fish fry, prawn & squid to the peanut masala and even the lime soda, everything is too good. On weekdays, they have executive meals, which is a steal at Rs.120 for a bowl of rice, rotis, dal, sambar, curd, fish fry, papad, salad and I don't remember what else. All the other dishes are priced between 50 to 150 for starters and around 200 for Kappa etc. A pint is only 90 bucks and mug, 50. You don't get any alcohol other than beer.

The last time I went, a 3 hour meal for 3 people including beers and starters was around 1100 bucks. The service is also really good.

If you are the kinds who miss homemade Mallu food and would settle for something quite below expectations, Kaayal is fine. The menu is good, they have a lot to offer, is even good for a lot of people who like Kerala food. But if you've eaten Kerala food from Kerala, Kaayal pales to nonexistence in comparison.

Even when all the curries, thoran, sambar, fish, chicken, beef and whatever else you've ordered is good, the way the boiled rice tastes is the bizarrest thing (I've stopped eating rice there and stick to idiappam/kappa, coz the rice has a disgusting taste and smell).

But the fish fry there is one of the best available in Bangalore. Doesn't have the fishy smell and is very well fried. The beef is not bad, fish curry is sometimes delightful and sometimes disappointing. Depends how lucky you are. The idiappam and chicken curry are good. The one thing that's always good and better than anywhere else in Kaayal is the butter milk.

Breakfast is easily the best thing here, lunch & dinner average. Not too expensive, goes very easy on the wallet.

Went there with a lot of expectation, 'coz a friend recommended (I didn't know the friend didn't know anything about oriental cooking). Right from the starters and soup to the rice, chicken something (don't even remember what I ate) and even the lime soda, everything was pretty much less than average. I couldn't wait to pay the bill and get out of there.

Compared to Kimlee and Chungs, which are nearby, this is slightly more pricey, and the food is bad compared to both.

Kimlee doesn't have fancy interiors or a fancy menu. But the food is simply awesome, excellent value for money.

There's no parking, you'll have to find parking on Double Road and walk to Kimlee. You'll get a table almost immediately, but going through the menu might take some time, coz they have a lot on the menu. The food is reasonably priced and one rice or noodles with side dish with suffice for 2 people with reasonable appetite. My favourites there are Moku Soup, Cantonese Noodles and Roast Chilli Pork. The roast chilli pork is one of the best in Bangalore. The lime soda is also made very well.

Also, the chef is friendly and appreciates requests from guests for anything special/extra. They also deliver and can be a regular haunt for chinese food freaks.