Review - Eatouts in Mangalore

With the City growing there are many new restaurants opening up every now and then. As a diehard foodie... I am always tempted to check out these places.. Here is a list of places which i have been a few are good, a few falling from good to bad...

Maharaja: This is a quite an old Mangalore’s restaurant which servers some quality and authentic Manglorean food. Try out the “Chicken Ghee Roast” which is one among the best dish I have eaten here. This was a regular place which I and my gang would go during the one year I spent in St. Aloysius campus near light house. Also the Non Veg Thali here is quite a classic here and must haves. The staff is quite mature and experienced so you can accept pretty good service and courtesy from them.

Rating:

Food: 8/10 (Loses on the Chinese dishes, as they are mediocre and not worth trying. As this place is more famous for its Mangalore Cuisine)

Ambience & Privacy: 5/10 (It’s a bar and restaurant so you will find a few uncles sipping there drinks & jeering at gals passing around.)

Hao-Ming: If you are in Mangalore & a diehard Chinese food lover, this is the place u have to go. Went here first with my dear & best friend and still remember the Shin-Min Rice & Pork in Black Chili we had that day. But off recent the quality here sucks... The last time one of my friends had been they served rotten and stinking prawns. This was confirmed by one more friend who had been there the same day. And another time a little earlier too i had a bad experience with food at this place. This place has gone from good to crap and is still progressing down the drains... Hope the review the quality soon and come back to being the best Chinese Resto in Mangalore.

Rating:

Food: 2/10 (Would have rated it a minimum 8, but after a past few experiences don’t find it worth going for quite some time in the future.)

Ambience & Privacy: 4/10 (The ambience is pretty much decent for a Chinese Resto, but the waiter keeps bugging you to finish your order and order more so that he gets you to vacate the table so the people in queue can occupy it.)

Sizzler Ranch: A place tucked in a small corner next to the MCC building along the MG Road in Mangalore. This is the place you have to visit if you are a foodie & a barbeque\sizzler fan. They serve some of the, best quality sizzlers in town. These taste not just heavenly but are good on the pockets too. Try out the Rack of Lamb, Chicken Satellite and Kids Special. A regular non-veg sizzler may cost you around 180-220 bucks which is a decent price as you have a lot of meat (atleast 250gms in a sizzler) on a rich bed of veggies & French fries. Total paisa wassoul as one sizzler can fill your stomach to the brim.

Rating:

Food: 9/10 (The best sizzlers I had till date, use fresh meat & proper sauces.)

Ambience & Privacy: 7/10 (Needs a little good ventilation as all the smoke from the sizzler tends to be indoors due to the lack of windows or exhaust fans and get a bit hotter inside. And as the sizzlers are freshly made the waiting time is around 15-20 Mins on Average, so it’s better to order food sometime in advance.)

A word of advice: They even serve traditional starters, it’s better not to go for it as it’s known for sizzlers eating anything other than a sizzler may not be worth. Also as the seating capacity is limited it’s better to book your table in advance on weekends.

Kismis: A new addition to Mangalore’s list of restaurants, situated in Bejai near Kadri Park. It’s got very good ambience, with a menu which is rich with food from all over the world and priced moderately. Have been there just once hence can’t comment much as the first experience was good, got to go a few more times to judge the overall quality of the place. Overall decent and ambient place for quite dinner with your family or romantic escape with your girlfriend. Try out the dish with Black Fungus (A type of flat mushroom).

Rating:

Food: 9/10 (The food was presented very well, and was tasty enough)

Ambience & Privacy: 8/10 (The ambience was good, but the DJ had only a few Arabic Instrumental Tracks, unless you a fan it gets pretty irritating.)

La Oasis: another new restaurant in which opened up in Pio Mall located at Jail Road. This is quite an expensive restaurant; the average price of a dish is above 100 INR. The quantity of food served was pretty good and inspite of being expensive the bill I got after having stomach full lunch was less than 500 INR.

Rating:

Food: 9/10 (A bit expensive, but decent quantity.)

Ambience & Privacy: 9.5/10 (Good Interiors, Good Music, Good Privacy overall I guess it deserve a 10, but as I have been here only once got to see how they maintain the place.)

Cherry Square: Looks like a small shack and a favorite among the young crowd, especially hot college babes; this place isn’t great for the food as its plain and mediocre. But if you want a place where you want to sit and chat with your friends or celebrate a birthday or some other great achievement of yours then this is the place you have to go, as people mind their own business & none bother to look at what you doing.

Rating:

Food: 4/10 (Nothing special, just the regular fare of a few Chinese dishes.)

Ambience & Privacy: 9.5/10 (Simple & Plain thatched roof with tables & chairs and a fish tank embedded in a wall.)

Royal Treat\Royal Durbar: Will summarize both of these restaurants as both are Mughlai\ Hyderabadi Cuisine restaurant, Royal Treat being a bit expensive and having better ambience than the other. Serves traditional Mughlai Dishes; including various kebabs & biryanis.

Rating:

Food: 8/10 (Both serve similar food which also taste the same, Royal Durbar being bit more cheap than Royal Treat)

Ambience & Privacy: 8/10 (Royal Treat) 7/10(Royal Durbar)

My College Days as an Alumnus of AIMIT- Aloysius Institute of Management and Technology

After my Bachelors in Computer Application and a brief stint in an IT company in Udupi, it dawned upon me that a Bachelors degree will lead me nowhere in the Job Market. So began my R ‘n’ D on the Master degree option I had. Realized very soon joining any Indian Ivy League colleges, as the IIT’s and NIT’s were good only in my dreams. As I dint have the enough determination and will power to study and crack the entrance exams. Hence began my search for a good college that wasn’t so tough to get admitted. And the best of all was St. Aloysius then affiliated to the Mangalore University and which was very soon going to be Autonomous. After completing the necessary admission formalities of writing a test and giving a face to face interview to the principal got admitted into the great institute sharing a Legacy of more than hundred years.

My first semester started on 4^th of August 2008. Saw the people with who I will be sharing the next 2 years of my college that day. Also got familiar with a few lectures and got to know the subjects handled by them. It was pretty difficult to have a first impression as it not just was my dream college but wanting to be a part of it was something I cherished from quite a long time. The classes then set in pace in the next few days and as it was autonomous institute more emphasis was given on continuous learning. Hence there were a lot of regular class tests which were conducted only after being postponed for more than a few times and weekly assignments. The universal rule of “Better Late than Never” implied at first submitting them late due to my laziness and in the final few months not submitting them at all. Lost a few marks due to this, but was nothing compared to the blissful lazy days of doing nothing. And thus ended my first year mostly which was spent devising ways on how to prepare for the class test in less than 30 minutes and yet scoring enough marks, writing technical papers and attending as many IT fests as possible to make up for the attendance shortage I had by getting grace attendance.

The campus moved to a nearby village called Beeri on the outskirts of Mangalore. This campus which was supposed to be of international repute was under construction when we first went there. Still recall the first day to the new campus and all the heavy activity around us the din created by the construction workers was nearly unbearable. And yet again got set to the regular routine of college life in an altogether new campus.

The most memorable moments spent in my college life would be the regular fights for the 2 extra piece of chicken in a plate of chicken chilly with 6 pieces shared among four of us. The quality of it was totally pathetic yet there was a hunger which was never satisfied. Getting an extra share would make each of us feel like a King or Queen with respect to my lunch mates and best buddies in college. Also the time spent around goofing in the campus with the gang was something that no money or wealth can get back. As many say College Life is the golden period even though I did enjoy it to the hilt, yet feel why the hilt wasn’t a little higher, so I would have had more fun than what I really did have.

The quality of education, the assistance and guidance which we got from our lectures was something that really helped most. The lectures professionalism in the class and the attitude outside the class is as a good friend something which I experienced for the very first time in total 17 years of my educational life. Truly the institute overall is a cut above the rest and the feeling of being an alumnus of such a institute makes me real proud. Even though many of my college mates totally disagree on this, being a die hard cynic is something that’s good for them as its not one of my quality I can never see the other side which a lot of other cynical and pessimists do. As I truly had the best days of my life in AIMIT and I really miss my college day.