Newtowner’s list of 58 fave B'luru restaurants becomes a talking point

Food and restaurant recommendations are umpteen on social media but a newbie to Bengaluru has grabbed attention for saying it with bar graphs.

Last month, Sahil Khan tweeted bar graphs and a blog link that listed 58 of his favourite restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs he ate at and ordered from in the one year since he moved to Bengaluru from Pune. This was shortlisted from at least 123 outlets he tried across Koramangala, Indiranagar and Central Business District, and a few from areas like Cooke Town and Kammanahalli.

The tweet has logged 211 shares and 1,436 likes since Sahil posted it on September 4. The blog continues to get visitors — the count is about 11,000 now.

Not only newcomers to Bengaluru but also a few from the restaurant industry have taken notice. “One appreciated that it was a list of personal favourites and not a ‘Top 50’ listicle, which she feels, ignores the efforts other outlets put in. Another was disappointed to see a few names on the list but agreed that food is a subjective topic,” said the product designer, 33.

A few netizens would like more vegetarian-friendly places on his list — he primarily orders non-vegetarian food, so the list reflects likewise, he explained. Some yearned for more affordable options. Others want him to review old eateries.

Sahil said he wasn’t expecting such a response — he made “this internal document” public because his friends insisted, knowing that he isn’t a rookie.

Back in Pune, he used to run a blog-cum-newsletter called The Tossed Salad, where he would write weekend guides on new restaurants, hidden gems, and food festivals to try besides the latest on the arts and theatre scene.

He went on to be a part of an egg speciality restaurant, and a food recommendation startup. “So my friends and followers constantly ping me for food and restaurant recommendations,” he explained.

The reviews on his blog are snippety but touch upon food spanning Indian to Turkish and Bhutanese, and venue details like decor, ambience, speed of service and parking difficulties.

“When compared to Pune, Bengaluru has a huge variety of cuisines, especially Asian. But when it comes to fine dining or elevated dining, I found it lagging behind Mumbai from whatever I have sampled so far,” he said. He plans to post more such reviews going forward.

*Look up his list on sahilk.in/blog