Drinks better than food at street-style eatery

KA01 in Ibis City Centre is dedicated to serving popular street food from across India.

Located on the 8th floor of the building, the venue gives us a glimpse of some of the city’s tallest skyscrapers.

Their cocktails are named
after Bengaluru localities.
(Above) Shantinagar.

The dhaba-themed seating and decor are simple, nothing extravagant. The kitchen -- a parked colourful caravan -- catches your eye. The restaurant also has an open bar serving concoctions named after famous Bengaluru areas.

Claimed to be a tribute to famous street food joints in the country, the menu offers a long list of beverages while the food items are limited. We tried to taste as many dishes as we can in bite-sized portions.

We were served the first round of dishes -- ‘Chana Jor Garam’, ‘Ghee Roast Arbi’, ‘Dahi ke Pithore’, ‘Prawn Thokku’, ‘Chicken Chintamani’ and ‘Naga Tangdi Kebab’ -- while we sipped on our cocktails ‘RT Nagar’ and ‘Jayanagar’.

A fusion of Kingfisher Premium lager and Limca, ‘Jayanagar’ impressed us, beer enthusiasts, and ‘RT Nagar’ is just another fruity gin-based cocktail.

Coming to the food, as a vegetarian, my options were limited. None of the three vegetarian dishes made me ask for more. ‘Chana Jor Garam’ is the one I liked the most, and ‘Dahi ke Pithore’ was good compared to the arbi.

My non-vegetarian friend seemed quite satisfied with the meat dishes. ‘Prawn Thokku’ is the dish he liked the best for its balance of spices. He also appreciated the presentation more than the dishes itself.

For the next round of drinks, I ordered ‘Shantinagar’ for its contents -- filter coffee and vodka. My friend ordered ‘KR Puram’, a popsicle made of white rum, passion fruit an strawberry.

‘Shantinagar’ turned out to be much better than I expected. I enjoyed the overpowering coffee flavour and the strong after-taste of vodka.

The frozen cocktail was also fun to have.

‘Panner ke Sule’ and ‘Galouti Pakwan’ are the dishes we tried next.

Rajasthani-style paneer served with dal makhani and naan, ‘Paneer ke Sule’ was not so satisfying for me. Although I liked the dal makhani, the rubbery texture of the main ingredient paneer didn’t let me savour the dish thoroughly.

The dessert platter.

The beef-dish ‘Galouti Pakwan’ was well-cooked and okay-ish.

Though we were full, we couldn’t say no to the desserts. We ordered the dessert platter, which comprised mawa cake, flourless chocolate cake and malai kulfi, with roasted pineapple, caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream as accompaniments.

Mawa cake won us over. Soft on the inside and glazed on the outside, the cake had the right tinge of sweetness and tasted divine with caramel sauce. The malai kulfi left me feeling nostalgic for the 5-rupee kulfi we used to get a few years ago, and the flourless chocolate cake was the worst dessert on the platter.

I recommend KA01 for their cocktails. Their ‘street style dishes’ didn’t impress me as much as the beverages and desserts did. The food menu could use a couple more dishes; a few vegetarian dishes would help.

KA01 is located at Ibis Bengaluru City Center, Richmond Road.