Fat Fanny's Cafe - Bangalore

Had heard a lot about it and was excited to pay my first visit. Had spread equal anxiety among all my friends. We book a cab and just stop when Maps say - ' Your destination is on left'. Left! Where! Anyways, just get down. We roll our eyes literally 360 degrees. All four of us missed it in the first go among all the glow boards of random eateries. Finally one of us points out a small scribble on the first floor right above us reading - Fat Fanny's Cafe. Thud!!!! Is this what I was so excited about.

We decide to take the rickety stairs and enter through a little door into a room with dull blue walls, glass on one side. Old, broken and ancient as it can get. At your first glance you can notice table made out of sewing machines. Sitting made out of huge old wooden trunks with just a piece of cushion on it. A table with a very old table fan and one of those very first telephones at the very entrance. A TV with that black and white kind of screen and a plump tube behind, it times of chic flat screens. Do not know if it was all feeing good or bad, but every corner had an unusual surprise element. Then the portrait on the wall catches your eyes, a collage of the lady - 'Fanny'. No one seems to be in a rush. So the waiter comes leisurely to handover a menu. Trust me, it's such an awesome storybook in the InstaVintage tone. It reads how Mrs.Fanny used to spell her magic into dishes, how people used fall in love with her dishes and the place was dedicated to her culinary brilliance. Even the antique lamp on the wall is a piece of furniture right from Fanny's own sweet home.

I just cannot get enough of the place to come down to food. But yes as the place so was the food. We had ordered very common dishes to be safe on the first visit. But the flavors again did surprise us. We could not help but lick the bowl clean of the yummy sauce of pasta Arrabbiata. It definitely tasted deliciously different from a restaurant pasta. Sandwich was also so simple yet juicily stuffed. The rustic look was stark with an antique knife tearing into it right at its center. Even the french toast with caramelized fruits on top was just out of the world. Watermelon slushy and Ice tea were a perfect punch to beat a lazy summer afternoon. But try to stay away from a pumpkin based drink, a strange blend of pumpkin, chocolate and orange. Mrs. Fanny was very daring when it comes to experiment in her den, her kitchen. She has all rights, but you can safely ignore this one mishap.
The place had no AC as Mrs. Fanny did not have one in her times in Bangalore. Who knew global warming will reach a point when fan will no more be enough in Bengaluru. Still I am raring to go back again, this time for a not so common dish from Mrs. Fanny's times.

Taste buds yell: Pleasant discovery
Pocket shouts: Easy
When I look around: A different era
Waiting time for tummy: Worth a little given the exclusivity awaited

Keep Gorging!
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56 Bhoga Sweets - Bangalore

This post was long due and is going to be closest to my heart. When it comes to food, no doubt I am a die hard Odia. Like every Odia away from home, cravings do make their way intermittently and life was all about just living with it, till I stumbled onto '56 Bhoga Sweets' in Bangalore.
I really want to dedicate this post to one of the King of Sweets -' Chhenapoda'. Born and brought up in Odisha, no one will believe that this lip-smacking dessert was merely a chance discovery. A confectioner, Sudarshana Sahoo, just happened to add some sugar and seasoning to left over cheese and may be obeying some divine omen, happened to put it in a warm oven. Rest is history. So basically, Cheese is referred to as Chhena and Roasted Cheese as Poda. You would have definitely had roasted Yogurt, but little chances of roasted cheese, that to roasted till the outer crust becomes hard and crisp golden brown. All in all the dessert looks like a cake, and in ideal case the inner layers of Cheese are so soft that they literally melt away. you are suggested to dig a bite so you retain a thick head of outer crust and a long soft tail of soft inner cheese. No matter how hard I try, the flavors need to get a chance to burst in your mouth for you to know, what you have missed till now, if you are not from Odisha.

I think that Odisha specializes in a whole plethora of milk based desserts, Rasogolla not to be skipped among them. Though the battle is still on, over its inception, West Bengal or Odisha, if I am to be unbiased, I feel it has got to be Odisha. Any one who has tasted Bikalananda Kar Rasgolla all the way from Shalepur would agree with me. Another flagship brand is Pahala, which 56 Bhoga claims to replicate. I would say, it's hard to ditch someone who has experienced the original. But if this can be the closest you have access to in Bangalore, I am happy with it. Apart from this, you would also get to see Chhena jhili, Rasmalai (Odia Style) and so many other variants you can associate with if you have had some part of childhood spent in the Temple City. 

The place also serves range of other Odia snacks and meals, typically made with that authentic touch. Cannot brag about each of it, because rest of appreciation was more about my sentiment than an impartial verdict from a food-blogger. 

For me it was Nostalgia, for you it can be discovering whole range of 'Never had before' unique Indian Cheese journey. So Go for it!

Taste buds yell: Heaven never seen before!
Pocket shouts: Really easy
When I look around: Just a plain vanilla self-serve outlet
Waiting time for tummy: What's that!

Keep Gorging

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