WHEN FOOD GREETS ‘ALOHA’

Manipal has no dearth of restaurants but to find a gem of culinary delight hidden away from the din of the busy world is remarkable. Such a find is “Aloha” located on the first floor of MGM Arcade, Vidya Ratna Nagar, End Point Road. ‘Aloha’, a Hawaiian word, literally translates to hello and is a direct relation to how welcoming the place seems from the outside. The restaurant mainly serves delicious Italian and Continental food. It’s a place where students can go out after a hard day at college or on weekends to eat, relax and gossip with friends and have a wonderful time.

The ambience of the restaurant is quite soothing with yellowish orange painted walls and dim lighting. The music they play is pretty good too with the latest tracks to calm the nerves. And the aromas of the food being cooked are sure to get your mouth to water.

When we went there we weren’t sure of what to order as the menu has a plethora of dishes to choose from. For starters we ordered two mocktails, an Apple Eye and a Fruit Punch, which were really refreshing and had natural fruits and not the usual canned stuff. Then we had a Big Chef Pizza which had a crunchy pizza base baked to perfection and a layer of creamy cheese with delectable toppings. Among the other choices of pizza offered there were Big B, White Bed (different layers of cheese), and Capsico. My friend ordered a Veg Americana Burger which was served with French fries and coleslaw on the sides. The burger tasted awesome. Aloha has a whole range of Burgers from Aloha Special to Grilled UFO (which has tender, juicy and grilled pieces of chicken). They also serve Pasta with different types of sauces and accompaniments, having a Bolognese, Napolitano, Pesto or a Mornay; each of these tasting equally scrumptious.

Aloha has its own range of menu specialties which serve as main courses, the dish we tried was a Chicken Alexandria and Chicken Pepper Steak. The Chicken Alexandria was a good mix of sweet and savory flavors, served with fries and coleslaw and bread seasoned with herbs. The chicken was very tender, juicy and flavorful; it personified the phrase “melts in your mouth”. Pepper Steak was served with mashed potatoes and salad, just in the same style as they would serve it in an old Texas Ranch, and the taste of the sauce used to marinate the meat was quite authentic and genuine keeping to American Flavors. The steak had the aroma of burnt wood and herbs such as basil, thyme and oregano which simply made you hungrier even more. Aloha has a page full of specialties only for their restaurant such as Chicken Piquante, Chicken Prince and Red Alert. The vegetarian specials include Posse (a kind of potpourri of vegetables), Veg Hot Pot, and many more mouthwatering options.

                            

The deserts are damnation for the dieters, they give you large servings and which are so delicious that you’ll crave for more. Aloha has got what it takes to calm your sweet tooth. The ice-cream sundaes like Disney Land, Naughty Nutty and Moon and Stars topped with layers of chocolate, strawberry, fruits and other goodies give you the ultimate high on desert.

Aloha serves Chinese and Indian food also. Aloha  serves quality food also at affordable prices which is every college goer’s dream. The restaurant is a good place to chill out or even to go on dates, as it gives good fine dining experience. The serving is good and the staff serves with a smile. They also have option for food delivery and they deliver just outside MIT KC gate. Aloha is a comforting and welcoming place which gives you good food… do give this restaurant a try and believe me you will be hooked to it.

By: ALI AKBAR

Photography: TEJASVI BATRIA

Sub Edited by: Deep Venky

TIWARI CHAAT

Started by the Tiwari brothers two years back, the most famous chaat eatery in Manipal aka Tiwari chaat is quite a known name now for its savoury snacks. I visited the place 6 months ago, after a prolonged craving for some Indian Tangy Street Food. And since then, there has been no looking back.

Alright, first a bit about the shop. Tiwari chat basically has 3 outlets in Manipal; at Kamath Circle, near MIT gate and one opposite Venugopal Temple. The primary working hours is from 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm.The owner is Mr Vinod Kumar, who happens to originally belong to Bihar(No wonder the North Indian flavour is quite distinct).

Now coming to the menu. There is a nice blend of sweet dishes and lip smacking hot and spicy chaat here.While the samosa chaat continues to sell like hot cakes every day, the typical Bihari dish litti chokha takes the cake.Infact on some days, it doesn’t take more than 3 hours for its stock to finish. Pani puri here is an experience which needs to be indulged in, it simply cannot be shared, so get your own. It’s spicy with a kick to it.

 

Everything is home made. Service is very good and quick. The sweet dishes, though not famous, can be given a shot after a spicy meal.

Go eat here.  Each dish is a completely distinct feast for the eyes, and a party in your mouth.

RATING: 4/5

BY ANUBHAV SHRIVASTAVA

GOLI VADA PAV

WHERE: shop no 8.86(6) Vinayaka complex, nearCafé Coffee Day, Manipal

Timings: 11AM to 10 PM

Straight out of the heart of Maharashtra, Vada Pav has iconic status in India. However, vada pav is not exactly a low hanging fruit in southern part of India.But so far so good-the vada pavs have been selling like hot cakes for quite a while. The menu consists of around ten kinds of vada pavs, enough to fill the taste buds of a student returning from dull as ditch water lectures.

There is also makhai stuff with cheese for the cheese buffs. Thesabudanavada is also a welcome addition.

The place is neat and well maintained. The regular vada pav is the best bet here.Ironically,it’s also the cheapestproduct available. Don’t fall for the “cheese fingers” – it’s nothing but a dab of Amul cheese spread.

Everything is not hunky-dory though. Thevadas/tikkis are deep fried and stored. They are not fresh. Butsurprisingly, the taste doesn’t seem to accentuate on this fact. The prices are reasonable. The service is as quick as a dog can lick a dish.

Please do visit, it might not have great ambience, but it certainly is a top drawer when it comes to enjoying the desi Indian Burgers!!!

Rating -4/5

By Anubhav Shrivastava

 

RAJASTHANI MESS

Well before I start my review I would like to tell you that before joining MIT I was always sceptical about getting good ‘desi masaaledar’ north Indian food- the one you would usually get in the by lanes of ‘Chandnichowk’. Coming straight to the point, I don’t mince words when I say that this Rajasthani mess actually reminds of that ‘Chandnichowk’ food, which is so delicious that you have no option but to go to the loo pretty soon! This eatery is apt for hard core North Indian food lovers like me to satisfy our taste buds once in a week. The place has a very Earthy feel to it and it is inside a home which also gives it a ‘ghar ka khana’ feel (even better reason why you will love this place).
However I would like to warn you that this place is not for foodies who can’t tolerate spicy food because the food is as spicy as hell!
The menu is pretty simple. On Sundays they serve delicious mouth watering ‘daal baati’ (those from Rajasthan are obviously familiar with it) with ‘choorma’ (a sweet dish with dollops of ‘desi ghee’). The meal is extremely filling and you might feel like lazing around the full evening after having it. Although Rajasthan has much more to offer in their culinary delights, ‘daal baati choorma’ remains their signature dish.
On other days they have the usual typical food court ‘thali’ on which I really can’t comment because I have fallen in love with ‘daal baati choorma’ so much that I only visit this bistro on Sundays! The items are too many. If you want to taste all items you should not have anything before going there.
And let’s not talk about ambience because I don’t think anyone really cares about it while having home cooked food.
Food rating- 4/5
Cost- around 55 rupees per person
Location- Syndicate Circle
By,
Anubhav Srivastava

Basil, the petite cafe

Named after Basil, a herb used primarily in Italian cuisine, the little café on End Point Road, with its beautiful ambience, delivers food combining Italian delicacies with an Indian spice.

During dinner the previous weekend, on a friend’s birthday, some of my friends and I decided to pay a visit. The strikingly petite café greeted us, with my first reaction being impressed with the absolutely lovely lighting, especially on the upper floor and the full length glass windows.

On closer inspection it turns out the place is just a little too petite. In fact the entire upper floor was pretty much denied access to, being reserved in advance. So if any of your large group parties decide to visit, book the place in advance because getting adequate seating is a pain and the management is less than fond of joining tables and chairs in the café, which by my account of the events of the evening, is quite an attraction for semi-romantic
non-coffee-house dates.

With a menu comprising mainly of Mexican dishes, namely Fajitas, Tortillas, Burritos and others, being complete novices to Mexican cuisine, some of my friends and I took to experimentation, ordering a spicy chicken fajita, a basil roll, a mushroom soup, a quesadilla for me and 2 pastas just to be on the safe side (after all, it WAS supposed to be an Italian restaurant).

Taking into account the environment and setting, the prices were quite cheap, considering most of the dishes are more or less exquisite, at least by name. Fluency in the pronunciation of these Mexican dishes by the waiters, especially in Manipal, a place haunted by the curse of the destruction of any kind of vowels whatsoever; not a hint of the South Indian accent. Impressive.

Back to the food. Without doubt, the spicy chicken fajita and the Basil Roll were the best items we ordered. The mushroom soup unfortunately was bit of a disappointment, being more or less bland and tasteless, and eventually untouched. Both the fajita and the roll had a lovey spicy tang to them making it really worth the wait. The quesadilla on the other hand had a very delicious outer crust, but the filling seemed rather ethnic, which for some would suit their Indian palate. The pastas, by comparison, were almost dipped in cheese and simply melted in our mouths, bringing a smile to our lips.

Last but not the least. The highlight of the evening were the drinks. The strawberry punch and the Irish coffee. Simply brilliant. Remarkable and certainly deserves a visit from every person who thinks he’s had the best Oreo shake. You might change your mind.

Simple, delicious food and a pleasant evening guaranteed. Couldn’t ask for better.

Prateek Biswas, I year

Crumbz: Manipal’s latest infatuation

Caramel Cheese Cake

Chocolate pastry

Manipal’s has its latest infatuation here!
Aren’t we tired of whining that Manipal does not offer burgers like McDonalds, chicken like KFC and of course ‘home’ food. The one thing that Manipal needs has also been accomplished. That would be a decent dessert stop. Talking about desserts, I’m sure that most of us are tired of queuing up for pastries at food court, which are not even worth the wait.  Gladly, we are blessed with CRUMBZ.

A stunning and huge cafe located next to Black Cup, it offers the best pastries one could possibly have in Manipal. The place has exquisite interiors and a soothing ambiance, with comfortable seating.
The cafe’s always bustling with people because of its uniqueness and quality. It offers a wide range of pastries and snacks which are worth a try. Superb birthday cakes  at reasonable prices with ‘Party decoration’ offers are available. They have a good variety of tartlets and any randomly chosen pastry here tastes like heaven.
Try hitting this place at odd times to avoid rush and relish the comfy couches!
Manipal is talking about it high and higher! If you haven’t tried your taste buds here, what are you waiting for? 

Ambiance:4/5
On the pocket:4/5
Overall:4/5
Must try: Cheese cake,Chocolate pastry

THE FIRST BITE”S” OF MANIPAL

THE FIRST BITE”S” OF MANIPAL
It’s been exactly a year now in Manipal and exactly a year to the end of THE AILMENT called LOSING WEIGHT and the thing that is SHEARLY RESPONSIBLE for my ALL ROUND BELLY is MANIPAL FOOD LIFE…. Oh yeah I am not talking about the food court.
The first two weeks in Manipal were full of jogging, brisk walking and food court food including also skipping chicken every alternate (*SIGH*) and pitying myself as if I were a vegetarian!But it’s never too late to realize and I soon GOT THE ENLIGTENMENT from the most useful and the faithful part of my body: MY TUMMY.
Starting from the ICE LAND’S COCONT WATER to SAI PARIWAR’S NON-VEG PLATTER…. I didn’t leave anything for my tummy to regret.
Hence I dedicate this blog to all the people who like me and at the end of the year would like to calculate their result in terms of NUMBER OF RESTAURANTS and CUISINES tried rather than the stupid CGPA that the college gives.
FOOD CHAINS PRESENT IN AND AROUND MANIPAL

IN MANIPAL:
1. Domino’s
2. Subway
3. Café Coffee Day

IN MANGALORE:
1. KFC
2. Pizza Hut
3. Café Coffee Day
4. Domino’s

Manipal Specialties:
1. SAIBA
Located at Tiger Circle, near the ICICI bank, a nice family restaurant with decent food. Saiba is generally the first restaurant that every freshie visits either with his/her parents or with his/her new group of friends. Hence every odd semester initial weekends you generally find Saiba full of large groups like 10 people eating together not knowing the last bite they took was from the plate of the person sitting next to them. In my words Saiba has now evolved as THE SECOND food court with lesser space.
DELICIOUS DELICACIES (FOODIE’S FAVOURITES)
1. Dragon Chicken
2. Vanilla Milk Shake
3. Butter Chicken
4. Chicken Bharta
5. Paneer Tikka Butter Masala
6. Hot Chocolate Fudge

FOOD : 4/5
AMBIENCE : 2.5/5
On Pocket : Average (compare it metropolitan restaurant rates and its not even half the price)

2. SNACK SHACK

A shack to have snacks! Okay a PJ! Anyway a nice place to hang out with tasty snacks. Located at Tiger Circle itself, Snack Shack is the perfect place to fill your tummy when you want something not very heavy and just in a nick of time.
DELICIOUS DELICACIES (FOODIE”S FAVOURITES)
1. Potato Lovers
2. Death By Chocolate
3. Shakes (try any but skip banana chocolate! It will create PUKE in your body :P)
FOOD: 3.5/5
AMBIENCE: 3/5
ON POCKET: Average

3. ICE LAND
It is a fruit Shop cum Juice and Shake bar. Icee Land is located at the Tiger Circle right in front of State Bank ATM. Not a lot of people have tried the shake over here, hence Ice Land remains an undiscovered land of fresh juices and shakes. The favourite drink here is the coconut water which unlike other places is served in plastic glasses with ice and Coconut Malai floating. Ice Land is not very classy or expensive like the shake bars in the metropolitan cities, hence this reasonable Juice and Shake bar deserves a fair chance.

Enjoy these three places this weekend and The Foodie will be back again continuing the food trip all around the city of Manipal. Until then….
KEEP EATIN’….KEEP ENJOYIN’

The ‘Ananya’ Make Over

On my first day this semester, I was very pleasantly surprised to see a welcome (and much wanted) change in the Ananya Mess – the hostel mess that caters to the needs of the first years residing in Block I and 2. I very clearly remember my initial days in MIT when I had decided to get myself registered with this mess (well, it was a ‘mess’ indeed!) The only reason for doing so was its proximity.

The food used to be plain – home food, as you would call it. ‘Variety’ was a word, they had seemed unfamiliar with. The matter of concern for most was the hygiene. Complaints regarding it were not uncommon, especially during the odd semester. When the then Chief Warden, Col. Kulwant Singh, was approached, we got to hear in vain that since Ananya was a private mess MIT couldn’t do much about it.

Things seem to be different this academic year onwards – different and better. The Ananya mess has now been made a part of the MIT Food Court (which I guess many are yet to know). Now I can see people enjoying their food as opposed to the gloomy faces I used to find around me last year! There are absolutely no complaints about the hygiene anymore. The freshers find the food pretty good but I am sure, just like it always happens with the majority of students– they’ll soon get bugged up!

The major drawback is that now the mess has been made 100% vegetarian. So obviously, no one craving for non-veg food would ever want to join it. Secondly and most stupidly – they don’t provide snacks! You have to walk all the way to FC for the same, of course without having to pay any extra charge.

None the less, I so envy you, first year girls! You get to eat good food right outside your hostel rooms! Couldn’t all this have happened when I was staying in Block 1?

China Valley !

China valley has always been one of my favorites to eat out- Chinese being my favourite cuisine! I am sure there are a very few people who have never been there! It is located near the end point. It is an air conditioned restaurant offering Chinese food principally, whereas Thai and Indian cuisines are available too! They are extremely mouth-watering (though I personally hate the Thai here)!

Being a little expensive, it is not a place where you could go frequently but it surely deserves a “once in a week” visit. The beautiful dim lights and Chinese wall paintings add to the marvel of the place, but sometimes the music there is not pleasing! But the insanely delicious food compensates for it all! This place is usually full. But they always manage to have rooms for everyone. Apart from food, they also offer Sheesha at nominal price. The Hakka noodles, chicken in hot garlic sauce, lamb preparations, choupseys, soups, snacks are all fantastic.

A few problems with the place are- extremely slow service at times and fairly overpriced dishes. But the food is a delight and worth it! If you haven’t been here yet, you are missing out on something huge!

Note: Though they offer candlelight dinners which are pretty nice, do not bring your date here if you are trying to keep it a secret. The reason: You will surely bump into someone you know ! 😉
Location: Moderately convenient. Not too far !
On pocket: Average to high
Food:4/5
Ambience: 4/5

By: Ishali Tiwari 🙂

Flava’11-The bengali food fest

In मणिपाल , Food festival offers a great opportunity for people from different religions and different culture to enjoy the traditional delicacies that are cooked using the traditional recipes. These traditional recipes have been passed on from generations to generations.

This is the time to lick some BENGALI tasties..

So people,during the end of April ; begin your monsoon season by getting something lavishing, something you didn’t  earn in Manipal for a long time… for you and your friends which has  the mouth watering  recipes in it  like RASGOOLAS, PRAWNS n PAYASAM.

Yes you all will be flourished by more than these in the Bengali Food Fest ‘Flava’11‘ , to happen on :

27th April 2011. 🙂

6:00 PM onwards 🙂

@ KMC Greens  🙂

For example, get the taste of the exquisite Bengali cuisines like  ====>

Flava'11

• Fish [ Prawn and Bhetki ]
• Rasogolla
• Payasam  [ Special Bengali Kheer ]
• Lychee Lime
• Dum Aloo  and many more tasty dishes.

Special attraction: Mehendi

If you miss it … you miss the Aweness…

The event will be organised with the help of Kasturba Medical College (K.M.C) and Manipal University(M.U) Student council’s association.

For further quires you can contact :

Anurag- 90084117791

Siddhartha- 9008417792

Sujoy- 9538341822

Event sponsored by :

🙂  Royal hair art,manipal   🙂  Gift House  🙂  Snack Shack     🙂  Cafe 18   🙂  Hangyo hospitalities LTD.