Food

Art Blend Cafe – HSR Layout, Bangalore

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This has been a place in my wishlist for awhile.  But, I somehow never got an opportunity to visit this place until on a saturday which I decided to go there with fellow foodies. This was curtesy of #TownTrendz who are quite similar to zomato but they do have many new features including a video of the restaurant.  And as part of the video review, we taste various food and share the feedback live.
Location
In terms of location, if you are come from the HSR BDA complex Road side, you need to travel nearly 500m-1km before you get the the 18th cross left turn.  You need to travel 1km and you will find this sweet spot called ‘Art Blend Cafe’.  Though the board may not be clearly visible as you can see a small tree growing up there 🙂
Well, I am sure its easy to spot during the night time but day time, there is chance of missing it.  So, you just need to that extra careful not to miss it 🙂

 

First Looks
I was really glad I did that coz this special is something special where you can enjoy some good art while you eat some good food. When I say art, they do have quite a few of the art-creations by various Artists.  From what I heard from the owners, they also allow arts-made by others to be displayed and may be also be sold.  The art words there included – Canvas Paintings, Vase Paintings, Sketches and general many paintings.  Also there were quite a few books which means that you don’t need to go and relax, spend as much as time as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

Its time for me to write into the review of various items that I had during my visit to this place.
Welcome Drink
 
Hot Chocolate Drink
It was a relative cold day since morning so I decided to indulge into some hot drink and here I was with the Hot Chocolate.  As it was brought in, I found a thick portion of chocolate in the bottom, I think atleast 2-3 inches of it and then there was milk and then onto was some froth on which there were some nice designs done with chocolate sauce 🙂
I added sugar, stirred and took the first bit to find that it was a bit cold.  The waiter immediately took it inside on my request for reheating.  Now, the new items that came was hotter so I stirred it well and took the sip of it.

 

There was bit of disappointment as I was trying to compare it with Starbucks hot-chocolate and it did not match up it.  It was good but would not say that it was that good as well.  Would have wanted some whipped cream on top of the hot chocolate and also the milk should have been bit more thicker.  That would have helped me get some after taste after the drink goes inside 🙂

 

Starters
 
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Hola ! What a soup, I just enjoyed taking every bit of the soup.  The garlic bread pieces served along with it was also well done.  It was one the best cream of mushroom soup I have had in awhile. Infact, I shared some with my friend who are hardcore nv fans and they too enjoyed the flavour and thought it was really good.

 

Spinach Fritters
This was more like the 3rd item in the day at the restaurant.  This was basically a item that gave me a feel of cutlet which I initially saw it.  To describe it more, it was basically a mixture of Spinach, Cheese, Potatoes mashed and deep fried.  And it was served with some tomato based sauce.  The cutlet part might have been on the bland side but then the tomato sauce was simply amazing.  It was not a simple sauce coz it was done in-house so the chef there seems to have done something with the tomatoes as it had awesome flavour and I enjoyed taking every bit of it.  And yes, along with it, some nicely cut salad pieces were also served.

 

Salads
Haystack Salad (Veg)
This I hear was the signature dish of this place and so it was a must try item for me.  The food was served and the first thing I notice is that it seem like a haystack actually.  And then I look deep into the contents, there was this homemade of the chef made tortilla chips that were cut into small thin slices to may it look like a hay.  It was done really good and then the best part was the veggies tasted real good and were quite fresh.  There was not too much of dressing which really works very well for this salad and you get to enjoy the tastes of all the items inside it.

 

 

 

 

I have been writing about various items in this review but then I would like to say it was all possible coz there were good set of friends who were tasting the food along with me so well all could try more items.  Next was the time to write about the items taken for main-course and the deserts.
Main Course
Classic Veg Sizzler
This was one items which I was not completely impressed with.  There was this set of veggies to the left that was actually mixed in a tomato sauce which was similar to the sauce served with ‘Spinach Fritters’.  But still the amount of sauce seemed to be quite less. Would have wanted more of the sauce to be served.  This sizzler had 2 large portions each of rice and mashed potatoes.  I thought that both of them looked bland and larger in quantity.  I would have wanted some kind of sauce on these items and may be the quantity needs to be reduced.  And then there was this cut veggies boiled to right-most side.

 

 

This sizzler surely did not impress me that much.  I told the manager that there should have been cheese and that would have added so much more flavour.  Also some amount of sauce should be given along with the food. Apart from this, I think there should be a choice for people to choose french-fries or mashed potatoes like Kobes Sizzlers.
Pasta Lasagne
This was one of the best main courses I have had in awhile.  To describe the dish – Baked Pasta sheets layered with cheese and veggies in red tomato basil herb sauce.  It was one of the yummiest lasagne I have had in awhile.  Infact, I used to rate Lasagne of Little Italy to be good but this is one of the better ones I have had.  The layering of pasta and cheese was simply amazing  Also there were good amount of veggies which seemed to go along well with Tomato pesto sauce.  I was glad that many of my non-veg friend infact, enjoyed eating this pasta.  I think this for sure is a must try for all veggies visiting this place.

 

 

 

I guess the items we ordered kept increasing, next came the turn to go of the awesome deserts.  I have been waiting for this from a long time I suppose.  I tried 3 deserts including –
Deserts
Sizzling Chocolate Brownie with hot chocolate
I am reminded always of the Barista – choco brownie in this case or say the Kobez item.  But I this item is better than both of the other place I wrote coz the chocolate cake is made in-house and it taste yummy.  As it was brought it was smoking hot and then chocolate sauce is poured onto the cake. the only thing I wished was the smoke would not have kept coming through out the time I was eating 😉

 

Banana Chocolate Crepe
This was a well done crepe where this there was banana pieces inside of the crepe and then there was chocolate sauce that was put outside of the crepe.  This was an awesome desert as the banana inside with some sauce was sweet and went along well with crepe & chocolate sauce outside.
Mango Souffle
This was basically a desert with layers of mango on top and then cream below.  I think the flavouring on top was that of the Alphanso Mango. But this particular desert had all the taste coming from the mango on top which was percolating to the cream inside.  Overall it was tasting awesome 🙂

 

In terms of the deserts, I guess all of them were simply superb, its hard to say if one was better than the other.
Also while I was having some main course, ordered for some Mint Mojito.  I think this was a refreshing drink that went along with the food in the last.
My other friends tried few more drinks like – Kiwi & Watermelon Mojito.  I guess both were pretty good refreshers but I thought that the Kiwi was better as it was perfect sweetness 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall my experience at this place has been amazing.  Infact, I am quite surprised how I have missed coming to this place.  My rating for this place would be 4.0/5.  I would surely want to visit this place more often and surely if the consistency stay, my rating would also go up.  But as of now, there are a few suggestions I did give to the owners and they acknowledged it quite well.
My rating for other items includes –
Food – 4.0/5
Drinks – 4.0/5
Service – 4.25/5
Ambiance – 4.25/5
Food for 2 would easily cost between Rs.1000-1500 for a sumptuous afternoon meal.
I got a chance to do the video review of this place and the same is attached 🙂