Food

Caprese – Mediterranean Magic @Shangrila – Bangalore

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Shangrila hotel in Bangalore is one of the latest and the best looking star hotels in Bangalore.  And inside it are some wonderful restaurants, which give you a wow feeling when you go inside. Caprese is one such restaurant situated on the 16th floor with serves food Mediterranean style.  I got an opportunity to visit this place recently and felt really amazing coz its got a great combination of décor, food and service which is hard to find.  And also if you are interested in the cuisine that’s served in here, it’s hard to find many.  So, this restaurant is one of the distinguished.  Let me share my thoughts more in details.

 

Location
It’s not hard to locate Shangrila in Bangalore.  Its quite simple to tell anyone coz its right next to the famous ‘Mount Carmel College for girls’. 
 
But for those who are new to Bangalore and coming from the airport, well the easiest approach would be to take the left after Palace Grounds, along side the flyover.  Drive along for 1/2km and then take a right.  Shangrila appears to the right side. 
To reach to the restaurant, take the lift to the 16 floor and Caprese appears to the left side. 
Ambiance
This for sure has one of the best ambiance I have seen Bangalore.  Just for simple reasons that it is located on the 16th floor and that the view is simply spectacular.  You would be simply amazed to get such a beautiful view.  Infact, one of the angles, the ‘Vidhan Saudha (Parliament house in Bangalore)’ is visible. 

 

The seating is also exquisite coz they have 3 sections
–      1st is the normal dine in part which is inside the restaurant which some great chandeliers and seats.
–      2nd is the seating outside where you can enjoy the cool breeze of Bangalore along with food.
–      3rd is the private dining room which can accommodate 8-10 folks to have meals in private.
The seating is also amazingly comfortable which shows the effort that has gone into designing the interiors in this place.
Food
Caprese is a word that Italian origin and it denotes a salad of mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and fresh basil. 

 

The restaurant has a Chef who is actually Italian who is so much fun.  And once you have someone with his caliber giving direction, the found is bound to be awesome.  Some of the dishes made me feel like floating in heaven.  Let me share more of the experience to feel it for you in my words.

 

Assorted Bruschetta
There were 4 different assortments of bruschetta.  And I must say each and every one of them was so tasty.  I have seen places where they add the toppings on the garlic bread more for the taste.  
 
But here the toppings are great the veggies are quite fresh.  
 
The flavors added inside the topping would probably come from the use of Olives, Pepper and other ingredients.  All in all, a great dish to start having food.

 

Cheese Selection
Gorgonzola d.o.p. Italy
Fresh burrata, Italy
Provolone, d.o.p, Italy
Manchengo, Spain
This is one of the best sets of cheese I have eaten in ages.  I mean the cheese has a bit of the salty, creamy, yummy feeling.  The moment it goes into mouth, just melts.  And for sure the portions were quite big.  Though it means a lot of calories, they are simply irresistible.  If you look at the selection most of them are from Italy.  Provoloneand and Burrata were known to be but then the other 2 were new, but brilliantly flavoured. 
 
I heard Chef telling that some of the cheese takes 2-3 weeks to set before serving.  It reflects on the eminence of flavors out of the cheese when you bite and chew.

 

Vegetarian Mezze Platter
Hummus, mutabal, babaganoush, labneh with garlic muhammara – served cold Falafel, Kibbeh, cheese fatayer, Kibbeh potato – served Hot
This undoubtedly is one the most delicious and filling starter platter you will find.  And the food is served into nice ‘Black Natural Stone’. Infact, there are very few restaurant that serve food this way.  Infact, I recently read an article where they mentioned on people going back to ‘Stone Age’ coz food was now being served on stone.  Well, I am not sure about that going back in time but yes the food served is tastier and serving looks quite trendy.

 

 

There are 4 different dips that are served which include the Hummus, Mutabal, Babaganoush & labneh with garlic Muhammara.  Each of them can be enjoyed with the Pita bread.  The Falafel also goes along quite well with the food. 
 
Kibbeh and cheese fatayer were also brilliant.  Kibbeh potato was also quite tasty.  All in all it was wonderful to get taste of the items in 1 plate.  To add along with it, you could take some black-olives as well.

 

Coca de cebolla
Traditional catalan bread, caramelized onions, roast pepper and machego cheese
This is something wonderful that you get in restaurant serving Mediterranean / Italian restaurant.  There are varieties of breads that are served which are quite yummy.  And the focaccia bread for sure is quite soft and tasty.  The caramelized onion is some great additions.  
 
The only problem is that if you are not aware, it might happen that you would eat the complete bread and fill your stomach.  So, you got to be careful.  Otherwise the breads are freshly made in-house and taste good.

 

Pasta & Risotto

Risotto with mushrooms
Smoked scamorza cheese, deep fried capers and sun dried tomato
This was one of the most uniquely served risotto coz Chef made the risotto in front of us.  The ingredients where brought, mixed in front of us and also presented in a way to just blow you off.  The effort involved in making is unknown but when you see it for yourself, you appreciate the dish more.  In terms of presentation, I could see the way ‘Mushroom’ is added around the risotto.  And though it isn’t my personal favorite, I loved it when I had.

 

 

 

 

Pacheri Pasta
Filled with potato, capsicum and asparagus
Another dish and another new experience while dining.  In this case, the pasta is rounded and served on table.  The pasta has a gap in which the stuffing is put inside them.  And then there is asparagus cream put on top of the pasta.  The taste is simply amazing.  I am not sure if I have eaten it this way before.  But here was the opportunity to experience something like this being made live. 

 

 

 

 

 

Main Course
Crepe Florentine
Butter sauntered spinach and béchamel sauce

 

Crepe is more like the ‘dosa’ that we get down south.  But for sure it is something of a special dish that the Italians make.  There are spicy and sweet variants of the same.  And in this case the crepe had some wonderful items to go along like the spinach and sauces.  Every big of the dish I took was yum.  Though I had enough for the meal, I could not resist but finish the entire dish.

 

Desert
Liquid Nitrogen ice-cream
 
Well Shangrila is all about experience.  In this case, I got to experience the way ice-cream is made from liquid nitrogen.  
 
Otherwise, the substance is quite dangerous and can cause serious injuries to body.  Well, it is used here to make the ice-cream live.  And I must say that it was one of the best vanilla ice-cream I have had in ages.  The ice-creams were soft and creamy, and it just melts in mouth.

 

 
Along with that there were additional items like the ‘Chocolate Marble cake’, which went along with ice-cream.

 

There were also 2 flavors of Sorbet served on the same plate as the other items that I mentioned above.  It had a hint of ginger in it but the overall Sorbet was amazing to taste.

 

The most unique part of the desert was that all the items were served on a single plate and presented very well.  All credit goes to team of Chefs who worked on this concept and brought something wonderful.
Drinks
This is one of the essential ingredients of the meal.  And there were 3 different drinks that I had, each of which was amazing.

 

Shangrila or Sangria
This was the first drink served and yes it was simply amazing taste.  I enjoyed the drink thoroughly with the starters.

 

 

Whisky based cocktail
I was not very sure on the drink but yes it was a bit strong and fun to drink.  Its hard to finish in one gulp.  You need to take it along with the main course.

 

Mojito
This being my favorite drink was served in the best manner possible. Loved the way the crushed ice-creams was put and there was ample alcohol and not light.  Full marks to presentation and the drink itself.

 

Overall Experience
This was one of the most wonderful journey of food that I have had.  This is the 2ndrestaurant in Shangrila that I visited.  But its quite special coz the cuisine served is quite close to my heart, as I love Mediterranean food.  The team of Shangrila truly gives a wonderful experience and their tag line indicating ‘Shangrila Experience’ is quite apt.  My rating for this place would be 4.5/5.  Its almost near perfect but then I want to experience it more before rating it higher.

 

My rating in other departments, are also quite consistent with the overall rating.
Food – 4.5/5
Service – 4.5/5
Ambiance – 4.5/5
Drinks – 4.5/5

 

Food for 2 would cost anywhere between INR3000-5000 which I feel is quite less as you will get a great experience just sitting on the 16th floor, overlooking Bangalore and enjoying the experience.