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This is one of the coolest Bistro Café that has come up in the Koramangala area. The place comes as a breadth of fresh in the Koramangala area which is filled with plenty of eateries. There plenty of places where you can get to have meals but isn’t all chilled out as the Hungry Hippie. It’s a place we can go with friends and family but feel relaxed. The reason behind this is due to the fact the folks who started this place executed the vision of serving good food at a great place. A place that is spacious, with lots of natural air and most importantly artistic. It was a great opportunity to visit a place like this. I know that it’s to going to be hard putting it all in words but then I will attempt as part my review of this place.
Background
Koramangala is filled with plenty of eateries as I mentioned earlier. And if I am not wrong the places are generally crowded and to meet the needs, restaurant owners try squeezing in places. Or they find places that are small but then want to accommodate more people. While everyone was busy searching for the best of places, ‘Hungry Hippie’ found a place on the terrace of a home. A place which would usually not have any covering. The owners seem to have put a plan to convert this wonderful terrace in the neighbourhood to a café. And when the idea is as good, then it’s easy for people to engage in bringing up this place.
Another aspect which is surely the highlight of this place is the ‘Hookah’. It surely was a trend sometime back but then due to licensing/permission issue, not many folks have it in their cafes. Even if they are there, all are quite contemporary. This is a place where you get some wonderful ‘Hookah’ and instead of the traditional ‘Sheeshas’, they seem to have created something out of the disposable ‘Drink Bottles’. They converted the Shivas Regal, Jack Daniel and other bottles into a ‘Sheesha’. I know that it is quite hard but if you are determined, it’s not hard to come up with a solution. After 4-6 months of researched, they succeeded in creating the ‘Sheesha’ which are completely away from contemporary and for sure it will be loved by one and all.
Ambiance
One of the most important aspect of this place for sure is the ambiance and the way everything is setup. Let me share thought on few things I observed.
- A pretty large and elaborate sitting place which is spaced out quite well.
- There are traditional cane sofas with paintings which are hard to find nowadays. Some modern touch has been added by painting them with colours.
- A nice sign board with a saying at the entrance of ‘Hungry Hippie’.
- Wonderful painting on its wall which was done by 2 artists. The painting as I heard was completed in 11-12hrs time. And when you look at it, you would think that it would take minimum 3-5 days to complete. But the fact is the artist was so good and committed that, it was done in no time.
- Separate section from where the ‘Hookah’ are served. When you go there you see the wonderful ‘Sheeshas’.
- There is nice lighting in the centre of the café which has multiple colours. It’s more of a modern art with lighting which for sure is quite attractive.
- The name itself is quite unique and make you get a cool feeling.
- ‘Hall of fame’ as you go to restroom with some wonderful quotes.
This is a place has many more things which is surely hard to describe. The best would be to go there and experiencing it for yourself.
Location
It is extremely important to give the directions to this place because this is so much clutter around in this area. Let me give directions from the Koramangala Sony World junction. As you drive along to the St. Johns Hospital side, you will need take right just before ‘Sukh Sagar’, which is the road the leads to JNC. Cross one of the entrance of JNC and the drive along for few hundred meters. Spot the nice logo of ‘Hungry Hippie – Man with the beard’ to the left. It is actually next to the ‘Chai Point’ and ‘Empire’.
There is small passage and then take the lift to the 4thfloor.
Food
I sure to have quite a few of my thoughts on the food I got to taste. But before I share more details, there are a few interesting things about the restaurant.
Concept: Chilled out space for the gypsy soul, serving Hookahs! Fuel: no fuss Bistro Food!
Cuisine: serving all day breakfast (pancakes, sausages, eggs and waffles), Italian (along with thin crust pizzas), Thai fusion, Tex Amex, American, Mexican, Fast Food- burgers, paninis, wraps. Shakes and Fusion desserts
Now is the time to write about some of the wonderful food that I tasted at this place.
Starters
They have some wonderful choices for folks who come in and say that I like to only enjoy starters. Some of the starters that are there for the offering includes – Thai mac and cheese Balls, Chilly Paneer, Chilly Chicken, Cilantro Chicken Skewers, Mezzeh Platter, Trippy Triangles: Spicy Chicken, Cheese Nuts.
Among these my favourite were the Chilly Paneer and Thai mac & cheese balls.
Both of them were quite in itself and tasted wonderful. These are items which once taken, you would not want to stop until finish the entire place.
Mezzeh Platter is also quite awesome coz it’s from the Mediterranean.
Items served as part of this platter are quite good and it can easily be shared by 2-3 people.
Sides
These are items which can take along with the starters or the main course. ‘Mash Potatoes’ is one such item which is classified as starter. It was well made and I enjoyed it.
All Day Breakfast
French Toast, something that is more Indian than being called French is available throughout the day. The presentation of this items is quite good, it’s got large cubes of bread and egg layer on top. This for sure would be loved and enjoyed by friends and family.
Main Course / Other Items
There are so many options to choose from at this place that you would find it hard to pick. I guess that is a nice way to let people keep coming back to try out various items.
Panini: Garlic and Mushroom Panini
This is a very well made ‘Panini’ where in the bread is quite soft and also the mushrooms tasted yum.
Pizza: Veg Hippie Pizza
Thin crust pizza that tasted great by just looking at it. The wonderful veggies topped with cheese is a great combination loved by most of us.
Thai red curry with rice
Café is a place which is popularly known for bread items.
But then getting ‘Thai Red Curry’ also is quite good coz there might be folks who may just want to try some rice. The curry for sure is quite awesome.
Drinks
It is quite critical for a place to not just serve good food but also have a great drink. We usually love taking a lot of dry items, but when we also add a drink it enhances the flavours. I tried Orange Lemonade and Fresh Lime Sodaalong with my friends. Among these ‘Orange’ lemonade is what I would recommend to be taken along with the food.
Dessert
There are so many food and drink options, but then ideally the dinner/lunch would never be complete without some wonderful deserts. There are some wonderful items like – Blueberry panna cotta and Hippie Canopywhich are super tasty.
I would recommend these deserts to anyone visiting this place.
Hookah
The place is not just popular for Food, Drinks and Deserts, but also good with ‘Hookah’.
They proudly call themselves as ‘Hookah’ bar. There are some wonderful ways the ‘Sheeshas’ are made. The flavours are also quite unique.
There are many flavours and among all the ‘Signature Flavours’ includes – In DIY Baba bottles: Kodai, Woodstock.
Apart from these there are many more of the common flavours like – Apple, Lemon, Grape and many others.
Overall Experience
It was one of the best experience I have had in a long time at a café. With the company of some good friends and good food, it was all the more fun. I would recommend one and all looking for a cool place, different from the ordinary in the Koramangala to go and visit ‘Hungry Hippie’. I am sure that anyone entering this would be pleasantly surprised with the ambiance coz it is quite spaciously & casual. I would currently rate this place at 4.0/5 for the experience. For sure this place has a potential to be a popular hotspot.
My rating in other departments would be as follows.
Food – 4.0/5
Service – 4.0/5
Ambiance – 4.0/5
Drinks – 4.0/5
Food for 2 at this place would come anywhere between INR750-1500. I would ideally recommend people going there to set aside 2hrs to be able to enjoy the experience.
With Foodies – Debolina, Tapash, Naveen, Deepa, Arjun and Pallavi.
I was so stunned for this information A good spot to invest energy with partners and just smoke a hookah to visit a whitemistcafe in a bangalore.
Hookah Lounge and Restaurant Bangalore