Food

Hard Rock Cafe – Be Edgy Go Veggie Festival @ Bangalore

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Hard Rock Café is one of the most popular destination in Bangalore and across the world.  It has always been known to be a place for chilling out with friends over a drink and have some wonderful American Food.  The place is also known for its live music played by some of the upcoming bands.  Also it is known for its wonderful ambiance, services and food for meat-lovers.  It is also a place which hosts some of the wonderful celebrations like the latest – Jack Daniels 150 Years celebration. Keeping up the tradition, this month being the Vegetarian awareness month, HRC has introduced all a special veg menu (#BeEdgyGoVeggie).  The International Vegetarian Union encourages individuals worldwide to spread the word and experience the vegetarian lifestyle. What began as World Vegetarian Day has blossomed into a month-long celebration of vegetarianism that involves educational events and festivities.  I got an opportunity to be part of one such meet that happened recently.  Let me share more of my experience.
Ambiance
Hardrock café is quite popular known to most of us in Bangalore.  Also I feel that a lot of foreigners visiting the city would have explored this place.  The place is quite chilled out and makes people come over again and again.
  • There are 2 sections to the HRC, one to the left being the complete dining place.  And the other to the right is the place where most of the promotional events, performance happens.

     

  • Collectables from variable musicians are on display inside the HRC.  There are items from Aerosmith, Eric Clapton and many others.
  • Seats are quite comfortable, including chairs, sofas with cushions and small stools with cushions.  Guests can choose wherever they feel comfortable.

     

  • There is a huge performance area where most of the time there would a performance happening by upcoming bands.
  • Music at the place is quite good and people enjoy being here.
  • There is valet parking service which is wonderful coz there isn’t a parking in front or below HRC.  The staff are always friendly and ready to help.

 

The place for sure is a must visit if anyone has not visited the same.

 

Location
HRC is situated on the Lavelle Road and MG Road Junction.  If you are to start from the MG Road – Brigade Road junction, you will need to drive towards Chinnaswamy stadium.  The next signal is the Anil Kumble Circle signal where you need to take left.  But the road is a 1 way, you will need drive along until Cubbon Road signal, drive around and come.

 

Food
The idea of vegetarian food at HRC delighted me, as I am personally a vegetarian.  Some of the times I feel that there are limited options for vegetarians at HRC.  I am glad that this entire month, there will be plenty of choices in terms of the food.
Some of the offering in terms of the vegetarian’s food includes.
 
Starters
The food experience at HRC has to always start with starters.  And we got a platter of Vegetable starters that included – Triangular Samosas, Spiced French Fries, Bruschetta and Potato nuggets.

Along with that 4 different creams were given – Chilly tomato sauce, Cheese, Mayonnaise and Mint.

 

 
Each and every starter was simply superb and I enjoyed all of them thoroughly.  You really need to be careful when you start eating starters coz it can easily fill your stomach. 

Its best shared with 2-3 people.

 
Salads
They have introduced 2 new salads which are yummy and surely can act as great appetizer.
 
Feta & Fig Salad – fresh figs, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and arugula all lightly tossed and served with raspberry chipotle vinaigrette.

 

 
Pear Salad – freshly sliced pears, arugula, cherry tomatoes, bleu cheese crumbles and caramelized walnuts served with a pear dressing on the side

 

Both salads I tasted were quite good and I just loved them.  But for sure the ‘Feta & Fig Salad’ was the more interesting option coz I love fig.
Burgers
This for sure has been one of the popular offering at HRC.  Infact, recently there was a burger fest where they introduced burger belonging to different countries.  Each of them were unique in itself in terms of taste and flavors.  Some of the veg options have been introduced as part of the Veg Menu.
 
La Confidential – Double Decker Crispy Vegetable patty and crusty potato patty, layered with tangy spiced chipotle mayo, served with smoky dip.
Mexican Quesadilla Veg Burger – Smooth fusion burger of polenta, spices, sweet corn, beans and I vegetables flavoured with tangy enchiladas salsa, Swiss cheese, avocado and nachos straws.
 
Black Bean & Quinoa Burger – a house-made patty of quinoa, black beans, breadcrumbs, red peppers, red onions, garlic, cumin, cheddar, egg and hot sauce, served on a toasted bun and topped with arugula, tomato and a tofu lime and garlic crema.
 
Though all of them are good, Mexican Quesadilla Veg Burger is my favorite coz the flavors of Mexican food are close to that of Indian.  It is also a little spicy which is again something that I like.
 
Wraps
There are plenty of veg options and now to add more to the available choices there are wraps as well.  Tried 2 of them.
 
Grilled Ratatouille Wrap–grilled ratatouille vegetables topped with Sirach mayonnaise, olive oil and baby arugula, served in a seasoned grilled flour tortilla with a side salad.
 
Seared Corn and Green Bean Wrap – grilled green beans topped with roasted corn, black beans, pico de gallo, rice and a spiced yogurt, served in a seasoned grilled flour tortilla with a side salad.
This is again a tough call to make in terms of what I liked coz both were good to taste. It’s to put any over the other.

 

 
Drinks
The idea of having all Veg also included serving cocktails that had vegetable or fruit juices added inside.  Some of the drinks I tried including.
  • Beet Orange & Ginger Juice

     

  • Red Velvet

     

  • Green Mineral Power

     

  • Spotted LIT

     

  • Wasabi Cucumber Reviver

     

  • Jalapeno Ice Tea

     

  • Lemon Grass Mojito

     

  • Sangria

     

 

Among these 1st, 2nd and 4th had boot-root juices as the main ingredient so the color is violet.  And my favorite among all of these Jalapeno Ice Tea coz it had the right balance of alcohol with spices introduced.  Infact, among most of the bloggers, this was the favorite.
 
Red Velvet is something quite unique which I have surely not come across.  A good attempt at making something different.
Ideally you should get a sip of all drink or maybe they should be able to give shots of all so you can try.

 

 

 

 
Overall Experience
I relished having the vegetarian food at HRC.  It was the first time where I did not have to worry if I was eating a non-vegetarian food as all of them were veg.  The staff were also quite courteous in sharing info about each of the dishes.  Manager of the HRC also was there with us helping us and also taking feedback which is quite essential to know before introducing the same menu too public.
This menu is going to be available during the entire month and I would recommend the same to each one of the you. 
 
I rate my current experience at 4.0/5 which includes – Food, Drinks, Ambiance and Service.
 
Duration of event – ALL through the month of Octorber’16.
 
Food for 2 at this place would come anywhere between INR1500-2000 for someone with good appetite.