Movenpick is one of the hotels in Bangalore which has become synonymous to conducting Food Festivals in town.  The last one that I attended for the ‘Pizza Fest’ at Café Mezzaluna.  And now, it was time for something local and belonging to the same state at ‘My Place’ restaurant.  It is called the ‘Karnataka Food Festival’ bringing together the flavours from various regions within Karnataka.  Some of the well-known cuisines that are famous here includes – Mangalorean, North Karnataka, Coorgi and Bangalore/Mysore.  The taste, flavours and spices also vary depending on the regions. It is apt that this theme was chosen for the latest fest @ Movenpick.

Chef Reymond and his team curated a wonderful set of items for the festival.  There were also changes planned in the items being served to the guests daily.  This shows the kind of research that has gone to bringing up a festival.  As part of the inauguration of the culinary trail to authentic food of Namma Karnataka, they invited following chief guests from Sandalwood including – Hatrick Hero Shivrajkumar, Indrajeet Lankesh, Archana, Aindrita Ray, Karthik, ​ Mythria and ​Malvika Avinash.

Any event showcasing local culture also needs to have the ambiance to be setup well to make it more authentic and appealing.  The outside of ‘My Place’ restaurant had the traditional ‘Flower Rangoli’ and nice brass sculpture of lady welcoming guests.  There was also traditional dress made of ‘Khadi’ that were there for sale.  Then as you enter inside the restaurant, there were plenty of flowers used for decorating the various food counters.  The tables for serving guests were also good setup.

The expectation for getting to eat some wonderful food was very much on the cards.  We started the meal with the traditional Buttermilk with coriander which was quite refreshing and setup the tone for the dinner.

Chats are one of the most important items that is part of the meal.  Paapdi chat, Kachumber and Peanut masala were all part of the some of the basic starters.  Aloo and Onion Bajji were also part of the served as part of the starters.  And enhance the flavours, there were 8 different types of chutneys served on the table which tasted quite good individually.

Ragi balls which are one of the most famous items to be taken by farmers to give them strength for strenuous field jobs.  Sana – another specialty from Mangalore which looks like Idlis, was also part of the menu.  Both the items can be consumed with 2 different types of sambars.

Rice Rotti, Johar Rotti and Neer Dosa were also part of the menu.  These are some items which are available at select restaurants across the town.  Each of them are quite awesome to taste along with some of the gravies like Stuffed Brinjol, Mixed veg curry and Saagu.

Obattu – Sweet Chapati, another traditional dish prepared for most of the festivities in Karnataka was part of the meal.

Finishing touches for the meal was the ‘Peda’ which is famous in the North Karnataka deserts/sweet.  Enjoyed the taste of the same as the last item.

Overall I had a wonderful experience of having some tasty Karnataka style food at a premium restaurant.  Big thanks to Chef for bring this festival to people for Bangalore.  As we lead up to November-1 which is the Karnataka formation day and celebrated across state as ‘Kannada Rajyotsava Day’, it is perfect time to have a month-long festival.  My current rating for the overall experience is 4.0/5.

Rating in other departments

Food for 2 for 2 people consuming the meals as part of Karnataka Festival would coming up to anywhere between INR 1800-2500.