Go Native is one of the places in Jayanagar that has sparked the idea of farm-to-table and also Eat Play Live Sustainably.  The brain child of this place is Ms.Anvita envisaged the idea of promoting traditional & native art, craft skills and livelihoods.  Many of us, have known this place for getting some delicious South Indian food but little did I know that it is also a retail store.  I got an opportunity to visit this place along with my friends to relish the food and take a sneak peek at the items on display.

Retail Store

All the products in the Go Native, are from designers and NGOs that share the same belief.  They sell many wonderful items including – Clothing, Handbags, Accessories for woman, Home Décor, Lamp shades, Culteries, Pickles, Classic Coffee, Jams and many more.  Go Native team follows stringent steps to check the company and the product quality, before putting them up for sale.

Some of the principles followed are listed for every guest/customer to look at.

Supporting Native Skills – Promoting traditional & native art, craft skills and livelihoods.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Committed to reducing the use of plastic.

Sustainable Foods – Sourcing supplies from local farms around Bangalore that practice environmentally sound farming and fair trade and grow seasonal, Non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organism), pesticide free veggies and grains.  This keeps our carbon footprint low.

Planet Positive Building – Building has been designed from an old house.  They use solar back-up power, harvest rain-water, compost the kitchen waster and are committed to reducing plastic.

Fair Trade – Trade with organization that ensure farmers and artisans are paid their wages that sustain their livelihoods and secure their future.

Some of the products available at the store – Channapatna Toys, Jute bags from far east in India, Coffee from Classic group, Fabric material (from brands like Shradha, Dori & many more), Woman accessories (Ear rings, Necklaces, Rings, Bracelets), Books, Wall hangings, Paintings, Lightings (from The Purple Turtle) and many more.

I personally felt like picking many of the items and redesigning my house.  This might sound preachy, but I would advise going to the store and check out the products.  I am sure you will be attracted to pick couple of items.

Food

The first few lines on the food menu is quite superb and speaks a lot about the approach.

GO NATIVE Fam-to-table
FOOD THAT’S GOOD FOR YOU AND GOOD ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Food served is completely vegetarian and they have identified dishes keeping in mind the varied taste palettes & health conditions of the people.  There is a symbol before every food that signifies – Jain Friendly, Diabetic Friendly, High Protein, Vegan, Kid Friendly, Low Calorie and Gluten Friendly.

Drinks

There are plenty of options including – Tea, Beverages and Cold Pressed Juices.  Tea-powder are from the brand Teabox that get the finest, hand-picked selection of single origin teas from Darjeeling, Nilgiris, Assam and Kangra.

I tried the Mountain Rose tea that has fragrance of Jasmine and has taste notes of Rose and Cardamom.  This tea is usually served black but you can ask for for milk.  They also have Nilgiri White Tea, Kashmiri Kahwa, Darjeeling Oolong Tea, Chamomile Ray, Morning Dew and Fresh Assam tea.

Some of the other interesting drinks that I tasted include – Ragi Smoothie (Ragi with Yogurt & Sugar), Choco Peanut Butter Shake, Vitamin Booster of Carrots and Refreshing Detox.  I enjoyed all of the drinks as they had unique taste and at the same time they were healthy.

Soups

There are 3 varieties of soup and I tasted 2 of them – Pumpkin and Orange Soup and Tomato Turmeric Soup.  I loved the Tomato soup as it had special Indian Herbs & spices which made it a little spicier and made my taste-buds happy.

Small Plates

There are plenty of options to choose from in this section.  Since I was there with a group of foodies we could try out multiple small plates including – Mangalore Buns (fried wheat and banana bread served with coconut chutney), Paniyaram/Paddu (crispy rice dumplings served with tomato chutney & drumstick sambar), Shakarandi Cheese Balls (Indian bread stuffed with sweet potato, cheese, peppers, flavoured with Indian spices & herbs served with chilly mayo dip), Bisi Bele Millet Fritters (spicy millet balls deep fried and served with salad and chutney), Aloo Patha Bhindi Chaat (potato cubes, onion, sweet yogurt, tamarind and mint chutney topped crispy ladies finger and crispy spinach), Pav Platter, Baked Soya Cheese Bread Rolls (bread stuffed with soya, spinach, cheese & flavoured with Indian spices), Hara Sabudhana Bread Kebab (mixed greens & tapioca ball kebab served with pickled onions and coconut onion chutney) and Banana Flower Baked Skewers.

My top picks among the items I tasted were Paniyaram, Pav Platter, Baked Soya Cheese Bread Rolls and Mangalore Buns.  These items had exceptional taste, presented really well and I loved eating every bite.  They had the perfect blend of ingredients that were working to maximize the taste.  Other dishes were also good but did not excite me that much while eating.  I made some suggestions to Chef which was acknowledged gracefully.

Large Plates

The item listed in this section are meant to be taken during lunch or dinner.  There were again plenty of options to choose from.  Some of them that I tried – Bun Chaska (grilled broccoli and cheesy burger with grilled onions, tomatoes, zucchini and arugula served with tomato mustard relish and sweet potato fries), Palak Kichdi (red rice cooked with pureed spinach served with raw papaya poriyal and rice vadams), Masala Jolada Rotti Yengai (Jowar bread flavoured with Indian Masalas and served with Biryjol curry & sprouts kasambari), Soppu Neer Dosa (Spinach rice thin dosa), Ragi Rotti, Ragi Pizza (Thin trust Ragi Pizza topped with tomato basil sauce and other veggies), Co-Native Special Thali and Navrati Thali.

My top pick was the Masala Jolada Rotti Yengai which had soft Jolada Rotti and tasty brinjol curry.  Also loved the Ragi Pizza which was quite unique as it was made of Ragi.  Palak Kichdi was also quite yummy and the combination of red-rice & spinach worked wonders.

Desserts

The items in this section will make anyone just open their mouth for having a mouth-full.  I tried the Halubai Platter (North Karnataka sweet with 3 flavours of Rice, Wheat & Ragi), Millet Pancakes (Ragi pancake served with mango, vanilla ice-cream and muesli topping) and Matka Vanilla Pudding with Gulab Jamun (Vanilla pudding stuffed with dry gulab Jamun).  My favourite as the Matka Vanilla Pudding as the combination of Vanilla pudding along with dry & cold Gulab Jaum was very good.

We had discussion with the Chef soon after trying out the dishes and shared some of our feedback.  Chef was quite open in taking the feedback and obliged to make necessary corrections in future.

Overall Experience

It was one of the best Saturday afternoon, I have spent with bunch of my foodie friends at Go Native.  Loved the ambiance and food at the place.  The items available for sale at the retail outlet were exquisite and neat.  I consider this place to be like an art museum/gallery.  An art lover can easily spend 2-3 hrs appreciating the work of art and craftsmanship.  The food at this place is quite good and presented very well.  Ingredients used come from organic farms, which make is more commendable.  Kudos to the service team who were running around taking and delivering orders.

I rate this place at 4.5/5.

Rating in other departments.
Food – 4.5/5
Drinks – 4.25/5
Ambiance – 4.5/5
Service – 4.5/5
Food for 2 at this place will come upto anywhere between INR 800-1000.

Address

Go NATIVE  
Address: 64, Main Rd, 4th Block,
5th Block, Jayanagar,
Bengaluru, Karnataka 560011

Hours: 12pm – 9:30PM
Phone: 080 2664 2552

Picture taken with Ms.Anvita and other foodie friends.