Howard Johnson is one of the premium hotels in the North Bangalore region quite close to Manyata Tech Park.  The hotel offers some of the best rooms for people traveling for business or leisure.  I have visited this hotel many times to relish the food at some of the All-Day Dining Restaurant – Nest, Coffee Lounge – Verve and Lounge Bar – Marea.  Executive Chef Chakradhar recently introduced some new items into the Nest menu and invited couple of us for tasting session. 

About NEST

It is the All-Day Dining Restaurant that serves food from different cuisines across the globe and India.  They offer breakfast, lunch and dinner for the guests visiting the restaurant.  The restaurant can seat nearly 64-people and is adjacent to the Coffee and Lounge Bars.

Nest offering includes “Today’s Healthy and Fresh” that gives us the assurance of dining in a health encircling surrounding complimented with a memorable finger licking culinary fare.

New Menu Tasting

Chef Chakradhar sent across special invitation for tasting the new menu.  I decided to go for the tasting session after having a light breakfast.

Salads

There are 2 new salads being introduced – Tandoor Paneer Ceasar Salad (v) and Tandoori Chicken Ceasar Salad. Both the salad looked quite similar, but the differentiating factor was the presence of Paneer and Chicken.

I tasted the Tandoori Paneer Ceasar Salad and found it to be pretty good.  The salad had fresh lettuce, paneer, cheese slices and was served with Garlic Bread topped with herbed spices.  Taste was pretty good as the dressing tasted good, veggies were fresh and garlic bread was quite tasty.  The only suggestion I had to chef was to make the Paneer a little softer, which Chef acknowledged.

Soup

Subz Badami (v) was the new Vegetarian Soup introduced which was a thick soup.  The taste of almonds was quite evident, and I enjoyed every sip. 

Hyderabadi Murg Shorba was the new Non-Vegetarian soup introduced which I heard from my friends as being good.

Appetizers

This is one of the areas in the menu, which never seems to be sufficient.  Every time we dine in, there is a desire to try a different appetizer.  More is always better in this case.  Chef is very much aware of this and has introduced 4 new items including – Sriracha Buffalo Wings, Kothmir Ghee Roast Prawns, Banana Leaf Wrap Fish, Banana Leaf Wrap Paneer (v) and Mushroom Kebab (v).

I loved the Banana Leaf Wrap Paneer as it had the perfect amount of spices and the paneer was soft.  The taste of the dish and presentation was quite impressive.  It was served with salad and olive oil spice mix to enhance the spice levels.

Mushroom Kebab was also awesome, and its presentation was just perfect.  This dish contained mushroom, but I could not feel that true flavour of mushroom.  It is one of the appetizer that even a non-mushroom lover can enjoy.

Main Course

This is one of the most critical part of the meal which fills up the stomach.  Chef came up introduced 6 new items in this section.  The items include – Hojo Butter Chicken, Vilayati Subzi (v), Dal Rishwali (v), Raioli (v), Stuffed Chicken Breast and Biryani Hyderabadi (v/nv).

Vilayati Subzi had a very good gravy and had lots of veggies, it tasted awesome with the Indian breads.  Dal Rishwali might just be the normal dal but it is necessary to cook the dal well to bring out the flavours.

Biryani Hyderabadi was the last item in the main course that had perfect amount of spices and veggies in it.  The biryani was well cooked in an earthen pot that was traditionally covered in dough.  I loved the taste and it was undoubtedly was my favourite item for the day.

Desserts

This is one of my favourite courses in the meal.  Chef brought two different dessert – Shahi Tukda and Red Velvet Cheesecake.

My favourite among the desserts was the Red Velvet Cheese cake that had the right amount of Cheese and Red Velvet in it.  The dessert had the right amount of sweetness and nothing seemed to be over the top.

Shahi Tukda was also very delicious and I loved the way both the desserts were served on a single plate.  I would love to take atleast 2-3 portion of this dessert combination.

Something for Cold Season

Chef gave us a special gift containing a portion of Tea powder and a small glass container with that had a special mixture of Honey, Almonds, Pistachio, Raisin, Cashew & Cinnamon.  Special instruction on the time of consumption of its health benefits were mentioned.  This was very thoughtful of Chef as we are in the winter season and eating healthy & staying fit is very essential.

A little about Howard Johnson

Howard Johnson Bengaluru, Hebbal, a part of Wyndham Hotel Group Upscale Mid-Market offers free Wi-Fi connectivity, a well-equipped Gymnasium, Executive Lounge and Meeting rooms, Spa and Sauna facility, a gleaming azure outdoor swimming pool.

The Howard Johnson Bengaluru Hebbal hotel brand is an iconic chain of nearly 450 plus hotels with locations around the world. Wyndham Hotel Group is the world’s largest and most diverse hotel company, encompassing approximately 7,490 hotels and over 645,400 rooms in 70 countries under 15 hotel brands.

Overall Experience

It was a wonderful afternoon spent tasting the new menu curated by Chef Chakradhar.  I loved all the dishes that are being introduced in the new menu.  During the tasting, I did share some minor improvement which Chef accepted quite gracefully as always.  I would urge anyone reading this blog to visit the restaurant at Howard Johnson, ask for the new dishes mentioned.

Rate my overall experience at 4.25/5.

Address – 132, Thanisandra Main Rd, 5th Block, MS Ramaiah North City, Manayata Tech Park, HBR Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560077

Phone – 080 4646 7000

References

http://www.hojobangalore.com/
www.wyndhamrewards.com

Pictures with GM of Howard Johnson Bangalore, officials from HoJo and fellow foodies/bloggers.