A glance at Bangalore's streets in the evenings makes one wonder if it is a city of starving souls. At almost every street corner, the scene repeats itself. As deft fingers of the roadside vendor mix the ingredients with expertise to come up with a titillating treat, fidgeting hands can't wait to grab the plate and dive into the dish.
From the days when eating out was an occasional diversion, to the present, where abstaining would bring on withdrawal symptoms, Bangalore now caters to every craving.
From Udupi style to Andhra and Chettinad and from north Karnataka to Punjabi and Bengali, there's something for everyone.
Restaurants were where barefoot waiters in dhotis walked up to your table, gripping four tumblers of water in one hand to take your order. Just one questioning look from you and he would chant the menu with all eloquence: "Idly, vada, dosa, kara bath, kesari bath, poori, rava idly, bonda...'', only to stop with the anticlimactic "By-two coffee" order from you. The strong smell of tobacco and the aromas of the sambar, coffee and dosa used to happily mingle, for the restaurants were places where smokers had their drags over a coffee. The loud conversations of the clients, the waiter's shouts to the kitchen, the cashiers bell, the dumping of the washed tumblers into the tray, all made for one noisy experience.
Today, with the advent of stand-up cafes, one bites and bolts. You can buy an entire meal from a hole-in-the-wall shop and savour Chinese delicacies off push carts where the spellings of the items are as original as their taste. This is another evidence of how Bangalore has gone global. Besides Chinese noodles, fried rice, Manchurians and mo mos, Continental and Mediterranean food too have gone to the streets.
The paani puri gaadi used to be the generic name for the chaat vendor on the cart. Today, chaat comes from across the country and challenges even the most daring foodie. Vada pavs, misal pavs, gol gappas, dabelis, kachoris, samosas, bread pakodas and papdis test the most conscientious dieter.
Today, everybody is looking for a share of the eating-out pie. Even the multinational food chains that boast uniform tastes across the globe, tinker with their menus to offer dishes with a desi twist. Bangalore, that had streets dealing in specific trades like pottery and jewellery, soon had entire lanes dedicated to food freaks like Market Road in Visweswarapuram, Ibrahim Sahib Street in Shivajinagar and Wilson Garden Main Road.
Who dares diet in Bangalore today?
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