Unique Culinary Journey in a Pristine Ambience

BY: N.R. MADHUSUDHAN

Feb 28, BANGALORE, INDIA (EXPRESS BUZZ) — Ever heard of Indian dishes such as palkatti varuval, inji vadai, kavipoo varuval, nellikai charu, vazhaipoo murungai kolambu and thair milagu kolambu? These are just some of the dishes that are on the menu at The Higher Taste Restaurant that was launched on Sunday at ISKCON Bangalore, which offers "God's own cuisine", according to ISKCON authorities.

The dishes on offer at the restaurant were selected by Chef Kumar, who has received a medal from former President APJ Abdul Kalam for his culinary skills. Chef Kumar had also once been invited to Rashtrapati Bhavan for seven days to cook for the President and his guests.

The chef carefully selected the dishes after extensive research on ancient Indian cuisine for the restaurant.

These dishes are supposed increase the longevity of those who eat them regularly.

"In the West, the people were not willing to partake of prasadam when it was offered to them freely. Therefore, ISKCON founder Prabhupada started restaurants that offered tasty Indian food to attract westerners to Krishna. ISKCON's Govinda restaurants in Mumbai and Delhi are very popular. In accordance with his practices and teachings we have started this restaurant to revive and offer some of the ancient dishes. We serve prasadam in this restaurant," ISKCON vice-president Chanchalpathi dasa said at the inauguration of the restaurant.

"This restaurant is unique because of its ambience and the food that is served," Chanchalpathi dasa added.

Spread over two floors, the 90-cover restaurant also offers the facility of holding team events in a cordoned off area. The ground floor offers a buffet spread, while the first floor has a la carte delicacies.

The restaurant also supports the Akshaya Patra Foundation, which provides school meals to more than a million underprivileged children every day. Many VIPs such as the Maharaja of Mysore, Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, visited the restaurant, which was opened by popular Kannada film actors Pooja Gandhi and Ajay.