Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Restaurant Review: MEDICI, Indiranagar, Bangalore

I was beginning to lose faith in the dining options at Indiranagar. With a resurgence of restaurants opening up in Koramangala, Indiranagar is rarely part of the choice for me anymore. Sure you have Herbs and Spice... that's about it. During my MSN India days, I actually use to work in the area... so I know there are some good options; I use to remember frequenting Max Mueller's cafe for the Weiner Schnitzel, Nizam's for double chicken egg rolls, Shiok for pretty authentic Thai and the Drunken beef, Nagarjuna for biryani and Nandini's for thaliis with unlimited rice, ghee and 'French' Chicken, which are basically chicken strips coated with ridiculous red colouring and delicious spices. I guess you can blame the construction of the metro for a couple of the restaurants disappearing into oblivion over there.  Should definitely give the area a once over again.  

Thought it was fitting that I met up with an old co-worker from MSN and friend, Aina Barker, for lunch in Indiranagar last week. Giving credit, where credit is due, she's a massive foodie just like me and she did introduce me to quite a few stellar restaurants in this city, including a few mentioned above. Anyways, I was actually dying to go to Max Mueller, but her highness is all, "Despite your hippy lifestyle, I'd still like to take you to fine dining." Pfft. LOL.  Which is where I come to the topic of discussion, Medici.



Medici is located on 100 feet road, Indiranagar, opposite the Raymonds showroom, above Maharaja Furniture (they have a bar/lounge on the third floor called Level III - will check it out and review it soon).  If we're talking basically, it's continental food, if we're talking specifically, would say it's a combo of French/Italian.  I'm a huge fan of tan brown and gold settings, plush comfortable seating and minimal tasteful decor, with this in mind, the ambiance at Medici really hit the spot.  What really stuck was the huge window in the front that overlooked the top of a tree (and 100FT Road), the tree was in bloom and the orange was crazy.

In Pic: Medici's plush brown/gold setting

In Pic: Medici's view

Unfortunately, didn't really give the menu a thorough look (criminal for a restaurant review, I know!), mainly because I zeroed in on exactly what I wanted immediately! I do remember seeing a pretty decent looking steak selection, a diverse set of starters and salads, a unique menu for seafood and also a very interesting sounding risotto.  However, after an absolutely shambolic effort of risotto at Tuscanos in Value Mall, I thought I'd give it a skip and go for something a little more classic and simple. More importantly though, the menu wasn't grossly overpriced like it is at Tuscanos or Caperberry (for that matter).  With such spot on ambiance and quite an up-market menu like Medici's, the prices were affordable and more than anything else, not pretentious.

I started with the Beef Carpaccio salad (Rs. 250)... and I know the first thing you're thinking, it's India!  How can you do raw beef?  Well, I'm alive and well and that was probably one of the best salads I've tasted in this city.  The beef was melt in your mouth and there was absolutely no peculiar aftertaste. The spinach salad sprinkled with gherkins, green olives and pine nuts had an irresistible and subtle sesame mustard based dressing... and the shavings of rich cheese (not a cheese expert yet!) was a perfect touch.  Aina ordered the Caesar salad (boooorrrrinnng!), but what caught my eye, this was one of the few Caesar salads I've seen in Bangalore, that throw an anchovy on it. Nice touch of authenticity.  I should also tell you, their on-table baked breads were out of this world.

In Pic: Beef Carpaccio @ Medici

In Pic: Caesar Salad @ Medici

For the main course I went for the simple and ordered Chicken Parmigiana (Rs. 300).  Last time I did this dish was in Spiga (St. Mark's Road, Bangalore), which essentially means my standards are pretty high, because Spiga have got this dish down to the T.  Much to my surprise, Medici's Parmigiana is equally good if not better.  The breaded cutlet was crisp on the outside, juicy in the inside, the tomato sauce was divine (the green olives were an amazing little add on), there was a perfect dose of mozzarella and the star on the plate was the dollop of mashed potatoes the cutlet sat on (not taking anything away from the cutlet!).  If my taste buds serve me right, it was the hint of cream cheese and garlic that made their mashed potatoes stand out.  I swallow my spit thinking about the fork pitching the cutlet smothered with the tastiest mashed potatoes I've had the pleasure of eating.  Aina went for the Chicken and Bacon Quiche and while the filling was yummy (and very different to the quiche I'm used to eating at Herbs and Spice), I found the crust a little bit too powdery.  It's a matter of taste, but I prefer when the crust is flakey and a tad bit crispy.

In Pic: Chicken Parmigiana @ Medici

In Pic: Chicken and Bacon Quiche @ Medici

Unfortunately, we gave dessert a skip (trust me, this very rarely happens) and I didn't really give the menu a second look. Their selection of beverages, particularly the range of ice teas were impressive (Rs. 120).  Top of my head I said 'Passion Fruit,' they had it and it was nicely done in a very tall chilled glass.  Had the pleasure of meeting the owner as well, Rohan, who was an utter gent.  Promise to come back with a more detailed review; have to check out the desserts, the steaks and the seafood dishes.

Will definitely be eating at Medici regularly, there seems to be an interesting little set menu they offer for corporate lunches on weekdays which looks like a steal at Rs. 400.  The review on Burrp summed it up just right: "The concept behind the restaurant is to offer gourmet food without the intimidation that goes with a fine dining restaurant."

Our bill for a glass of iced tea, fresh lime soda, Beef Carpaccio, Caesar Salad, Chicken Parmigiana and Chicken and Bacon Quiche was Rs. 1300.

Feedback, your experiences and your favourite dishes with Medici would be greatly appreciated. And please forgive a few of those cell phone pics. :) - SG

To find out more about Medici, check out their Facebook page: Click here

17 comments:

  1. Good review puppy, will have to give this the once over!!

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  2. Sailen - I've been meaning to visit your blog for a while now and finally got around to it. Your review on Medici caught my eye - well written. The owner is one of my buddies and he was telling me of his plans this past summer when we were in Bangalore, I'm glad that it's opened and getting good reviews and can't wait to try it out this christmas. It looks like i've also found a new guide for when i'm back in town beause your blog seems to cover everything people of our age want to know about Bangalore - Cheers for that bro!

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  3. Hey Sandy! I saw you were a fan on the facebook fan page... :) It's a great place... yummy food. Thanks so much for the support on the blog, hope to keep the peeps interested. It's fun to have the freedom to write about what I want.

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  4. Hey hey! Brilliant job on the blog by the way I'm going to make sure it's part of this annual thing Elle does called the It City Guide. I'm so glad you like Medici, my best friend (Rohan's brother) owns the place and I do think they do a stellar job, personal bias aside! D'you know Gokul? He's going to be DJing there every Wednesday so come by soon! Komal x

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  5. Hi

    I've been meaning to go to Medici. The tiny little hitch is that I'm vegetarian and wondering if the experience would be as great with the vegetarian bit of the menu (if that exists that is!)

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  6. What's up Komal! :D So good to see you on here! A bit late with the reply! I have heard about Gokul's Deep House nights at Level III, will drop by sometime soon for sure! Glad you like the blog, hope to keep you interested, and thanks for the Elle Plug! :)

    Hi Anonymous, thanks for taking the time to read my review! Much appreciated... I'm a bit of a carnivore so I can't really comment on the veggie food, but if their mashed potatoes are anything to go by, it should be stellar. They make lovely pastas and raviolis too... Went there a second time last week and the food and service was even better than the first. :) You should definitely check it out.

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  7. Good read! Reading about food always makes me hungry though.. Lol.. If you a looking for similar fine dining restaurants in Blore, check this out http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fava-Experience-the-Med/187312881309263

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  11. Indira nagar!!I can call it as a "Hub of Fashion" in all the way..We get to see a lot of restaurants, cafes and many other multi complex..

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  12. Nice Post. One of the best place for authentic Andhra food.. They serve what they promise that s pure Andhra style food.. Lot of options as they do serve good Chinese , Mughalai food...With recent rennovation the ambience is awesome and pleasing... Highly recommended.
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  13. Been here twice already ! Delicious Andhra food served on banana leaves ! Lovely service as well.
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