The air conditioned city

Tuesday 5th Nov

The night bus came to its final destination in a place called Majestic in the heart of Bangalore, and we were greeted with a cool, crisp morning in the 'air-conditioned' city. During the drive to our hotel, we raced through the early morning traffic, and for the first time since leaving the UK, I was actually cold!

We checked in and sat down to enjoy our free hotel breakfast, which consisted of a buffet array of curry, cold fried eggs, and the winning choice—cornflakes and hot milk (with sugar to make them Frosties!). Once satisfied (ish), we headed to the infamous MG Road to check out the best of Bangalore's bars, shops, and restaurants.

After a few wrong turns, we found it, but it wasn’t what we’d expected at all. It was a scrappy road with a few weird and wonderful shops and loads of heavy traffic. We could find nothing out of the ordinary that would make this road stand out from all the other city roads in India.

Next, we decided to check out one of Bangalore’s maaaalls (said with an American twang). We headed for the crème de la crème called UG to window shop Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, Burberry, and many other designer stores that probably wouldn’t let us in with our 'world traveller' look—this look is most definitely not on trend.

Getting rather upset about all the beautiful heels and other pretties I wouldn’t be able to afford or put to good use, we decided to head onto the roof for a spot of lunch. Eager for some Mediterranean cuisine, we found an Italian that looked pretty good. Olive oil, mozzarella, basil, artichoke, belly pork, fillet mignon, and a bottle of red wine started to subdue the cravings slightly.

Boozy from the lack of sleep on the night bus (fine... it was the wine), we headed back to Hotel Tom’s for a siesta.

All glammed up, we decided to hit the town. I’d scoured the internet and found a really chic wine bar on MG Road called Couch. After walking the full length of the road, we stopped to ask two bouncers where No. 114 was, and they said it was their block. We asked about Couch only to be told that it had closed down and Tinga Tinga was its replacement.

We headed up to sample the delights of this rather strange and very un-chic neon-lit bar. I perused the cocktail menu at length while Jamie urged me to steer clear of the chilli-infused beverages. Eventually, I settled on some refreshing cherry thingy. He opted for spiced rum punch... which, ironically, was spiced with chilli. Loads of it! There was nothing cool, laid-back, or refreshing about the Indian take on this Caribbean classic.

Next stop, back up MG Road, was 13th Floor, which coincidentally sat on the 13th floor of a big city tower block (which we had to sign into before we could set foot inside). From the balcony, we could see across Bangalore, the inky night sky occasionally twinkling with the sparkle of Deepawali fireworks. We sampled more cocktails, happy that we had our own taste of Bonfire Night in India on the 5th of November.

Unable to contain ourselves any longer, we excitedly made the trip to the steakhouse. With the taste of Malbec and a fillet (something we’ve not been able to eat since leaving the UK) just moments away, we rocked up at 'The Only Place.'

This restaurant was in a sort of American steakhouse-themed gazebo, and they didn’t sell wine. Or beer. They did, however, have Chateaubriand on the menu for under a fiver. We promptly ordered two, cooked rare.

Now, this was the last day of Deepawali, and we were told it was Cow Pooja Day. This is the day where the cows are decorated with flower garlands and worshipped. Well, we worshipped the cow in our own way by eating one of the most delicious, buttery, tender, and flavoursome steaks—fully celebrating every mouthful and giving thanks to the cow.

The restaurant was also full of a lot of Indians tucking into big, juicy slabs of moo meat, so we couldn’t have been making too much of a taboo.

With bellies full, we retired for the evening, excited about what city life would bring tomorrow.

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