Kudla, International Airport Road, Bangalore – A Restaurant Review

This weekend my hubby decided to give us a surprise. He told us to get ready early morning and took us for a long drive. Half the way through the journey he disclosed that we are going to Nandi Hills to enjoy the sunrise and to show some monkeys and birds to our little one. We reached there, enjoyed the sunrise, saw some grapes plantations and my daughter got to see some monkeys too JWhile returning back we were hungry and decided to stop for lunch somewhere on the highway. We kept looking around for some good restaurants and finally spotted Kudla. This place was on my mind since a long time too. Kudla specializes in Mangalorean and coastal cuisine and without a second thought my hubby took a deviation from the highway and stopped there for lunch.

The restaurant was on the 1^stfloor of the building above Café Coffee Day on the New Airport Road at Yelahanka. We parked our vehicle in the parking lot and proceeded towards the restaurant. There was no lift to go to the restaurant, but since it was first floor we did not find it difficult to reach there. We were provided with a seat of our choice. The restaurant was almost empty as we had reached slightly early.

The restaurant has only an AC section and appeared like a typical Mangalorean setup. However it was dimly lit. Only 2 lights were lit in the restaurant. I wish they had played some nice music to liven the atmosphere.

All the tables had plates, cutlery and glasses even before the guests had arrived. Due to this, dust had accumulated on the plates and we had to ask for replacement. My daughter could draw symbols on those dusty plates with her tiny fingers. The senior staff appeared little uninterested in the guests at the restaurant and appeared as if they were doing a favor to the guests by serving them food. The junior waiters served us well.

We started by ordering fresh lime soda which was refreshing. We then took a look into the menu and loved the variety of dishes that the restaurant had to offer.  From soups, salads to main course and desserts everything was from the coastal cuisine. Some interesting things like Spicy Crab rasam and Seafood combo rasa were present in soups. In veg starters they had Mushroom ghee roast, Mushroom varuval and some more dishes with mushrooms from the Mangalorean cuisine. But the chef recommended to try Kudla ge gobi i.e. deep fried cauliflower tossed in curry leaves, chopped garlic and Mangalorean spices and Beeja sukha i.e. deep fried cashewnut tossed in freshly grated coconut with Mangalorean spices.

In the chicken dishes they had Chicken ghee roast, Kori sukha and  Goan chicken cafreal. Mutton sukha and Mutton chilly fry were some of the lamb dishes available.

 We were impressed at the variety of options they had to offer in sea-fish. Lots of dishes were present on the menu like Prawns upumunchi, Goan prawns balchao, Prawns koliwada from Mumbai, Crabs sukha, Lobster masala fry, Pomfret, Anjal(Seer Fish), Bangda(Mackerel), Kane(Lady Fish), Bollinger(Silver Fish). Some of the shell fish like lobster and crabs were unavailable though it was mentioned in the menu. Chef recommends to try Malwani bombil fry, Marwai sukka, Squid masala fry and Squid chilly fry.

For the main course too there were plenty of veg options like Mangalorean sauthekai gassi, Kochi tarkari stew, etc.

Non-Veg main course again consisted of different varieties of fish curries. They also had Goan prawns vindaloo and Ceyloni prawns curry which I will definitely try next time. In chicken they had Chicken xacuti, Chettinad kara koli, Kori gassi, etc.

A variety of breads like Neer dosa, Appam, Sannas, Pundi and Kudla Tokri were available.

In rice varieties, you could choose from dishes like Ghee rice, Flavored rice like tamarind/lemon rice, Tarkari masala bhaat, Kozhi biryani and Masala bhaat.

In desserts you can try Ragi manni and Ela neer payasam which are specific to the coastal region.

We ordered chilly garlic prawns, rava fried silver fish and chicken sukha for starters. The chilly garlic prawns were heavenly. We just loved it. The rava fried fish was crispy and tasted homely.

We ordered a repeat of chilly garlic prawns and my daughter requested for a repeat of rava fried silver fish as these dishes were simply awesome.

 Chicken sukha was also very good, but some of the chicken pieces were served with skin. We don’t like chicken with skin and had to discard the pieces. But the sukha masala was excellent.

For main course we ordered Kundapuri chicken curry and Neer dosa. The curry was really good but we did not like the chicken pieces as they were served with skin. While placing your order do ask the waiter to get the chicken without skin if you don’t like chicken skin. By default all the chicken at the restaurant is served with skin. According to them they serve only country chicken by I was not convinced by their answer as this was not mentioned for this particular dish in the menu.

We also ordered Fish Masala bhaat. It was made up of tawa fried rice with boneless fish pieces in it and was served with raita. This dish was unique and really good.

We did not have to wait too long for the food to be served to us. The dishes just kept coming one after the other.

We also decided to take-away another plate of Masala bhaat with fish and the food was parceled in disposable containers at no extra cost.

We were too full and so we did not try the desserts. Hubby asked for the bill and we decided to pay by AMEX card. This restaurant has a tie up with AMEX card and time to time they also have attractive discounts on dining like 15-20% off. Before you ask for the bill, do ask the staff at the hotel to give you the discount if it is available. Platinum card members get exclusive dining privileges at around 125 of the finest restaurants in India. The list is not exhaustive and you can narrow it down to the restaurants in your city.

Rating: 3/5

Address:  198, BB Enclave, Above Cafe Coffee Day, Hunasemaranahalli, New Airport Road, International Airport, Bangalore

Cost for 2: Rs.800/-

Note: All the views and opinions expressed here are my own.