Your boss sat you through a mindless and endless meeting right through the hot afternoon and all you could think of was a chilled frothy beer and a chicken sandwich?
Or your stomach kept grumbling right through that last boring lecture at college at 3.30 p.m. and you couldn’t get your freaking mind off that juicy burger after having starved at lunch?
If you work round the clock, you’re sure to eat round the clock too, eh? Bengaluru’s smart restaurateurs have pitched the fork right on the spot with the all-day diner — where a funky menu gives you the kind of bite you want and goes easy on the pocket too. No breaks. No being turned away after your exhausting office meeting because the lunch menu is closed and the shutters are being downed. Tuck into some kheema bao, or Parsi cutlets, (salad if you want to keep it light), fish fingers, a bowl of noodle soup, or giant cheesy burgers, or comforting pasta that will keep you going till dinner.
Lunch is no longer at 12. No sir, not if you’re in Bengaluru where shifts begin at 5 p.m. for many. And definitely not for many professionals and singletons who don’t have a functioning kitchen at home. Breakfast? What’s that? They plod their way to li’l places where there’s no-fuss food, the atmosphere is casual and maybe there’s a pool table to saunter to with beer in your hand.
Monkey Bar on Wood Street is one such hot fav gastropub to head to for small easy bites; location is key — its near many schools and colleges. “In any burgeoning city where people have odd working hours and meetings stretch on, people just want to grab a bite on the go. Maybe even after some exhausting shopping…We regularly have college goers who chat around the pool table and just maybe have a fresh lime soda after college. Corporates, mums taking kids back after school, people who eat late lunches after waking late — we see them all regularly,” says Monkey Bar’s celebrity chef-preneur Manu Chandra.
He lists their burgers and nachos as the favourite food during this 3 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. window.
Karthik Shankar likes to get straight to his brunch by 12.30 everyday. So he’s not surprised at his restaurant, Sotally Tober in Koramangala, where he is a partner, he sees many BPO employees who work the night shift walk in for a late lunch at 3 p.m. and leave for work from the restaurant by 5 p.m. — they tuck into some substantial pasta or a curry and rice kind of combo. Maybe a glass of wine or a mug of beer to go with it sometimes, he observes.
“For many in the BPO sector I see that this is their first meal of the day. And they head straight for the main course, and avoid deep-fried food. One of the reasons I see people coming to pubs for lunch is that restaurants are more expensive. In a bar food comes out quicker.”
Freelance photographer Sudeep Gurtu loves his food and loves to make it look good too in his pictures. “I like to avoid restaurants when they are crowded so I like to eat at odd hours.” He can be found a couple of times a month at Monkey Bar with his friends and sometimes even on Sundays during the day. “I like to have a Cuban sandwich or a Naga pork. I avoid junk food and don’t eat elaborate meals,” he says.
On a mid-week late afternoon at The Open Box on St Mark’s Road, there’s a bustling long table filled with colleagues at a team lunch. A group of young women are busy chatting and tucking into some pizza. Some guys are at the pool table. Owner Amit Ahuja says his own experience was the reason he wanted an all-day diner. “Whenever me and my friends would end up going late for lunch we found restaurants closing by 2.30 p.m. So I wanted to serve the entire menu through the day. College students and corporates are regulars on weekdays for a late and spread out 45-minute lunch. On weekends, we very often have families that come in for a real early 6 p.m. dinner before they head out for a movie.”
Their fusion dish of fettuccine pasta with khao suey is a darling dish. Light appetizers and salads are summer favourites.
Late lunch hits
Burgers
Sandwiches
Nachos
Rolls and wraps
Salads
Curry and rice
Pizza
Food all day at
Sodabottle openerwala
100 Feet Boutique
Social
Horn OK Please
Smoke House Deli
Mamagoto
Blimey
