ISYS

The first thing that struck me on entering this swanky and cosmopolitan restaurant at the President Hotel, Jayanagar is the colour Blue and the ambience. It reminded me of the restaurants at New York or LA which are generally shown on Discovery TLC. They serve Continental, Indian, Chinese and Thai cuisines and do a pretty good job in all of them. When we entered, we were promptly shown to a table. At that time, the restaurant was quite empty. It started filling up steadily and after an hour it was full with families, couples, kids and all variety.

We started of with some cocktails. I ordered a Mimosa (Orange juice and Red Wine). For my friend, the waiter suggested a "Jumaroo", which supposedly is the bartender's speciality. Curiosity got the better of us and we placed the order for it and it arrived soon with lots of drama. About 3 waiters came to prepare the drink while some 3 more waiters were around watching apart from the people seated around us. It is made from Orange Juice, Red wine and Blue Curacao. The waiter started off with orange juice in a wide mouthed glass. In another glass, he took the Blue Curacao and lighted it using a lighter. It started burning with a thin and almost invisible flame. He then placed a small pair of tongs over the glass containing orange juice, over which he placed two small inverted glasses. Over this he poured the slightly flaming Blue Curacao such that it gently falls onto the Orange juice without mixing with it. So, you have two layers of juice. The orange juice is at the bottom and the blue curacao on the top. He then took a glass of red wine and poured it over the orange juice + blue curacao from a height. The result - the wine went and sat at the bottom of the glass. So, we now have "Jumaroo" which contains three layers of liquid - blue curacao on top, orange juice in the middle and red wine at the bottom. How much do you think this costs ? Take a guess!!!


After relaxing over our respective cocktails and mocktails, we ordered soup and starters. I had a Gazpacho. Not very great. I have tasted better. Nothing exceptional of the other starters either. They were the regular indian stuff. Along with the starters, we got a complimentary bread basket. The bread was wonderful. Soft and sweet. The bowl in which the bread was served is worth mentioning. The bowl itself looks so eatable. Check out the picture below.


For the main course, Dutta and me shared an american chopsuey, while Dannyboy had a mutton biriyani. Both were quite good. I was quite satisfied with the food and the ambience. I must check out how good their continental stuff is.

One thing that bothered us was the noise. Once the restaurant got filled up, it became quite noisy. The music playing in the background was hardly heard and it did little to make the atmosphere more relaxed. But otherwise it is a nice place. Quite sophisticated and maybe quite ideal for a lovely and cosy date, barring the noise. Other thing that I observed was the wash basin in the restroom, or to be more accurate the absence of it. There was no basin under the tap. Under the tap, there was a slab of marble which was slightly slanted so that the water drains away. It was the first time I saw something of that sort in a restaurant in Bangalore.

Price wise, it was quite worth it. A lunch for three cost us about Rs 1200, with drinks. Quite reasonable by Bangalore standards. You should definitely check out this restaurant sometime.

ISYS, The President hotel, Jayanagar 3rd block, Bangalore.