08 October,2010 06:42 AM IST | | Namita Gupta
More than the cuisine at 20Char it's the whole ethereal experience of dining at Matthan, a new hotel in town that will bowl you over
The runway may have shifted from the Old Airport Road to Devanahalli, but its former dwelling is still resplendent and bustling with life. The fresh and spanking new business hotel: Matthan, bang opposite the city's landmark properties, opened its doors a couple of days back and is a treat for weary-eyed travellers. Drive into high ceilings and spacious seating providing a calming and intimate experience with life sized Buddha carvings, sands and soft music making for a mystical ambience.
20char
Food: tasty
Service: quick
Ambience: chic
u00a0
The bright and perky 24-hour dining hall of the restaurant, aptly called 20Char is ideal for a power breakfast, business lunch or dinner. Or even for one of those special occasions. Its purple velvet upholstery on the comfy couch and flower shaped lampshades take away the stiff tone of a stark business hotel and help you relax.
u00a0Everything seems to come in big sizes here. The contemporary art on walls are on extra large canvases to fill in the wide spaces.
The cuisine as expected in most all day diners isu00a0 global cuisine, which is a mix of Indian - North and South, Oriental and International. The menu is quite exhaustive to the extent that it might leave you puzzled on what to order. The restaurant is still in its infancy stage now, but has all the making of sprucing up in no time.
We sipped on cooling tender coconut Water while we flipped through the menu and called in for a Doodhiya Murg Tikka, which were succulent and tender chicken morsels grilled to perfection with roasted garlic and mild spicy paste and served with mint chutney.u00a0u00a0
For my mains, I tried the Lamb Stew with Appam. The appams were soft, fresh and fluffy, just how they're meant to be and the stew had the zest of the coconut milk with well-cooked lamb chunks, which made for a divine combo. My dining companion tried the Pan Seared Basa (a Vietnamese fish) with asparagus and orange reduction, which was mildly flavoured, zesty and needless to say was devoured in no time. The menu also boasts of a pastas in different sauces withu00a0u00a0 a selection of spaghetti and fusilli among others for those who live it up the Italian way.u00a0
For dessert, we tried the Flourless Chocolate Cake, which was a warm and gooey decadent treat, paired with a chilled chocolate ice cream and chocolate chips. I also had a bite of the brownie, which was a solace for our stomach with generous doses of walnuts and a scoop of ice cream.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
u00a0
At: 20Char, Matthan Hotel, 134, HAL Airport Road (Next to Manipal Hospital)
Call: 4249 4949
Meal for two: Rs 2,000
