i know eating at hard rock cafe is a cliche, but sometimes i crave a proper burger and real bacon and cheese. when that fancy strikes, there’s no better place in the city to satisfy that craving than hard rock. after a quick visit to commercial street one saturday, cindy and i decided to treat ourselves to some air conditioning and good food.

it wasn’t too crowded since we reached around 2.30pm, so we were able to get a seat in the bar area. i love sitting in there because the room is so pretty, with its high ceilings and band area above the bar and lots of great natural light coming in. we settled onto our couch and hyped ourselves up for all the deliciousness that was to follow.

to start with, drinks. cindy ordered a golden rita and i opted for a premium bloody mary. cindy was pleased with her margarita, and my bloody mary was awesome – and potent. just what we needed.

hard rock’s nachos are pretty legendary – just ask jane wells – so we were beyond excited when the giant dish of chips and all the toppings arrived. i had forgotten how massive the portion was, because on past trips there had always been at least five of us sharing it. we were both pretty full by the end of it, but it was well worth the slight discomfort.

luckily we had decided to split a burger for the main course, because those nachos were seriously filling. we went for the hickory barbecue bacon cheeseburger, and although the beef was a little overcooked, it was still a damn good burger. it had lots of bacon – good bacon! – on it, it was dripping with bbq sauce, and the cheese was just perfect. we kept commenting on how nice it was to have real bacon and real cheese, both luxuries that are hard to come by in bangalore.

hard rock is not somewhere i visit often, but when i do it rarely disappoints. i especially like it on a saturday afternoon when it’s not too crowded and you can just chill for a few hours and enjoy a drink and some good food. and bacon.

the details:

location: 40 st mark’s road, opposite lic building, off mg road, bangalore.

landmark: next to koshy’s.

serves non-veg: yes. everything you could want. including bacon.

serves drinks: yes, full bar available. i recommend the premium bloody mary.

wifi available? yes, but i had to fill out a really long form to access it, so i didn’t.

what we ordered: two golden ritas; one premium bloody mary [drinks]. nachos with chicken [starter]. hickory barbecue bacon cheeseburger; side “caesar” salad [main].

our bill: rs 3,404 // cindy paid about rs 2,000, and i paid the remainder.

my zomato rating: 4.5 out of 5 // average rating is 4.5

fun facts: hrc is located in the old cafe 1912 building, named so because it was built in 1912. it’s a beautiful building, and i am so glad they retained the original structure when hard rock came in.

to keep in mind: they charge covers on the weekends and whenever they have live music — you will get part of it comped back in coupons or on your bill, but it’s still pretty pricey. book ahead if you want a spot in the bar area.

will i go back? oh yeah. that bacon is too good to pass up.

xx