as many times as i have eaten at koshy’s in the last year, at all times of day and night, i have never actually detailed a visit on here, which is unforgivable considering how much i love the place.

koshy’s is one of bangalore’s oldest and most well-known restaurants. it boasts of having served jawaharlal nehru and the queen of england and of being every bangalorean’s favourite haunt. while many of my friends don’t quite appreciate the beauty of koshy’s, it has long been one of my favourite restaurants in the city, and i am always up for a visit.

this particular visit, on a saturday afternoon, was a request of cindy’s as she is getting ready to head back to the states. we lucked out and got a table in my favourite server’s area, so we had royal treatment and a nice, relaxing lunch.

no visit to koshy’s is complete without a plate of smileys, so we started with that while cindy perused the menu to see what looked good to her [i always order the same two things, so i have no need of the menu any longer]. first we asked sriram what he suggested, and his response was kerala-style mutton. it was delicious, so we went back to him for further advice when it was time to order the main course.

cindy wanted some prawns, so sriram suggested a dry starter to go along with our mains of pork vindaloo [my favourite] and the kerala special chicken curry [my second favourite]. we threw in two parotas and some rice for good measure and then proceeded to stuff ourselves silly.

in the end we finished the smileys, the mutton, and the prawns, and we brought the leftovers of the two curries and rice home with us. we washed everything down with some old monk gold and thums up, which gave our stomachs a chance to settle before we ventured back out into the heat.

the details:

location: 39, st mark’s road, shantala nagar, ashok nagar. bangalore – 560001.

landmark: behind hard rock cafe and diagonally opposite the lic building. you won’t miss it.

serves non-veg: yes. chicken, beef, mutton, pork, fish. you name it, they probably serve it.

serves drinks: yes, and they are cheap.

wifi available? definitely not. they might kick you out for asking.

what we ordered: old monk gold 60ml x 2; thums up [drinks]. smileys; kerala mutton; dry prawns [starters]. pork vindaloo; kerala special curry; parota x 2; rice [mains].

our bill: rs 2,200 [a little less, actually] for all of that. but as the servers are quick to remind you, they do not charge service tax.

my zomato rating: 4.5 out of 5 // average rating is 3.6 [those pagans]

fun facts: all of the photos on display are of what bangalore looked like 50-100 years ago, so they are endlessly fascinating; if you stop in during the week, you’ll see all the old retired men drinking their coffee and gossiping.

to keep in mind: it gets crowded on the weekends, particularly on sunday mornings when they serve up their famous mutton stew during a limited time frame. but if you ask me, it’s always worth the wait.

will i go back? do you even have to ask?

xx