Food melas bring crowds to bylanes

From haleem to camel meat and grilled prawns to shahi tukda, Ramzan food stalls across the city had them all.

The streets of the city turn into a foodie’s paradise during Ramzan. Stalls have sprung up in Fraser Town, Russell Market, Bannerghatta Road,
Koramangala and Shivajinagar and are offering traditional and exotic Iftaar treats like brain fry, chicken samosa, chilli beef and camel meat, among others.
While some areas have dedicated streets for Iftaar goodies, stalls are set up in front of the existing shops in other places.
Over the course of two weeks, Metrolife visited Koramangala, Bannerghatta Road and Frazer Town to check out the buzz and sample the varied fare.

Koramangala

Camel and emu meat is popular at Iftaar stalls.

Popular restaurant chain Empire Hotel has set up a Ramzan food mela in its parking lot, in Koramangala 5th Block. Different eateries have set up stalls there. On the opposite side of the road, a few shops have used up the footpath in front of their restaurant to set up kebab stalls.

At around 8 pm on a Monday evening, the place was crowded with almost no space to move around. We squeezed our way in and were welcomed by the smell of meat dishes, sweets and biryani.

There were about 25 stalls, each with its own speciality, ranging from seafood to mutton and beef. There were many takers for beef and seafood items. Most of the seafood was brought from Russell Market, said one of the stall owners.

There was a crowd to try camel and emu meats too.

The prices start from Rs 150. What took us by surprise is that most stalls here used Google Pay for transactions. We didn’t see this in other places we visited.

Metrolife’s verdict:

Though it was crowded, the customers maintained decorum and there was no ruckus. In the two hours we spent there, we hardly saw any litter too.

We recommend the beef, mutton and prawn items. In desserts, the ‘phirni’ and ‘shahi tukda’ were our favourite. We spent about Rs 1,000 trying out everything from kebabs to desserts.

Fraser Town

Haleem is a favourite among non-vegetarians.

Iftaar food hopping is incomplete if you don’t visit one of the most popular and biggest Ramzan food melas in the city — Fraser Town. The place was pretty crowded for a Monday evening.

Even with a sudden downpour, foodies didn’t stop coming to try out the delicacies. One of the stall owners told us they have customers coming from places as far away as Whitefield; sometimes even outside the city.

We first went to MM Road and tried the food at two outlets.

There is no particular street dedicated to stalls here. Each restaurant took over the footpath in the front and set up their stalls. From chicken samosas and pathar-ka-gosht to haleem, this food street had them all.

We loved the chicken biryani, chicken samosa and the desserts. The ‘khubani ka meetha’, an apricot
dessert was a popular choice.

By 8 pm, crowds took over the streets and the dustbins started to overflow. While some of the restaurants kept clearing it on a regular basis, others didn’t bother much.

Metrolife’s verdict: Some of the restaurants priced the items from Rs 60 onwards, while the others kept their rates as high as Rs 200. However, customers didn’t seem to mind as it was a “once in a year experience”. Interestingly, we didn’t find too many here trying out seafood items. Most people visited Fraser Town just to experience the vibe of the festival.

With Eid around the corner, Bengalureans are travelling from everywhere to get a taste of some of these dishes. Most of the items available at these places make an appearance only around this time every year.

Bannerghatta Road

Pathar-ka-gosht was a popular choice in Fraser Town.

Located in the open ground next to Masjid-e-Bilal (Bilal Mosque) on Bannerghatta Road, the Ramzan food mela here felt like a peaceful one after our expedition to Koramangala.

Paid parking is available. Children will have a good time here because of the joy rides and games like balloon shooting. Some of the rides could accommodate adults too.

We went there on a Wednesday evening. The open space accommodated the crowd easily and there were enough chairs and tables for all the customers.
However, we found that most of the spots here were dirty and not managed well. Customers who came here didn’t seem to mind throwing the food waste, plates and cups around their seats. There seemed to be no proper waste disposal.

Though they had pretty much the same items as in Koramangala, there were about 50 stalls here. From exotic meats, mutton, beef and chicken items, it was a meat haven.

Interestingly, there were only about two stalls that served biriyani.

Metrolife’s verdict: We found that the items here were slightly more expensive and even with the open space, it felt dirtier and smelly.

We spent around Rs 1,200, which included some kebabs to take home too.

We recommend Umali bread pudding, haleem and chicken kebabs here. The mutton served here was softer, so go ahead and indulge yourself.