Karavalli restaurant

Bangalore -  Breakfast was complimentary and a very good spread of Indian cuisine.  The waiter at Hyatt restaurant was very good and tended to my every needs, kudos to them for this Indian hospitality.

Dinner was at Karavalli restaurant - a popular Indian fine dining restaurant located at The Gateway Hotel - a short distance from Hyatt Bangalore.   The decor and ambiance of this restaurant brings you back to ancient Indian times.

signboard along the corridor

This restaurant specialise in seafood, so we chose 2 seafood dishes and a mutton dish.

Sungatache Kodi

This is tiger prawns cooked in spicy Indian curry.   There were only 3 medium size tiger prawns fresh and nicely cooked, not so spicy.

Mutton curry

The mutton was very tender and delicious; and the curry was not too hot.

Chevod Blachao

This is a lobster dish prepared in pickle masala with very hot and spicy chillies from Goa; and Goa vinegar.   It was so chilli hot that I sweat was dripping down my face.    The chilli and masala masked any freshness of the lobster meat.  

Value for money:  Too expensive
Ambiance: Excellent
Worth a 2nd visit: I doubt it

Oko restaurant

Bangalore -  Oko that is the name of this restaurant and it received rave reviews and wanted to see this for myself.   I got the front desk to book a reservation for Lesley and myself @ 7pm; also got the hotel car booked as well.   We got down to the Lobby @ 6.30pm but reached The Lalit Askhok hotel only at around 7:15pm due to the heavy traffic.

The restaurant was on the 6th floor of the Lalit Askhok hotel and we were the first guest being greeted by rows of waiter and waitresses.

Apart of the heat, dust and noise - Indian dining experience is a notch above restaurants in Singapore.   We were greeted politely and shown to our seats.  Furthermore, throughout the meal the waiter tended to us asking how was the meal; whether we are ready for the next meal, and a sous chef was always around to chat with us.

This restaurant is big with an indoor concept and a very nice outdoor dining area.  Initially we sat outside but the warm weather coupled with 'unfriendly' bugs made us change our mind.

Outdoor dining

huge outdoor sofas for a relaxing evening

The indoor was good - air condition - the menu is Asian Fusion - Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Singapore food.    They have a spread of sushi menu but I stay clear of raw food in India.

Soup

Clear soup of Lemon coriander and seafood - it was good with fresh pieces of prawns and scallops.

Grilled lamb

The grilled lamb was grilled and so tender.   The meat was marinated well and the taste was really delicious and succulent.

served Phad Thai

The waiter served our Phad Thai Khun "Thai noodle with prawns".   Very different from the usual Phad Thai with more taste of tomato sauce looking from the colour of the noodles.   It is still a bit spicy but maybe blended to the Indian taste buds.

vegetables

I ordered asparagus and shitake mushrooms initially but the sous chef came and told us that the asparagus was too small and not good - and suggested us a 'customised' dish with green beans, bak choy, taufu instead.   It turned out well a bit salty due to the generous oyster sauce.

Tab Tim Grob

A favourite Thai desert also called 'Red Ruby' - water chestnut wrapped in red sugar, coconut and chilled it with ice shavings.   This desert was too rich and generous in coconut milk.   Half the amount of the coconut milk would have suffice as a good desert.

The Oko restaurant toilet is also a talk of the town....

A very nice decorative toilet which I think the best in India - cool, chic and modern.

Value for money:  Expensive for Thai food
Ambiance: Excellent
Worth a 2nd visit:  Maybe if there are no other food choice

Just arrived Bangalore

Bangalore - Upon arriving Bangalore, the heat and dust outside the airport was unbearable.  It took a considerable 1.5hrs to reach Hyatt Bangalore due to the heavy traffic jam.  Car and buses were trying to cut into each other lanes just to get ahead and in the process honing non-stop.  My taxi driver was trying to strike a conversation with me but I was not in a mood; furthermore straining hard to understand his broken English.

I was so glad to see Hyatt Bangalore - the room air con was cool to the right temperature and decor clean and neat.   Waited for Lesley till lunch.

Lunch

We ordered Ala carte and the food was good.   Butter chicken, mix vegetables and lamb (top dish) with Basmati rice and roti.

Golden Century Seafood

Sydney - We decided to go to Golden Century Restaurant, this Chinese seafood restaurant on 393 Sussex Road, which is on our hotel road many blocks down.   This is a big 2 floors restaurant and we sat on the first floor, near the live fish tanks.

When I flipped through their live seafood menu, wow! the prices are like out of this world - very expensive.  A$127 for 1kg of live prawns.  The cheapest was the mud crab @ A$68 for 1kg.  They also have a minimum charge of A$20 per person.

We chose the food from their Ala carte menu much reasonably priced and the food is good too.

prawns with onions

The prawns are big and very fresh, it is unique stir-fired with onions.

King mushrooms with vegetables

Value for money:  Very expensive
Ambiance: Reasonable and clean
Worth a 2nd visit:  Maybe if there are no other seafood in mind...

Opal and Australia

Sydney - We walked along Pitt Street and came across 'The National Opal Collection" and their showroom.  Quite an interesting array of Opal collections.

Just as Jade is to China, Opal is to Australia.  Opal is the national gemstone of Australia, producing 97% of world's opal.

Sydney Opera House Tour - UNESCO site

Sydney - After our morning business meeting, we took a leisurely stroll to the Sydney Opera House about 1km from our hotel.   We did not break a sweat under the cool and windy Sydney weather.  Upon reaching Sydney Opera House, it started to drizzle and rain and stop for a few minutes enough to get across quickly to the ticket counter.   We booked the Sydney Opera House walking tour which lasted for 1hr and conducted in English.   At 3pm, a sizeable number of ticket holders were waiting for the tour guide.  It was very organized and handled.   There were headphones being handed out to the group so that the tour guide and speak softly and all can be heard.

It was a good educational tour of the Sydney Opera House - I visited their drama halls, studio and finally their huge theatre.  Fortunately, a ballet rehearsal was taking place which we manage to catch a glimpse of it.

Studio Hall

retractable chairs

Harbour Bridge

Sydney Opera House

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Sydney - It was a cold and windy day which deserves a nice walk to the park, it took us about 10 minutes of brisk walking down Market Street to the Art Gallery of New South Wales.   This Art Museum is one of Australia's leading and very popular among locals and tourist alike.  Located at along Art Gallery Road and it's free admission.  Every Wednesday it closes at 10pm.

The Art Gallery of NSW is Sydney's fine art gallery and was establised in 1871.  The Gallery presents a fine collection of both national and international artwork from 19th century Australian works to European masters.

Some of the Art Gallery interesting art pieces of works.

Pablo Picasso art

Music of Art

The Art Gallery cafe serves good deserts and coffee.  Sitting outside in the nice and beautiful weather sipping coffee was very nice.

Dark Chocolate Brownie

a pair of scones and my cup of cuppacino

We walked back to Darling Harbour to try our luck for some good Australian seafood and came across Cyren restaurant.   We ordered the seafood platter.

Cyren Seafood platter for 2

There was fresh oysters, cooked mussels, cold prawns, batter fried calamaris, prawns and soft shell crabs.   The battered fried seafood was half the platter which was not pleasing as I was expecting more fresh seafood.  

Searock Grill on The Rocks

Sydney - What a beautiful morning in Sydney - cold and windy.  Instead of having breakfast around our hotel - we took a taxi to our customer - Optus which has a huge campus and many restaurants and cafe.

Darling Harbour from my window

For dinner, we went to The Rocks - a beautiful location along Circular Quay overlooking the Harbour bridge.   We chose this restaurant Searock Grill - hoping they have a wide selection of seafood but was limited and instead we went for their steaks.   We were not disappointed with our selection - it was exquisite and succulent.

Sydney local beer 

This is brewed by Rocks Brewing Company - an Australian owned and brewed company based out of Sydney.  A refreshing and light beer, just nice for our steak and oysters.  We ordered 5 Kilpatrick and 5 natural Oysters.

Kilpatrick Oysters

Natural Australian oysters

Lesley steak

220g Eye fillet medium rare, with mushroom sauce and nice bowl of fresh salad.
A beef tenderloin, known as Eye fillet in Australia and New Zealand.

My Scotch Fillet

250g Scotch fillet, with mushroom sauce and also very fresh bowl of salad

I had to check online what is Scotch fillet and it is actually a term used only in Australia for Ribeye.  The beef steak from the Rib of the beef rib.   The difference is obvious by taste and not by sight as both look char-grilled from the outside.  I took bite off Lesley tenderloin and it obviously tasted tender!

Nice Italian restaurant

Sydney - It was a full flight on SQ and there was no choice left but a middle seat on the exit row.   At least I had leg room.   I was dozing on and off, watched 2 movies and 2 meals and soon, the captain was announcing the arrival into Sydney.

Sydney International airport had e-immigration for approved countries and Singapore is one of them.   I just scanned my passport, got a ticket and walked pass a gate to another gate for a photo take; that's all completed in less than 8 minutes.   Picked up my luggage, zipped through customs and hand over the ticket.   I really liked the e-immigration system.

I waited for another 30 minutes for Lesley and both of us catch the taxi to Four Points Sheraton Hotel.    I never stayed here before -  the rooms are clean and new.  The wireless internet is fast.   It's located near Darling Harbour.   My room faces the beautiful harbour.

We were hungry and walked down King Street and found this Italian restaurant - Vapiano.

It is a German restaurant franchise chain serving Italian food.   At the cashier you pick up a smart card that will record what you ordered.  When I finish my dinner, I handed over the smart card and the cashier will tally how much we have ordered and pay for it.

Margerita Pizza

Olio Olio pasta with prawns

Very delicious and fresh pasta but a bit too dry for me, so I had to add Olive oil to my pasta.  The pizza was nicely baked, thin crusted and crispy.

Value for money:  Reasonable
Ambiance: Good and clean
Worth a 2nd visit: Yes!

night view of Darling Harbour from my room