The comforting din of a chuk-chuk lulls you as you enter this brightly lit, kitsch poster child of vegetarian cuisine. Helmed by the enterprising Amit Ahuja of AA Hospitality, who is behind The Open Box and Misu, comes, in what is becoming a trend, a pure vegetarian restaurant… and no tipple. Bringing tapas from stations across the globe, the stand-alone Housefull is on Railway Parallel Road so one watch the trains pass by, like the Bengaluru of old.
We liked our first impression, the yellow scooter with a side seat buggey, wooden cinema chairs, a wall of posters from a bygone era, and an installation of Amitabh Bachchan, painted by a Mumbai artist, on a board of, would you believe it, 2500 audio cassettes? Wacky. The cassette art work is incredible. The idea, you might ask? After pubs, lounges, gastro and alcohol spaces have fallen over each other to announce their arrival, Amit went searching. For an idea that is a first in this part of town, its soul food in a chic identity for vegetarians with a special ‘J’ marked on the menu for Jain food options too. What we liked was that finally there is a swanky space for those who have been grossly overlooked in the race to be cool - the pure vegetarian who is uncomfortable with alcohol.
Meal for two: Rs 1,000
It is helmed by the able Chef Sheikh and Ahuja has turned serial hospitality maverick with his third venture… and interior designer too, as he has designed the clean, minimal and kitschy lines.
“As a society, many families in this area are mostly vegetarian and have a non-vegetarian day of the week on most occasions. Trying to figure out concepts, I wanted to create a seven day business as the one reason a night club is not what I would open, is because it is a two day business, quite undependable. Which was also how Misu came about. To give comfort food. We give people vegetarian heroes in unique avatars. And since there many who don’t like going to places that serve liquor or non-vegetarian, I wanted to cater to that crowd,” says Amit Ahuja, who then decided to bring different cuisines of vegetarian.
Ahuja also wanted to bust the myth that veg food is only Indian or desi. So there is Mexican, American, Asian, Italian and of course Indian. We started with a curry leaf imbued cold chaas light, delicious. We had the aam panna, as we looked longingly at the kala khatta and masala evoking childhood memories. The spin on the aam panna with soda, and the taste was off. We are essentially traditional by nature fusion does not sit lightly with us.
The puchkas with chaas, jaljeera and imli ka paani were good, tasty and tangy, though the real gol gappas of yesteryears would be better.
Then came a slew of Indian street food. We started with the pav bhaji which was mouth watering and so so homecooked. The rain outside helped as we chomped away, happily. The baby pav (very cute) dunked into bhaji doused in butter, we were licking our fingers, and plates (with no one watching, of course).
The vada pav was good, with a nice fried chilli, some saunth ki chutney would be nicer. The khakra nachos, an interesting twist to the nacho filled with paneer was delicious, topped with onion and tomato salsa.
The cheeseling bhel, a good idea… has to be had there and then, or else it turns soggy, a punch of imli ki chutney, would be nice, please. The menu has bits and bobs from a Multi cuisine taste trail. Amit also wants to promote a vegetarian tapas habit instead of our penchant for heavy main courses. Good idea. “The idea is also to have lots of appetisers so one does not feel the need for a main course. We’d like to suggest a change in the way we look at eating instead of ordering two large dishes…. Also people love variety,” Amit adds.
The space itself is beautiful, spacious and has a kind of comforting feel to it, and the team also plans on opening an outside seating, maybe with clean hygienic chaat. There are plans afoot to open another outlet too.
For mains, we had the paneer makhani pie which was surprisingly interesting, and delicious. the channa bhatura, was good, though the channa masala was average. We also had the palak pulav with small cubes of paneer that was akin to what “mama” would have made. They get their paneer from Mumbai, so do taste the paneer dishes. And for dessert it was Jaggery icecream that was subtle with crunch, and a fusion pista kulfi with bournvita glaze and caramel popcorn. We did not care much for it. Would have loved the traditional with falooda kulfi.
Ahuja is also entering Indiranagar with all systems go soon, with an upmarket Indian restaurant with great cocktails where Red Fork used to be. Misu, too, and a swanky bar as well. The young and raring to go entrepreneur plans 20 Misu’s across India, and has many ideas up his creative sleeve. We liked the place and service. Food was alright, could be better, given it’s what will attract people, and the ambience is fantastic. It’s a place where vegetarian gets its tapas trail, and might make the oorean think beyond a tipple fiesta.
