ITP Indian Travel Places: Food, Travel, Tourism Business Events and Trade Shows
Phone: 080 49652640
Address: 909 SKAV, 21st floor, Lavelle Road, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Time: 12:30 PM – 1 AM
Meals for two: Rs. 3,000
Cuisines: Asian, Japanese, Thai
Facilities: Full Bar Available, Keto Options, Smoking Area, Nightlife, Outdoor Seating, Private Dining Area Available, Gluten Free Options, Table reservation required, Restricted Entry, Rooftop, Serves Cocktails, Free Wifi, City View
Kaze, Lavelle Road, Bengaluru: Decor
Kaze is perched on the 21st floor of a building at the end of Lavelle Road. It’s a huge sprawl with a formal seating area on one side and a lounge on the other, where a circular bar and an al fresco space serve as buzzing hubs for the party set. There’s a view of the town from up there and you can feel the breeze, making for a pleasant setting, especially at night.
Kaze, Lavelle Road, Bengaluru: Food
The menu is Asian, with an emphasis on Japanese dishes. We began with the Kyoto Mushrooms — shiitake, enoki and straw mushrooms had been tossed in sake butter and the large, earthy pile was served with no other adornment. If that sounds simple, it tasted superb and was one of the star dishes of the evening for me. Similarly spectacular was the Oyster Tempura (not often spotted on menus) and here presented in elegant fashion. Continuing the Japanese theme, we had a platter of Mixed Maki Rolls — it held a very nice vegetarian one with fresh chillies and pickled radish, which I preferred over the tuna and softshell crab with salmon.
I had the Thai Crab Cakes next. They come on sticks of lemongrass and were tasty, though I thought there was a fair bit of prawn added to the crabmeat. The mango chilli sauce that accompanied it was a tad sweet. The Duck Spring Rolls were an interesting twist on the classic Peking duck wrapped in pancakes and tasted delicious.
My companion, who was vegetarian, rated the veg Dim Sum highly and chose a comforting Ramen Bowl for main course. I ate the Pork Belly with Poached Egg, which is an appetizer, but served me very well as a main course. The meat was meltingly tender, buttery and ever so lightly caramelised.
I was glad I succumbed to the temptation to order dessert. The Thai Chilli Snowball was an ice cream filled meringue shell sitting atop more chilli-flavoured ice cream. The meringue globe is cracked open at the table and coconut milk is poured on over the multi-hued cubes of sweetened waterchestnut and fruit scattered across the platter.
While I welcomed this piece of tableside drama, the Kaze cocktails, which are much talked about, had too much going on about them for me. My 3 Minutes In Thyme (gin, sake, chamomile, bergamot, thyme, gingerginseng blend) came in a glass that nestled in a massive bowl filled with ice and blue orchids. A reading light had been clipped on to the edge of the bowl and the whole arrangement sat on a 12-inch tray covered with what looked like synthetic grass. I’m aware that restaurant and bar offerings must now have Insta appeal, but I would any day choose a cocktail that comes in a glass I can hold in one hand.
Kaze, Lavelle Road, Bengaluru: Service
Service went smoothly and the dishes arrived at a steady pace, but we didn’t feel rushed.
Kaze, Lavelle Road, Bengaluru: Plus & Minus
Kaze has the setting going for it. There are lots of delicious dishes you can pick out from the menu which is bewilderingly long. But this is a super pricey place. Cocktails go up to ₹900.
