eat happy

Eat Happy - the tag line of a very happy looking eating place called "Mast Kalandar". For some reason I really like this place coz whenever I go there, I never return anything less than ‘happy’J. I remember when the place had newly opened on Bannerghatta road; a very café sort of look with bright colors used everywhere, lot of orange and yellow…the chairs are orange too. It looked like a good place to go to if you want to get into a sunny mood. I hadn’t gone there for a long time as I was not sure about the kind of food there.
I went there for the first time some months ago after I got married and after I was tired of cooking dinner every weekday :). As soon as I entered, I realized it’s a ‘hatke’ (different) place…starting from the menu to the method of ordering. The menu is put up on a colorful wall behind the counter. You don’t get your menu and don’t get to order from table but you do get food served on the table. That was a new one! But the menu is so exciting that it compensates for the inconvenience, if at all you can call it that. There is a parathas section with some interesting parathas called Tom, Dick, Harry or Healthy Sprouts, Cheesy Spring Onion and more… Then there are combos with kulcha or rotis in combination with some sabzi, dal, salad and chutney. Then there is a rice section with the likes of rajma-chawal, kadhi-chawal, biryani. You also have a few starters, few drinks like aam panna, mango lassi and desserts.
As you would have guessed, it is a completely North Indian vegetarian restaurant…one of the few in Bangalore which serve authentic North Indian food at affordable prices. There are times when it’s been a hard day in office or I feel like eating something really nice, I end up coming here. The dal makhni which they serve with most combos is really good. I never had the parathas. I am not much of a paratha fan coz of the oil and ghee layered on it. There are healthy options available too. There is also the saag, makke ki roti combo.
The food served is piping hot and has a very fresh taste. I can go on and on about the food. Before I forget to mention the other good things about the place, let me tell you about them. The place has a friendly feeling with the waiters very good at their work...neither ignoring nor crowding you. There are magazines, newspapers kept there and people spend time here relaxing over a good and healthy meal. You might even be reminded of 'maa ke haath ka khana'. It is an ideal place to go when you want to eat food which has a home cooked taste and at the same time want to go to a proper clean restaurant.