Bhojohori Manna — Restaurant in Bengaluru

One of the most disappointing experiences I ever had. Being a Bengali spending my Durga Puja in Bangalore, I decided to spend my Maha Navami with friends and have authentic bengali food. Bhijohori Manna was one of the most well known brands other than Oh Calcutta in the city and we zeroed on it. I called them on the morning of 25th October and requested for reserving a table for 3 for lunch. The representative said they aren't accepting reservations and that we can come over and they'll have be serving throughout the day. We reached at the Koramangala outlet around 14:00 hrs and found out that there's a waiting time of an hour and there's only 2 choices for food, veg and non veg platter . We waited. However, the wait lasted for 2hrs 30mins and we were provided with a table at 16:30. Once we were seated, we ordered non-veg platter. That's when we were told that there are items that they have ran out of and they were substituting Paneer with Dhokar Dalna. We were surely not happy when we found out that there are items missing out of a Rs 1000 platter. The bummer came when they substituted Bhetki fish with cheap Rohu/Catla. How's catla(200/kg) a substitute for Bhetki(1500/kg)? I requested the manager on the table and showed him what was going on. The manager could not answer any of my questions and kept mum. So did the waiters. All they said was "don't know". This was just not expected from a brand like Bhijohori Manna. Just to make some money, they kept all their ethics at bay. Firstly, if they didn't have the stock to feed all those visitors, why keep them waiting? They could have just said that we can't serve you and people would have gone someplace else. Secondly, they served food from the previous day which they must have stored as backup and served after reheating when their current day stock was over. I checked very carefully, the Dhokar Dalna was not on the menu of 25th October in either veg or nonveg sections. But it was on the menu of 22nd October. Now, it's highly unlikely that they will prepare something different at 16:30hrs when their current food stock ends. Moreover, it was a predefined menu for Shashti, Saptami, Ashtami and Nobami. Personally, I felt cheated and had a very bad experience with the wait time, food, service and service recovery. That's almost what any restaurant has to offer. I'm not going back to them ever and would highly suggest the ones reading this review to...

We went to BHM Koramangla for lunch today. Being the first Sunday in the four five days long Durga Puja celebration, we knew there would be waiting involved, and we were given an estimate of one hour when we reached.

First pleasant surprise, we got our table in forty minutes instead of sixty. Next good thing is BHManna has done away with a larger carte during this period. So the choice is simple - veg thali or non veg thali. For all the days of Durga Puja , they have a series of set menus, with good range of variations. Third, the glass/metal cutlery has been replaced by one time use leaf plates. So staff are not spending time on washing utensils but focussing on the food and the guest. Fourth, the thalis are shareable!! So four of us ordered three thalis, and still had to carry food home. Fifth, if u have a large appetite, u can order three daily specials separately, and u can also order for repeats (on payment). Today, from the three specials offered to us, we ordered CHITOL maach, which is a delicacy for Bangalis. Additionally we ordered for one basanti polao.

Finally, the food itself. Our set menu for today was white rice, basanti polao, daal with peas, alu bhaja (potato fritters), echor chingri (jackfruit with shrimp), Barisali Ilish (hilsa), Mutton kosha, date anarosh chaatni, sondesh, roshogolla, and paan. Phew!! Apart from the extent of the spread, every item on theenu was cooked well and served with care. I dare say this is the best Bangali food I have had in Bangalore in the last 12 years.

The bonus we got over and above the above was because of the operational hacks mentioned above, the staff were all in a pleasant and extra helpful/polite mood. I can especially bouch for the wonderful treatment we were given by Krishna and Dipak.

If u want to savor great Bangali food in a soothing ambience in the heart of the city, head straight to...

We had food two times at this overhyped Bengali restaurant, dinner and lunch. On Dinner we had the following items:

Starter: a) Bhetki Fish Kabiraji: Poor in Quality. Fried in used oil and hence tasted bitter. b) Mustard Sauce (Kasundi): poor Quality.

Main Course: a) Steam Basmati Rice: Good Quality but has the tendency to serve the mix of cold and hot one.

b) Jhoor Jhoore Aloo Bhaja (Grated Potato Fries): Crunchy and Crispy. Go for it.

c) Jhinge Aloo Posto: Tasty and saviour. A light note of low raw mustard oil is used in it and thus tasted sharp on your tongue. Good.

d) Moong Dal with Macher Matha: Tasted nice. Quality item. Try it.

e) Katla Macher Kalia: Pathetic in taste. Gravy is a slurp of masala only. Fish quality is poor. Jholer Alu is boiled in water only, not fried and thus gives an odd smell.

f) Mutton Kosa: In order to make the mutton tender, it has been processed in vinegar, and thus the mutton have loosed the juicyness of it's own. Besides the gravy too was prepared separately. Average.

g) Aam er chutney: A good one as the last item. Savoury.

LUNCH: Based on the dinner experience, we decided to go for a vegetarian dish. Repeated the veg. items of last dinner. Only change was:

1. Vegetable Moong Daal: It contained small fried cauliflower pieces and boiled green peas, which has made the daal tasty.

Non Veg items could have improved. Price for some dishes are pocket friendly, few are overpriced (Bhetki...