Helen’s Place Marathahalli — Restaurant in Bengaluru

My entire review is concerned with the experience surrounding the basics of dining at a place which can hopefully give the viewers here a holistic view of the place and not be swayed by the Insta ads etc. I took my family out for dinner yesterday after prior booking etc. That was a smooth experience, no issues in reservation. It is when we reached the place did the shortcomings become evident.

Parking/Valet Parking (2 of 5 * ) Valet parking is extremely limited in terms of space and there is a lot of moving around to be done just to get your car in the right spot for the valets to pick it up. The experience is not as hassle free as say, parking at a Roxie or an Ironhill. To add to the chagrin are the third party valet services' terms and conditions - one of which says that even if the valet physically hurts anyone at the time of parking, it is not the valet him/herself but I, who is nowhere near the vehicle at the time of parking, would be responsible. Though i agree its a third party vendor who's providing these services but as the one who hired them in the first place, i believe there should be at least some control here to make the terms more logical.

Ordering/general service (1 of 5 *) The general service/ordering experience is, by far, the most disappointing one overall. Right from the moment you are seated at the table - you are asked to scan a QR code and order. Only issue is, the ordering app doesn't work due to some tech glitch which the staff aren't able to resolve and ultimately they end up taking orders manually (which IMO is still the best way to order. Too much "disruption" via tech isn't the best way going forward). Even after taking the order, MOST of the service staff around us were busy fiddling with their official phones (which i guess would be because of that same technical glitch with other customers too) and didn't even bother to look up and try to take further orders from us on time. Service delays in general is another sore point.

Food (5 of 5 *) The ONLY redeemable aspect was the food, which was simply PERFECT. No feedback there at all. Butter chicken tasted the way it should, same for butter naan and even the lime soda, which most other restaurants fumble to get right, was perfection here.

Ambience (3 of 5 *) Though the folks have tried their best to give it a refreshing ambience and bring in their "vibe", but one can only do so much with a restricted space. Basically, its cramped with very narrow alleys especially in the 2nd floor, limited room for movement, with chairs and tables placed everywhere.

5.Billing (0 of 5) Here is where i feel the service staff were most insincere and borderline dishonest - at the time of billing, they only showed us a soft copy of the bill on their mobile where under "taxes" an amount was mentioned. No detailed breakup of the exact SGST and CGST in that soft copy. I paid upfront in good faith that all the information was genuine and asked for a hard copy post payment. Only when I saw the hard copy of the bill did i realize that a service charge of 7.5 was added by default under that "taxes" in the soft copy w/o informing me of the same. This is unethical, not in good faith and can be considered as a fraudulent practice. Taxes are mandatory and have to be paid but service charges are discretionary and contingent to the level of service offered, which was clearly poor in my case. To club service charge under "taxes" in the soft copy and not inform me of the same at the time of payment is something i consider to be in pathetic taste.

Overall, would i recommend this restaurant to any one ? the answer is a...

Recently visited Helen’s Place with my colleagues and we were genuinely surprised — who would've thought you could recreate such a Greece-like ambience on Outer Ring Road? The vibe is super fresh, summery, and absolutely Insta-worthy 🌞✨

Only catch: if you’re seated facing the ORR, the traffic noise might bother you a bit — but otherwise, ambience is a solid 10/10.

🍴 What We Tried (and Loved) We ordered quite a few things, and honestly, the food exceeded all our expectations. Here's the breakdown: Cheesy Portuguese Garlic Bread – 7/10 Tasted good, looked interesting, but not sure what made it “Portuguese.” Decent start though. Spiced Corn Ribs – 10/10 Must must try! Felt like a fancy Indian street food dish with a slight sweetness that took it up a notch. Also, presentation was 💯 Fior De Latte Cheesy Pizzollo – 10/10 First time trying pizzollo and didn’t know what to expect, but I loved it. Super cheesy with strong pesto flavor. If you love pesto, you’ll enjoy this. Also very filling. Hakka Lo Mein Noodles – not rated (by me) I didn’t try it, but heard it was very spicy — worked well for some of my spice-loving teammates. Cheese-Stuffed Jalapeño Petites – 8/10 Basically modern-day mirchi bada 😂 Full jalapeños stuffed with cheese and deep-fried. Spicy-looking, but not too spicy. Fun to try! Gnocchi Like Me – 3/10 Didn’t try this either, but this was a letdown for most of my colleagues. Sauce was way too salty. Garden Picnic Uramaki (Aburi-style) – 9/10 A type of sushi — fresh and surprisingly good!

🐟 Non-Veg Reviews (from my colleagues): Grilled prawns in Tom Yum emulsionNikkei tempura prawn rollOlek fish in morning gloryAll got really good feedback — apparently flavorful and well-cooked.

🍹 Drinks & 🍰 Desserts We tried Paradiso and Yuuuummmm! (yes, that's the name 😄) Paradiso has a nice spicy kickYuuuummmm is citrusy and light Both were refreshing and nicely presented.Desserts: Brownie Basque Cheesecake – Had orange zest in it. Some might not like that, but I enjoyed it.Tiramisu – Generous portion, creamy and satisfying.

Very decently priced for Bangalore — most dishes are in the ₹300–₹500 range. The place is always full, so service can take time, but it’s understandable.

Definitely worth the hype! Food, ambience, pricing — all of it worked. Highly recommend for group outings, chill evenings, or just when you're craving...

Diwali holidays was the best time visit Helen’s place as there was no traffic on the road but the place was still well packed with crowd for a rainy afternoon lunch. The restaurant is located on the 4th floor and a single elevator takes more time during the peak time.

Let’s get into the restaurant, we were welcomed and given an option to select any place we wanted to sit. Luckly took a nice cozy place and ordered our food. Before I dive into food, it’s not a microbrewery but they offer Toit and Geist beers apart from other liquor beverages.

Here is what we ordered and their rating Kung Pao Chicken : Taste was perfect and after while I got to eat something good. Crispy, chewy perfect blend of sweet and spicy. I would recommend this as a must. Portion size is small. 5/5 Cheesy Portuguese Garlic Bread : We ordered for this item but it felt more like Korean Cheese Bun. Cheese felt like more of cream and bread was extremely hard at the edges. 1/5. Vada Pao Slider : The bread didn’t have the crispness and the bottom was very soggy. The Vada was cold the crust was not even crispy. The inside filling was slightly watery. The masala and chutney inside was good. If they improve the rest it’s one of the best. 2/5 Mint and Coriander Chicken Tikka : Well marinated tender juicy pieces of chicken. Every bite you could feel the mint and heavy portion of coriander leaves marination with onion lime and the mint chutney it was excellent apart from being cold. 4/5 Old Madras Chicken 65 : Typical road side dish the chicken 65 with couple of curry leaves and amazing tasty chicken with not much spicy marinate. It was flavorful. 5/5 Chicken Pesto Bianca Pizza : the dough of the pizza is as awesome and topping there amazing amount of chicken pieces and cheese. Portion size is reasonable. 3.5/5

Overall, I would rate the food at 3.5/5, the main reason for the drop in point is the food was cold as there were less staff and the food comes from ground floor.

Ambiance : Since it was in the afternoon the ambience was ok and wouldn’t say awesome. Night would be beautiful to see. Tables were placed too close to each other so expect no privacy and challenge to move. 3/5

Service, I was greatly disappointed. No one came to give us a PIN, had to wait and the food came late and cold. 8.5% service charge it’s absolutely not worth it. I was expecting a decent...