This restaurant in Bangalore, stands on an island triangle, surrounded by roads on all three sides. It is located in the heart of Bangalore, on St. Mark’s road, close to the famous MG Road. From the outside, it is a dilapidated looking building, a full reflection of its present age.
The inside is also old world; the owners have deliberately not changed the decor. The building houses two restaurants. One is called Parade Cafe; established in 1952 an informal place, reminiscent of the college canteen cum coffee house, with no a/c. They serve the most delicious sandwiches and cutlets here. But the service is old world and slow and there is so much chatter that you really can’t hear the person sitting next to you. But it is very popular and it is difficult to get a table during the weekends.
The owners of Koshy’s are from Kerala and so its no surprise that their breakfast of Appam and stew is much sought after. For Bangaloreans, it’s almost a tradition to head to Koshy’s to have Appam and stew; on the menu only for Sunday breakfast. We have tried twice to catch this, but on both occasions the Appams were sold out.
Right opposite to the Parade Cafe in the same building is the second restaurant called the Jewel Box. It’s everything the other one is not. In 1962, the Jewel Box opened doors as an a/c restaurant in town. The Jewel Box opens by 12:00 pm for lunch. And we were there. The restaurant was relatively empty, unlike it’s counterpart opposite.
Glimpses of history presented in the menu.
We tried the Cream of Chicken soup, Ghee rice, Mutton Korma, Kerala style chicken pepper fry.
For dessert we tried the Mango Cheesecake.
The food at Jewel Box was only average, nothing exceptional. The Parade Cafe has the bulk of the crowd. It’s the history of the place that is a standout and not to forget the Appam and stew…..still elusive 🙂
Happy dining !!
