There's only so much of ignorance you can afford when a new restaurant pops up in town. Especially when people start raving about its food, when it is in a convenient location like Indiranagar, and when the man behind it is Manu Chandra, a chef Bangalore loves.
So it was no surprise that my sister and I decided earlier last week that we needed to find time over the weekend to visit Fatty Bao to enter Asian food heaven. The gastro bar opened a fortnight ago in Indiranagar, next door to Monkey Bar (run by the same management). We visited on a Sunday night with no reservation because that's how much of a smart ass I was as I believed Sunday night wouldn't be too crowded at 7:30 pm. WRONG!
We couldn't find a table on the 3rd floor, so we were seated upstairs, in the terrace area. I actually liked this better, the top floor looked much nicer, and while I would have liked to be seated at one of the empty tables (every single table was reserved), we made do with being seated at the bar. I generally don't mind bar seating, I have a strange penchant for bar stools, but that's only when I'm in a let's-get-guzzling-mood, which I wasn't sadly, on a Sunday night.
We had to get started with getting us some Bao (open faced steam buns). In all honesty, the delectable picture of the pork belly Bao that Kunal Chandra had put up on Facebook recently made me nearly cry at work and make me want to visit the place at the earliest. Damn that guy with his amazing food pictures! So, as I was saying, we got started with a meaty Bao, the rolls and the salmon carpaccio. My friend and I ordered a beer while my sister ordered the Micky Ninja, one of their signature cocktails - vodka shaken with muddled fresh orange slices and cucumber with a dash of Jameson whisky. It was fresh and lovely, though I found the cucumber taste to be a little too dominant for my liking, and dash of whiskey would be quite accurate.
We waited nearly 30 minutes for our first dish to arrive, and we were pretty frustrated by then. We were famished, and after half an hour, our first dish, the Salmon Carpaccio finally made its appearance. Delicate slices of salmon with ginger & garlic juice, soy, yuzu and topped with sliced jalapeno and radish made for a pretty sight. And while it was delicious, it was over in exactly 2 bites. I would have liked the carpaccio to be a bit thinner, I personally found the salmon to have a bit too much of body here.
Another ten minutes and a lot of bothering-our-server later, our food finally turned up (with the rat race in our tummies and estimating the long wait for our food, we ordered a few more dishes while waiting). First up, the dish that had me drooling at my laptop screen all week - Char Siu Bao, BBQ pork belly and green apple kimchi in Hoisin sauce in a Bao. One bite of this and I had angels singing "Hallelujah!" inside my head. It was THAT good. Pork is my favourite meat, so this may be a little biased, but you won't regret ordering this dish. The pork is succulent, meaty and melts in your mouth. Hoisin sauce also renders it a nice sweet, salty and tangy taste that I enjoy, so I'm giving you the heads up anyway. Also, this is messy. Ensure you're not ordering this on a first date or anything (unless your date would devour this messily too, in which case GAME ON!).
This was promptly followed by the California Roll - your standard fare of cucumber and crab meat in a Sushi roll sprinkled with Tobiko (flying fish roe). This didn't disappoint, and was light and fresh. And as you may have guessed, disappeared in 60 seconds.
My sister and I enjoy duck and since there are not too many places in town that serve good duck, we decided to experiment with the duck-based dishes at Fatty Bao. They had two options - the Crispy Duck Spring Rolls and the pan-fried Bao with duck. We told our server to give us what he felt was the best, and he served us the Sheng Jian Bao (steamed buns pan fried on a cast iron) with duck in Hoisin and spring onion. I will be called the layman here, but these tasted like regular pot stickers with duck meat that failed to leave a mark. That, or maybe my expectations were too high, but I wasn't its biggest fan. With only four Baos, this was the only dish that didn't fly within a minute, with the last steamed Bao being untouched.
Since we generally like Sushi rolls, we ordered a couple more - the Spicy Tuna Tartare and the Prawn Tempura. Delicious, and also disappeared 60 seconds later. I felt that I could have 12 plates of the rolls and still continue to eat with no shame whatsoever.
We were almost done, when we decided to order another Bao - with Braised Beef Cheeks, because who doesn't like beef cheeks? Stuffed with pickled radish, pickled red onion and cucumber, the flavour and texture of the beef cheeks stood out. The richness of the meat with the acidity of the pickled veggies combined very well to create a delicious dish. Having said that, I still prefer the BBQ pork belly Bao to the beef cheeks, but you could give the latter a try if you like to experiment (P.S. Bao take at least about 15 - 25 minutes for preparation, I was told later).
I think we were finally full (were we?), and the place was packed by the time we left (which was around 10 30 pm) Our bill for all of the above came up to Rs.4000 for 3 people that included 3 beers and a cocktail. While all the dishes are priced between Rs.250 - 400, since the portions are small, they might not exactly 'fill' you up. And well, I guess that comes with being a gastro bar, because the idea is to serve you bar food with bar style portions. I'm a heavy eater, so maybe my opinion shouldn't always apply to the general bar-going crowd. ;)
My rating:
Food - 8/10
Ambience - 6/10
Service - 5.5/10
Verdict: If Asian food is your thing and you like to experiment, then give this place a go. Visit for yummy Baos and meat cooked to perfection, but be willing to patiently wait and settle for smaller portions.
I would definitely visit Fatty Bao again, they've won me over with their food. And I'm hoping my next visit doesn't have such a high wait period. Also, the music is a little too low-key for me. It almost sounds like it's a jazz lounge for the hoity toity, but I'll save my judgment on that. The tempo could be brought up though, since good music is key to a bar's overall ambience.
Fatty Bao is located at: 610, 3rd Floor, Above Monkey Bar, 12th Main, Indiranagar, Bangalore
Phone: 080-4513-3582 (please make a reservation)
Parking: Parking space available in the bylanes of Indiranagar
So it was no surprise that my sister and I decided earlier last week that we needed to find time over the weekend to visit Fatty Bao to enter Asian food heaven. The gastro bar opened a fortnight ago in Indiranagar, next door to Monkey Bar (run by the same management). We visited on a Sunday night with no reservation because that's how much of a smart ass I was as I believed Sunday night wouldn't be too crowded at 7:30 pm. WRONG!
We couldn't find a table on the 3rd floor, so we were seated upstairs, in the terrace area. I actually liked this better, the top floor looked much nicer, and while I would have liked to be seated at one of the empty tables (every single table was reserved), we made do with being seated at the bar. I generally don't mind bar seating, I have a strange penchant for bar stools, but that's only when I'm in a let's-get-guzzling-mood, which I wasn't sadly, on a Sunday night.
We had to get started with getting us some Bao (open faced steam buns). In all honesty, the delectable picture of the pork belly Bao that Kunal Chandra had put up on Facebook recently made me nearly cry at work and make me want to visit the place at the earliest. Damn that guy with his amazing food pictures! So, as I was saying, we got started with a meaty Bao, the rolls and the salmon carpaccio. My friend and I ordered a beer while my sister ordered the Micky Ninja, one of their signature cocktails - vodka shaken with muddled fresh orange slices and cucumber with a dash of Jameson whisky. It was fresh and lovely, though I found the cucumber taste to be a little too dominant for my liking, and dash of whiskey would be quite accurate.
 |
| Micky Ninja! |
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| Salmon Carpaccio |
Another ten minutes and a lot of bothering-our-server later, our food finally turned up (with the rat race in our tummies and estimating the long wait for our food, we ordered a few more dishes while waiting). First up, the dish that had me drooling at my laptop screen all week - Char Siu Bao, BBQ pork belly and green apple kimchi in Hoisin sauce in a Bao. One bite of this and I had angels singing "Hallelujah!" inside my head. It was THAT good. Pork is my favourite meat, so this may be a little biased, but you won't regret ordering this dish. The pork is succulent, meaty and melts in your mouth. Hoisin sauce also renders it a nice sweet, salty and tangy taste that I enjoy, so I'm giving you the heads up anyway. Also, this is messy. Ensure you're not ordering this on a first date or anything (unless your date would devour this messily too, in which case GAME ON!).
 |
| Char Siu Bao - OMNOMNOMNOMNOM! |
This was promptly followed by the California Roll - your standard fare of cucumber and crab meat in a Sushi roll sprinkled with Tobiko (flying fish roe). This didn't disappoint, and was light and fresh. And as you may have guessed, disappeared in 60 seconds.
 |
| California Roll |
My sister and I enjoy duck and since there are not too many places in town that serve good duck, we decided to experiment with the duck-based dishes at Fatty Bao. They had two options - the Crispy Duck Spring Rolls and the pan-fried Bao with duck. We told our server to give us what he felt was the best, and he served us the Sheng Jian Bao (steamed buns pan fried on a cast iron) with duck in Hoisin and spring onion. I will be called the layman here, but these tasted like regular pot stickers with duck meat that failed to leave a mark. That, or maybe my expectations were too high, but I wasn't its biggest fan. With only four Baos, this was the only dish that didn't fly within a minute, with the last steamed Bao being untouched.
 |
| Sheng Jian Bao |
Since we generally like Sushi rolls, we ordered a couple more - the Spicy Tuna Tartare and the Prawn Tempura. Delicious, and also disappeared 60 seconds later. I felt that I could have 12 plates of the rolls and still continue to eat with no shame whatsoever.
 |
| Spicy Tuna Tartare and Prawn Tempura rolls |
We were almost done, when we decided to order another Bao - with Braised Beef Cheeks, because who doesn't like beef cheeks? Stuffed with pickled radish, pickled red onion and cucumber, the flavour and texture of the beef cheeks stood out. The richness of the meat with the acidity of the pickled veggies combined very well to create a delicious dish. Having said that, I still prefer the BBQ pork belly Bao to the beef cheeks, but you could give the latter a try if you like to experiment (P.S. Bao take at least about 15 - 25 minutes for preparation, I was told later).
 |
| Bao with Braised Beef Cheeks |
I think we were finally full (were we?), and the place was packed by the time we left (which was around 10 30 pm) Our bill for all of the above came up to Rs.4000 for 3 people that included 3 beers and a cocktail. While all the dishes are priced between Rs.250 - 400, since the portions are small, they might not exactly 'fill' you up. And well, I guess that comes with being a gastro bar, because the idea is to serve you bar food with bar style portions. I'm a heavy eater, so maybe my opinion shouldn't always apply to the general bar-going crowd. ;)
My rating:
Food - 8/10
Ambience - 6/10
Service - 5.5/10
Verdict: If Asian food is your thing and you like to experiment, then give this place a go. Visit for yummy Baos and meat cooked to perfection, but be willing to patiently wait and settle for smaller portions.
I would definitely visit Fatty Bao again, they've won me over with their food. And I'm hoping my next visit doesn't have such a high wait period. Also, the music is a little too low-key for me. It almost sounds like it's a jazz lounge for the hoity toity, but I'll save my judgment on that. The tempo could be brought up though, since good music is key to a bar's overall ambience.
Fatty Bao is located at: 610, 3rd Floor, Above Monkey Bar, 12th Main, Indiranagar, Bangalore
Phone: 080-4513-3582 (please make a reservation)
Parking: Parking space available in the bylanes of Indiranagar
