We had been to Chikpete to finalize the cards for kids threading ceremony. It was tough experience though. They have limited template for threading ceremony. We chose one of the card and went to designer shop. The card vendor is different and printing is owned by another vendor. We spent almost an hour or more bargaining and negotiating with printing vendor to match the card to our design.
Wife gruelled the vendor to match up to her expectation. The vendor too was non-cooperative which is normal in chikpete I heard. Despite having array of card shops, the vendors are adamant to stick to their template. They are not willing to budge from their standard design. Deviating from standard design will increase their work which they want to avoid. They charge GST on cards as well but provide individual UPI account instead of merchant account for payment. Quite doubtful if they file GST returns 🙂.
Along with vendor, I too got tired listening to their heated argument. Finally, both of them wrapped up on a well-integrated design. The count of cards, print was finalised. We did the full payment including GST. He said we would DUNZO the finished cards to our home. The carrier charges have to be paid by us though!
I would say, not worth spending time here. We had no options since travelling to native to print cards would be more expensive than in Bengaluru. The argument with vendor was tiresome but was worth since his design & content were extremely deviating. Moreover, the vendor wasn't very flexible, as if we were asking for the cards for free. We were even charged for the wastage and samples.
Chikpete card shops need lot of discussions and arguments to make it right. They are stubborn to retain their template. If you have cheaper option in native, that would be best choice. Wandering through chikpete would be tiring and dissastisfying due to vendor attitude
Tired after selecting and editing the invitation card for kid's threading ceremony, the famished soul was angst with deprived energy. The only evening option in Balepete was the iconic Shri Krishna Bhavan. It would be our maiden visit to this eatery.
On a calm Saturday evening, we entered the retro looking eatery with hope of finding satisfactory food. The dhoti wrapped servants transformed us to Bangalore of bygone days
We ordered Masala Dosay followed by Tea. While we adults ate one full plate, the kids had half plate each. The servant was kind enough to cut the dosay into equal half parts with extra plate and coconut chutney.
To my surprise, this was one of best dosay I had in Bengaluru so far. It beats the most crowded Vidyarthi Bhavan and CTR for sure in taste and quality. The Dosay was mildly crisp and soft. It was perfect combination of both qualities. There was nothing to complain about. The chutney was too good and less spice. The palya (masala) was equally matching the chutney's charisma. They prepare Masala Dosay only with Ghee which is plus point. The dosay was mildly smeared with ghee which means not overwhelming for both tongue and tummy. Other famous joints pour enormous amount of ghee/oil which is heavy to eat. The tea was good in taste and aroma. Kids had sweet badam milk drink as well.
To conclude the visit, we tucked into some badam halwa, a last-minute order. The badam halwa too was delicious. The original badam taste touched our tongue with moderate sweet. The badam halwa here is worth the buy.
I wanted to have second bite of halwa but some part of stomach was reserved for relishing Mysore Pak at Venkateshwara Sweet meat stall, a few distance away from here.
Their signature Mysore Pak is one of the best in city. It is light on ghee and not overwhelmingly sweet. Good thing is they sell it in small quantities just to consume on spot. Alongside, I got lured towards Chole-Bhature which was too good as well. Since every member was nearly full, single Bhature was shared amongst four of us. Next time, I will definitely have it them full plate provided I don't get gravitated by Udupi Krishna Bhavan's dosay :-D.
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The narrow lanes, overcrowding of chickpete doesn't place both eateries in a strategic location. Perhaps thats why we see lesser online influencers visiting this place. Parking here is menace even for bicycles. The traffic police frequently patrol the area which increases your chances of being fined for No Parking. But there is no dearth of visitors to both the places. People who shop in Chickpet often visit these places to satiate their famished appetites.
This was scene in Baiyappanahalli Metro station. A satellite model made of electronic scrap. Took me to college electronics lab with inductor, capacitor, resistors, chips and many more. That looked pretty artistic!
Final Note:
We had Masala Dosay on another day during our casual visit to Chikpete. But this time it was disappointing :-(. Not tasting same as our previous visit. Even though hungry, the dosay did not taste great. So, the taste is inconsistent from time to time and don't blame me if you didn't find it satisfactory. If you are lucky, you can taste the better bite during your visit! I captured the painting of Lord Krishna honouring his friend sudhama. It signifies the humbleness of Lord and loyalty in friendship
The Mysore pak at Venkateshwara sweet meat stall maintained same standard though. Its always the best in city for Mysore Pak I believe which comes at higher cost than other outlets. Instead of trying out Chole Bhature, we tried chocolate volcano sweet. This was chocolate dipped in rabdi? The sweet was too good once again with gentle sweetness. Just like the way I want :-). In fact, the balanced sweetness enriched with moderate ghee is what I like here alongside India Sweet House. Not too heavy on tongue or tummy!
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