Clean Eating Gourmet Experience | Forage | Bangalore

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” – La Rochefoucauld

Healthy food has been the trend and everyone wants to jump on that bandwagon without much thought to what it actually entails. Being a food blogger as well as a fitness enthusiast, heading out for a meal can sometimes be worrisome. While I do enjoy food be it tasting new dishes or trying different cuisines and whenever I come across a restaurant serving healthy food I tend to be wary thanks to prior experiences which tends leaving me overtly uneasy and sometimes bloated. 

I value the efforts I have taken to stay fit and thanks to an busy lifestyle, it is sometimes difficult to stick to a good healthy food routine. When I heard about Forage from a friend, I was not too sure what to expect but decided to give it a try as I knew it was conceived by Chef Himanshu Dimri from Grasshopper, a restaurant I have heard only good things about. 

Located in the heart of the restaurant district in Bangalore – Indira Nagar, this restaurant follows the philosophy of providing light, nutritious yet flavourful food with fresh and natural ingredients. The menu primarily focuses on California styled as well as globally inspired dishes with the bold omission of Chicken in their offerings. Most dishes are gluten-free and sugar free and they do have some vegan options as well. The essence of clean eating and health is evident from their well thought out menu. 

I visited this restaurant with my husband who was mesmerised with the ambience of this place. The first thought that would enter your mind when you walk in is that you are walking into a comfortable yet chic home. I understood from our charming hostess and owner Mayura Kutappa that it has been designed to give such a feel. One cannot miss the beautiful yet old school charm of the place be it the inside cafe-like area adorned with a bookshelf with couches and colourful cushions or the elegant al fresco area where we had our meal. 

We started our meal with a wonderfully light Buttersweet Prawns on a bed of greens and sage. Though lamb is not my first choice of meat, the Petite Lamb Chops glazed with white wine reduction and rosemary was a such an eye opener for me. The meat was soft and tender very unlike the usual lamb served elsewhere.

We decided to try a salad and the Fig and Feta Salad which was refreshing and perfectly prepared with minimal yet fresh ingredients. The Roasted Cauliflower was as mentioned in the menu though a tad bland and unappealing. 

I normally refrain from ordering too many dishes in most restaurants but the whole concept of healthy clean eating got me excited and I probably did order one too many dishes hence leading up to just one main course being ordered for the two of us. The Beef Fillet is not only a difficult dish to find in Bangalore but getting a well prepared one is almost impossible hence being the main course for our meal here. Unlike all restaurants which serve their fillets well done, here the medium to well done concept is followed allowing the meat to retain its juices and flavour. The accompanying sides of sauteed mushrooms and pumpkin mash made it a wholesome dish. 

While I generally fret a bit about trying desserts, thanks to the abundant and unnecessary use of artificial flavours and sweeteners in most restaurants, it is wonderful to see the use of natural ingredients such as pure cacao, jaggery and unprocessed cane sugar to provide that right amount of sweetness to a dessert. Our order of Cashew and Date Creme Caramel and Just Chocolate Mousse was so different than the usual that it did take a while to adjust our taste buds. My choice of Chocolate mousse was just as mentioned in the menu – just dark chocolate mousse and no sugar and I loved it as it ended my meal a guilt-free one.

The pricing may seem on the higher side for some, but the quality and freshness of the ingredients along with whole gourmet experience should offset such worries.

Forage does not intend to open its doors only for the health conscious but the appeal of eating clean yet delectable food along with their laid back interiors makes it an excellent choice for fine dining.