Ruling The “Roost” | Galitos | Bangalore

For me there is no greater love than my love for Chicken and if it is grilled you’ve got me hook, line and sinker! 

That said, I am not the kind of person who is going to dig into a fried dish as I try to practise clean and healthy eating habits (at least 6 days a week!). That kind of week passed me by recently when I decided to check out a restaurant in town called Galitos which supposedly serves the best Flame Grilled Chicken in the city. Luckily enough for me it was located in a neighbourhood I love – Whitefield. 

A little research is a must, especially when a chain of restaurants opens up in India with quite a bang. Galitos is a South African chain of restaurants established in 1996 and is famous across the globe for their Flame Grilled Chicken. In India they have branches in Chennai and Bangalore with plans to expand pan India. One of their more well known branches is located at Vega City Mall on Bannerghatta Road which seems like the ideal location to catch tired and wandering shoppers unaware with the aromas of grilled chicken. Their expansion is India is handled by Tablez,which also handles some very well known brands such as Toys R Us and many more.  My visit to the Whitefield happened on a Saturday for lunch where I was joined by some like minded food enthusiasts who wanted to appease those hunger cravings at the same time understand why Galitos claims to be different. 

This branch of Galitos is more than a year old yet has very well maintained exteriors and interiors. The ambience is as expected bold yet trying to convey the message in the simplest of ways. The seating is aimed at comfort and the number of tables gives you an idea of the crowd expected especially over weekends. For those who worry about car and bike parking, they have that covered with a separate area beside the building. 

Once the group was all caught up over introductions and pleasantries, we were approached by the Manager who was quite keen to tell us why Galitos is a cut above the rest. The reason for their success is their focus on using fresh and natural herbs, spices and chicken and ensuring that every Chicken dish they serve has been marinated for minimum 24 hours to provide the best experience of the brand. 

Since this was my first visit to a Galitos outlet, I had a good look at their menu which boasts of quite a number of dishes including many options for the vegetarians which I am sure is specifically done understanding the Indian market sentiments. Their focus on Peri Peri sauces is unmissable from the moment you enter their restaurant with bottles and bottles of it on their shelves and tables.  

For starters, we tried almost all the dishes in the menu as we were a large group of almost 10 people. Our meal began with the unassuming triangular cut crunchy Cheese Toasts topped with loads of cheese and herbs along with Grilled Chicken Wings prepared in their famous flavours – Lemon & Herbs, Mild, Hot and Extra Hot. While I may not be much of a chicken wings person, these wings were quite lip smacking. 

This was followed by a unique preparation of Chicken Liver tossed in onion and tomato blended with their special sauces and herbs served with garlic bread. They had a very similar preparation called Peri Shrooms which to even a non vegetarian like me tasted absolutely delicious. Between the two, I love the veg version of it and this goes to say that the vegetarians out there need not worry about the efforts being made to serve their best even when it comes to vegetarians. 

After all that semi gravy based appetizers it was time something sweet yet spicy and then came along the Chicken and Pineapple Sosaties in skewers of onion, chicken and pineapple. A must try appetizer here! 

I was hoping for a bit of break from the chicken when their Country Salad was served up with fresh lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, olives and feta cheese with a slight drizzle of a lemon dressing. I really did not expect an outlet like Galitos to have an option of Salad and that too a great one! 

One of their stand out dishes in terms of presentation is their Espatada which comes in Chicken as well as Paneer. The chunks of chicken / paneer is quite obviously well marinated and one bite gives you a taste of all those flavours. 

Catching up with old friends over a good meal always brings a smile to anyone’s lips and this day was as good as it could get.

Moving over to main course, I had my eye only for their famous Flame Grilled Chicken Platter which was quite magnificent with all the various sides such as Spinach Potato, Grilled Veggies, Corn adourning it. For someone like me who prefer their food to be mildly spicy, my first bite into this dish was the mild version of it but I was encouraged to give even the Extra hot one a bite and inspite of the tears in my eyes I couldn’t put it down with just one bite. I recommend you go for the Hot or Extra hot as it was better for me than the mild version. 

With the intention of digging into their desserts, I only tried a bite of their Grilled Chicken Sausages and Burgers. I was disappointed I kept the sausages till last as I love sausages and there is something quite different about these sausages I had. Their Chicken Burger was not the usual patty but strips of saucy chicken and cheese oozing out of the burger something I definitely ordering the next time I visit here.  

Their dessert options maybe less but after a meal like that, you will realize why you won’t need any other option after you take a bite of their Malva Pudding with ice cream. There’s something about toffee sauce which gets my taste buds tingling. For a health freak like me, I dived into their Baked Yoghurt with berry sauce without any hesitation and a wise choice it was!

They also do have the traditional Chocolate Brownie with ice cream too. 

There’s no doubt that Galito’s aim to serve fresh food has got me interested enough to bring my family here for Round 2! 

Address: 7, Road No. 2, KIADB Export Promotion Industrial Area, Whitefield, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560066

Ph: 080 4641 1411