The FiXX, 4th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore     

** Rated

Visited on 18th June, 2019

Appearance versus reality is a popular theme across literary works and given the quirks of us humans, it is not surprising at all. The manifestation of this theme was so pronounced lats week during our lunch visit to The Fixx, located in 4th block Koramangala. Having seen the impressive pictures on Zomato and after perusing the interesting menu, I decided to take my friend to lunch here on her first ever visit to Bangalore, only to be disappointed by the reality!

To begin with, the Uber driver dropped us off the wrong side of the main road and we had to cross over the median which is surely not recommended. Then, the tepid welcome at the entrance by the restaurant’s staff did not exactly cut ice with us. The upstairs was closed off for lunch and there were few patrons at the restaurant despite it being lunch time. The staff were neither welcoming nor warm, and just randomly suggested some seating. Thankfully, the place surely is airy and spacious and the tables by the window are well placed and afford a good view of the busy road outside minus the noise. The centrally placed bar is expansive too as are most tables. However, service is the main component in a service industry and the restaurant clearly scores 2 upon 10 on this count! We had to summon the one odd waiter repeatedly before they offered us the menu and they were not too well versed with the menu either. 

The casually bound menu with a rather interesting set of choices put a smile on the apprehension that greeted us at the reception. Things like Street Chow, an assortment of Bangalore delicacies like nippattu and kodubale was exciting until the waiter nonchalantly informed that is not available and was not forthcoming with any suggestions either. We zeroed in on the next best option for it sounded like the local speciality again since I was keen my friend samples some of the Karnataka specialities and opted for Gowdru’s Grilled Lamb, Gremolata. The dish was extensive, generous in its portion with five pieces of lamb chops but mind numbingly spicy!! Clearly one would expect the waiter to at least issue a caution or a disclaimer!! Well, self discovery it was and a painful discovery for my friend. It was well cooked and well presented and that clearly falls under the appearance bracket again :) Having been chastened by this experience, we cautiously moved towards the main course and opted for the Podichoru for the descriptions that was put forth, boneless chicken cooked in true malabar style with tomatoes and ginger, wrapped with banana leaf and steamed. Upon being asked the waiter did offer to have this made less spicy! The dish placed before us would surely not score on appearance but tasted good as the rice was flavourful as was the chicken. However, we wondered whatever happened to the banana leaf wrapping! 

All was not lost though, the drinks @The Fixx lived upto the expectation: my Pornstar Martini was excellent with the right zing and afforded the requisite heady feeling. However, having placed one’s orders does not necessarily mean that we will get it delivered to our tables. We had to call out to the waiters who had mastered the disappearing act all too well, or the ones who were present seemed to be in a perennial tete-e-tete with  the barman, who happily was guzzling a beer even as he was handling our orders!! So, there is our not so good reality and the rather good appearance of the place. If you have the perseverance we demonstrated to have your orders delivered to you you are welcome to visit this place. We surely would not be visiting this place ever again, given the competition in this area their complacency gravely is something to marvel! In short, The Fixx needs some real fixing in terms of service and hospitality!

A G K