When I first reached Bangalore a year ago, I was in shock. As a proud Delhiite, I did not expect to find a city so vibrant and full of culinary sophistication. I fell in love.

Over the past year I have tried more restaurants than I can name, yet there are a few that I find myself returning to time and again.

Coffee / Lunch:
Yogisthaan (Indiranagar)
After a weekend of partying or a week of hard work (take your pick), Yogisthaan is my go-to place for a Sunday detox. Maybe it’s the hippie, shoe-free ambiance, or perhaps the zen backyard feel, but it's calming, cleansing effect makes it a great place to regroup by yourself or with a few friends.

Their food, which can best be described as Indian-inspired fusion, is always fresh, wholesome, and purifying. While the service is reliably terrible (slow and incompetent), it certainly matches the relaxed pace of the place.

Snacktime:
Big Straw (St. Mark’s Road)
Having spent several months in Malaysia, I’m occasionally hit by a massive craving for bubble tea (for the uninitiated, it’s like a smoothie with giant tapioca pearls). While Big Straw doesn’t offer crazy South-East Asian flavors like matcha and red bean, the Indian flavors of lychee, mango, etc. are enough to quench my thirst.

Select a drink from the menu or build your own (my favourite is blueberry smoothie with tapioca pearls and lychee jelly), then sip it while watching the rest of the world zoom by on St. Mark’s.

Dinner:
Fenny’s (Koramangala)
The Greek beach décor, airy indoor-outdoor concept, and crowd are the first thing you notice as you walk into Fenny’s. It’s the perfect place for a chill Friday night, and is invariably where I take friends and family when they come to visit.
While ambiance is important, the real sell for me is the food. I always go for their thin crust pizza, one of the best in town. What makes their pizza stand out is the fact that it’s made from fresh dough, not pre-baked cracker crusts like in most other places—you can really tell the difference, even after a few drinks.
Manan Agarwal is an unabashed foodie, occasional blogger, and works at http://lafarine.in, the latest foodie smash-hit in Bangalore that provides fresh dough and batters (like pizza dough) for making at home. His passion for amazing food has carried him around the world… but always back home to India.