[KarthikK]

This is a short report on a foodies' drive that a bunch of BHPian friends and I did in June 2023, to the coastal town of Mangalore, Karnataka. On a group meet occasion we were discussing about a Gumball event and how the rules involved participants covering some high distance in a span of 48 hours or so. Jokingly we were also discussing about what if we do some trip route and try all the unique food delicacies which crop up at famous eateries on that route and cover them all in a span of one weekend . And so I nicknamed this drive as Bun-ball (the reference is to Mangalore Buns which is a famous dish made there) as a parody version of a Gumball, cheesy as that sounds.

It was otherwise just a regular weekend trip for us, and the monsoon sights and scenes coupled with the awesome roads added to the enjoyable experience for all of us driving (and eating). We chose the Bangalore - Hassan - Belur - Charmadi - Bantwal - Mangalore route for the onward journey, and for the return journey we decided to use the Mangalore - Puthur - Sullia - Sampaje - Madikeri - Kushalnagar - Mysore - Bangalore route. Doing two different routes allowed us to explore food stops of varying interests in both regions.

I still haven't yet bought a fast-enough replacement for my erstwhile 320d, so I joined the fast Bimmer gang with my humble Brio automatic and had fun revving the peppy Honda engine to my heart's content trying to keep up with the German gang . The car hence got the nickname of Safety Car, akin to F1 where a slower road-going car holds back the fast F1 cars, lol!

We decided to start early by 5AM or so to save time since we had quite an array of food trail stops lined up.

Meeting up with veteran BHPian and team-bhp meet organizer stalwart RSUDARSANAN and graaja at the start point, with a LCA Jet for company



Trailing behind the fantastic and well driven BMW 330i GT of graaja on Hassan expressway



All of us had decided to meet at Hoysala village resort for an elaborate banana leaf breakfast of traditional items and that marked the start of the drive. There were many more items served than what is in this picture, but we were too hungry to line up all of them for a picture!





The line-up of cars outside Hoysala village resort. Left to right: robimahanta (G20 M340i), RSUDARSANAN (F30 LCI 320d), KarthikK (Honda Brio), Dr.AD (F30 LCI 320d), praveenbalan (G20 330i), graaja (F34 330i GT)



After Hassan, we started entering the western Ghats territory towards Belur and Mudigere and soon the south west monsoons effect was evident. There was moderate rainfall all the way until our next stop - Ibbani cafe, past Mudigere at Banakal village.



Ibbani cafe is famous for its Neer Dosas and the place has a very nice outdoor seating ambience



Cold coffee is also a must try here, and everyone wolfed down cold coffees before we began the mountain twisties at Charmadi ghat



The convoy at one of the mist-engulfed mountains in Charmadi ghat



This compact hatchback is originally a beater hatch for urban use at my home and does not generally see much highway action, but it is actually a lot of fun in the twisties and the peppy engine with the 5-speed torque converter gearbox can still pack a mean punch when driven spiritedly. I had a lot of fun with the Brio AT in the twisties on this trip



The fast and furious gang of Bimmers had a lot of fun in the twisties, without a doubt



Very low visibility for most part of Charmadi to Belthangady forced us to drop speeds



Charmadi - Belthangady - Banakal had a lovely stretch of wide, gradual twisties with recently laid tarmac and awesome surface quality for some spirited driving



We had chosen Vivanta Mangalore as our stay destination. We had to cross some unexpected traffic hurdles while entering the city but we were soon settled in to the hotel. The rooms were compact but comfortable and had all the necessary amenities





We proceeded to Maharaja restaurant in Mangalore for seafood and other non-veg delicacies for the gang. BHPian tilt (who had already reached Mangalore 2 days prior to our visit) met up there and joined for the rest of the food trail. I being a vegetarian was content having some simple Indo-Chinese stuff so I don't have any pictures of the Maharaja lunch. Others will be able to contribute those when they add their updates. After a sumptuous lunch we went to the famous Pabbas ice cream outlet in Bharat mall.

Almost everyone opted for their iconic Gadbad ice cream sundae, the other item in the picture is their Parfait.







graaja wanted to try their newly launched ice cream thali, which is modeled to mimic a south Indian banana leaf meal, but with ice cream scoops taking the place of the accompaniments and components of a meal.



Dinner was a light affair and we just stuck to the in-house restaurant at Vivanta hotel and ended the night with tons of discussions on cars, bikes, travel and everything in between.

The following morning most of us decided to go to a famous local restaurant called Janatha Deluxe, to try their traditional breakfast items in detail.

This is a famous Mangalorean deep-fried item called Goli Baje (also called Mangalore Bajji)



This one was called Kottige Thove. These are basically idlis wrapped in jackfruit leaves and steamed the traditional way.



This one was called Thuppa Dose (Dosa made with pure ghee)



The famous Mangalore Buns



And we washed it down with this Kashi Halwa (Halwa made of grated pumpkin / ashgourd)



Post breakfast we departed from Mangalore towards Madikeri via Sampaje ghat. The under-construction deviations between Mangalore and Banakal were annoying and the intermittent blasts of thundershowers delayed us a bit and we took a tea break at the famous KT hotel at Kalladaka (Lakshmi Nivas KT hotel). This tea is famous for the way they serve it in a double-layer fashion. The taste is nothing unique though, it is just about the presentation but it famous nonetheless



Stopping for a break somewhere between Sullia and Madikeri



I had the privilege of driving behind travel veteran Dr.AD and followed his amazingly driven 320d from Sullia to Madikeri. We had a lot of fun on the twisties in the heavy rain



We joined the others as we all regrouped at a restaurant in Madikeri (Coorg) called Tiger Tiger. This is a home-style small restaurant serving authentic Coorg cuisine lunch and dinner. Here is a picture of the vegetarian Coorg style meals that they served Dr.AD and me. The non-veggies should be able to share pictures of the delicacies they had there. I particularly liked one sweet-and-sour gravy dish made of Mango fruit



Post lunch we all bid goodbye to each other and departed homewards. Some members decided to halt at Mysore for an overnight stop, while the rest continued homewards to Bangalore. It was a rain-drenched return journey all the way from Madikeri to Mysore.



I opted to return home the same night so I was home by 7PM, signing off on a fabulous short and sweet (literally) 800km weekend drive to Mangalore with some awesome company to enjoy the monsoon weather, the twisties and last but not the least, the food! Thanks for reading! Over to the others to share their updates.

[graaja]

Thank you KarthikK for organising this awesome foodies' monsoon drive. I loved every food joint and the food that you had curated for this drive.

KarthikK has covered everything about this trip. Here is a brief report from my side with lot of overlaps to KarthikK's post.

Having been on a two meal a day lifestyle for years, I was initially apprehensive how I was going to eat all the stuff KarthikK had planned we should eat. I even told him I was more nervous than I was before an Half Ironman triathlon event. But I somehow managed to taste everything he had listed (and more), and boy, did I love it?

I drove to Bangalore from Coimbatore on Friday and stayed overnight in Bangalore. I joined RSUDARSANAN and KarthikK at 5:15 and started the drive. We had a coffee stop somewhere on the way to Hassan.


After this we reached the Hoysala Resort in Hassan for the breakfast.

The entrance to the restaurant.


The breakfast was similar to Onam Sadya of Kerala with lots of dishes on a banana leaf, followed by hot coffee.


Took the customary car picture in front of the resort with all the 6 cars.


After Hoysala, we stopped at Ibbani Cafe. RobiMahanta and Zebo had started a little late from Bangalore due to some work and they had their breakfast (neer dosa) at Ibbani. Others had their cold coffee.


I clicked a few pictures of the cars parked at Ibbani.

RobiMahanta's 340i and Praveen Balan's 330i.


Dr.AD's 320D.


My 3GT.


I also clicked a few macro pictures of the water droplets.




After this, we drove through some fantastic twisting roads through Charmadi ghat. At this point, we were into rains. It was fun driving through the monsoon and the beautiful roads.

A small traffic snarl in Charmadi ghat due to some road repairs.


The cars lined up in the misty morning.




After getting stuck in some heavy traffic in Mangalore which took 45 minutes to cover the last 3 kilometers, we visited Maharaja's restaurant for lunch. We tasted many dishes like fish fry, prawns/chicken/mutton ghee roast, neer dosa / paratha with prawns gravy. Even the vegetarian dishes were awesome. I did not get to take many pictures as the table was cluttered and the dishes used to vanish as soon as they arrived. A few pictures I managed to click.





After Maharaja, it was time for some desserts. We then proceeded to Pabbas for some Gudbud and Icecream thali.





We loved the desserts at Pabbas. This expression of mine says it all


A very interesting experience I had in Mangalore was using the autorikshaws for local commute to restaurants. After a couple of decades (since I was in Mysore), I got to see autorikshaws running with proper meters. The autorikshaw drivers were all very friendly, no one refused any ride and they took exactly the amount shown on the meter.


After the breakfast and lunch food extravaganza, we all decided to take it light in the evening. Evening was spent in conversation with some light snacking. As always the conversation covered a wide array of topics like cars, previous travels, hobbies etc.

Next day, a few of us visited the famous breakfast place called Hotel Janatha Deluxe to taste various local Mangalore dishes like Goli Bajje, Mangalore Buns, Halwa, Puris etc. KarthikK has shared pictures of all the dishes we tasted here. So I am just sharing a small collage of everything we ate.



Before we went to breakfast, we also halted at Komal's sweet place for getting some local snacks like halwa, jackfruit papad, potato papad etc.



After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and started our drive back. We halted en route for layered tea and coffee at KT hotel.



Then we grouped together in Madikeri at Tiger Tiger restaurant. KarthikK had shared a picture of the vegetarian food. Here are a few pictures of the non-vegetarian food we had. We had akki roti, kadubu, rice, pork and chicken gravy. The pork gravy was just heaven!



After this we said our good byes. Except I, Dr.AD and Praveen Balan, everyone drove back to Bangalore. We three decided to take a break in Mysore at Radisson Blu. We shared a Pizza and had some dessert and called it a day.



The next day morning after the regular breakfast spread, we said our goodbyes. I drove to Coimbatore through Chamrajnagar and Dimbham ghats and Dr.AD and Praveen Balan went on their way to Bangalore. I stopped briefly after Chamrajnagar to take some pictures of my 3GT and then reached home in the afternoon.









As an atonement to the gluttony sins committed over the weekend, I reset my body with a 2 day fast (had planned for a 3 day fast, but cut it short at 2 days) to get back to my 2 meal a day routine!

[graaja]

Moving out the thread from Assembly Line to Travelogues.

Thank you KarthikK for sharing this trip report and for organizing this drive.

[Dr.AD]

Great report @KarthikK and @graaja. You guys have covered the fun weekend very well. @KarthikK, loved your narration and the story too. The story behind this "Gumball" drive is as much fun as the drive itself.

First of all, thanks to @KarthikK for planning and executing this trip so well. This trip was always his idea, and he was the mastermind behind it from start to finish. He is an expert planner, and his meticulous planning skills were the reason this drive went so well and it was so much fun. Thanks @KarthikK for the great weekend experience!

Since the above two posts already cover all the best parts of the trip, I do not have much to add. But nevertheless, please allow me to share a few pictures I took.

By the way, I was carrying my DSLR but never ever took it out of the bag in this drive. There was never really a chance for a car photoshoot. At most scenic locations, it was raining heavily. And when the weather was good, I was chasing a pack of fast sedans and I could not risk stopping and taking photographs. You can not afford to fall behind in a bunball drive. You will end up missing some delicious food at the next stop if you risked stopping and taking pictures. It was a like a T20 game. If you are seriously watching a T20 game, you can not afford to miss even a single over. One over can completely change the course of a game in T20 cricket. Similarly in bunball, you miss one food stop and you could miss the best food you had in a long time. So no, I did not risk missing anything and never even thought about stopping for a photograph.

But wherever we stopped, I took a few casual photos with my phone.

By the way, personally for me, the bunball started a day before. A day before our planned departure, our great friend and "coach", @graaja , came to Bangalore and I had the privilege of having a coffee and cake with him the evening before the drive started.

"Coffee with Coach", the evening before the drive:



Saying hello to the 330i MSports of @praveenbalan at our first stop:



Our next stop was Ibbani Cafe near Mudigere. The three F-generation 3-ers parked there in the lovely monsoon weather, while the two G-generation bimmers were parked just behind us:



The G-generation powerhouses in the group:



While waiting there, managed to click a few solo shots of the cars.

RSUDARSANAN's 320d:



My Red 320d:



@praveenbalan's 330i M Sports:



@robimahanta's M340i (which I would just hear from the next corner, and only rarely managed to see the tail of this car):



The gorgeous alloys of this magical machine (and what makes them look so beautiful is not the showroom parked picture, but a picture in a the real-world conditions, tackling mud and rough terrain):



The famous 3GT of @graaja:



And finally, the lovely Honda Brio of @KarthikK, which was as he explained, our "Safety car":



A note about this Honda Brio (or was it a Crio?): I must explain my admiration of this fast little car. Let not the 1.2 NA engine fool you. This car is amazing in the hands of an expert driver like @KarthikK. He drove it so well and always managed to keep up with the bimmers. I loved watching this car being driven so well and so enthusiastically around the corners and the straight fasts. It was a joy to watch. The combination of a small little machine and an expert, skilled and enthusiastic driver can produce magic! We got to see plenty of that magic with @KarthiK and his Honda Brio. In fact, the car was so surprisingly fast that I used to joke with him that this is not a Brio but a "Crio", and he has secretly put a Honda City engine in it.


A bit ahead, at Charmadi ghat, my car spotted through rain and fog:



In the return leg, I fell behind the gang and took time off to enjoy coffee at my favorite coffee shop on the way from Cooorg:



Flashback: I was at the same coffee shop just a couple of weeks ago, but in my Thar that time:



Fresh hot coffee while watching my car parked behind:



A parting shot at the coffee shop before driving back:


Finally, after all the non-stop food stops on the weekend drive, and gorging on some absolutely delicious food, I also decided to do a relatively long fast (by my standards, that is) to recover from the food attack on the body. Of course, thanks to our coach @graaja for the motivation and the inspiration! Although I can not do long fasts of 2 or 3 days like he so easily does, I managed to pull in a 30 hour fast to recover from this drive.

Completed a 30-hour fast to recover from the food attack:


Well, that is all from my side. A very enjoyable and memorable drive for sure. Thanks to all my driving buddies for the great time, and for making every single of our weekend drives so special!

[kraft.wagen]

This post makes me hungry. Glad to see JD and Pabbas, its been ages since I was last there.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by kraft.wagen

This post makes me hungry. Glad to see JD and Pabbas, its been ages since I was last there.

Next time you visit Coimbatore, let's do a Mangalore drive with the gang

[ghodlur]

What a lovely travelogue, many thanks to all who were a part of it. The food, the rains, the cars all to a perfection. Having eaten at Maharaja, Janta deluxe and at Pabbas during my regular business trips to Mangalore , the writing makes full justice to the food quality. I will visit the Komals next time as i havent been there as yet.

TBH the Brio was an eye sore in the midst of the German beauties but good to know that it matched the bimmers during the run.

[Raghu M]

Great thread. Love to see those monsoon and car pics. Above all, a very responsible after drive thought of fasting too. Thumbs up!

[DragonHawk]

I must say, reading your foodie travelogue was an absolute delight! Your vivid descriptions and captivating storytelling transported me to each destination, allowing me to experience the flavors and aromas through your words.

I believe I spotted your convoy between Sullia and Sampaje while I was in my Scorpio-N.

Nevertheless, thank you for taking me on this gastronomic journey. I eagerly await your next travelogue, hoping to experience more culinary delights through your captivating storytelling.

[thirugata]

Awesome blog and equally impressive photos as ever.
Next time when you visit Lakshmi Nivas KT hotel, do not miss to try their Kadle Bajil, Padengi Bajil, biscuit rotti and if you have a sweet tooth also take a bite of sanjeera.

[FAIAAA]

This is awesome. Would love to join this group as I am based in Bangalore now and Live to Drive !
Would request if some one from the organizing team can DM me . Thanks

[megazoid]

Great energy and crisp writing. Stomach is full from all the food on display. Btw, where are zebo's and tilt's cars? Love the Brio. What a wonderful car to drive on those roads. Can only imagine the fun behind the wheel.

[kvamshi04]

This made my day !! Such a lovely write-up. And too much food to digest. Keep revving!!

[whitemm550]

how i would have loved to join in from Goa!

[kraft.wagen]

Originally Posted by graaja

Next time you visit Coimbatore, let's do a Mangalore drive with the gang

Great idea coach, we should also include Narayanas for their fish curry lunch