Ice & Spice (Truffles) St Marks Road: Restaurant FoodReview

Ice & Spice Bangalore Restaurant Review:

Where is it: On St Marks Road near Bishop Cotton girl high school, look for the huddle of eateries on the opposite side of the road.


What kind of food: Burgers, Sandwiches, Pastas, Subs, Pastries & Dessert

Pricing: Cheap. Most food items average out at Rs 100 and drinks at Rs 60


Ambiance & Atmosphere: This is pretty bare-bones stuff we're talking about when it comes to decor and ambiance. There are two seating options. One is a couple of 4 seaters inside that will have you breaking out in a sweat if you are even mildly claustrophobic. The better option is the outside seating but its also quite cramped and the lack of personal space can get uncomfortable when the place gets full. Its worth mentioning the outside seating is literally on the footpath so inhaling tons of second-hand smoke from the adjacent cigarette shop would be a distinct possibility. The good news is that they will serve you in your car if you park nearby.


What we ordered: Ice & Spice has a variety of the usual burger, sub, pasta fare on offer. Most of it is reasonably priced. Before I go into our experience on this visit I will say that we've been here twice before and the Lamb Burgers have been consistently good (a 7/10 but not awesome like the Cafe Thulp 10/10 burger). This time, however I decided to try a pasta and my friend being a veggie, tried a veg burger. We also ordered two drinks to wash down all the food.


The pasta came in first. Now let me preface the following by saying, I understand the positioning of Ice & Spice is to target the school and college crowds who want a quick bite to eat and not haute cuisine but serving a dish that is neat and aesthetically pleasing still is mandatory. The pasta was sloppily splashed onto the sides of the dish and looked more like butter chicken than anything else. Taste-wise I'd say it was okay but far too much cornflour made the sauce overly heavy and again it ended up having the texture of a thick Indian curry. I'd rate it a 4/10.


The Veg burger came next. I must confess I was so surprised when my friend mentioned the patty was tasteless that despite being a strict carnivore I took a bite to taste. Indeed, the burger was quite insipid. The construction was all wrong as well. It should be bottom bun, hamburger patty, pickles, ketchup, onion rings, tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, top bun. As you can see from the picture this wasn't even close. All could be forgiven if the taste was great but sadly that was far from being the case. Rating for the veg burger 4/10


I haven't talked about the Granitas we ordered because there is nothing much to say. Ice & Spice have never been too strong in the drinks department so that wasn't much of a surprise. They had way too much ice that wasn't crushed right and the syrup tasted like some cheap road-side fare. Rating 3/10


That is not to say that everything was bad. We ordered some Tiramisu which was really great. It tasted fresh and the texture and flavour was just right. The dessert ensured we did end this visit on a high note. Rating for Tiramisu: 9/10


Overall Rating:

The Lamb Burgers are good, The desserts and sandwiches are nice. Avoid the veg burger, the granitas and pastas. Okay for a quick bite if in the area but I wouldn't drive in specially for the food here.