Salsa dancing and steak at Nineteen Twelve in Bangalore
Salsa dancing and steak at Nineteen Twelve in Bangalore
Last Wednesday I found myself near a lounge in Bangalore called Nineteen Twelve.
I went in to a softly-lit expansive room and sat down at the lavish wood-and-brass bar. I looked at the menu that the sharply-dressed bartender handed me and was pleasantly surprised to see an extensive winelist sold by the glass. Then I saw that the menu also had more than one steak on the menu. I confirmed with the bartender that this was beefsteak, not some chicken that was called a steak.
The merlot and steak dinner I had been dreaming about for seven months was about to come true. I thought I wouldn't taste it until I returned to the U.S.
The South African, Chilean, and Australian wines were only available by the bottle. I reluctantly chose an Indian wine. My experience had been that Indian wines didn't taste very good. I chose a Merlot made by Sula Satori in Maharashtra. I ordered a "Steak a la Charles".
The bar was playing salsa music, which immediately brought me back to salsa at Nik's Nightclub and Habana Village in Washington, DC. There was something very comforting in the familiarity of the bar, ordering western food (and wine!), and listening to music that I knew. "I Like It Like That" and Tito Puente played on a fantastic sound system.
The steak was good. Not amazing, but good. Yes, Virginia, you can get a beefsteak in India. I didn't know "a la Charles" was so heavy on the sauce. I should have ordered the tenderloin. The wine was very good, a pleasant surprise.
People trickled in to dance. Bangalore had just finished an International Salsa Festival a week before, so attendance was a little low. I tried a few turns on the dance floor, met some new people, and then left. I went home feeling the comfort of the familiar.
Salsa dancing and steak at Nineteen Twelve in Bangalore
