Hotel Ivory Tower Blogs

Hotel Ivory Tower is an all-suite boutique hotel on the 12th floor of Barton Centre, 84 MG Road, Bengaluru. Each of the 12 Ivory Suites spans 450 sq.ft with a private balcony and city views. Guests have direct access to three in-house dining venues: Ebony (Pan-Indian), ASEAN On The Edge (Southeast Asian), and The 13th Floor rooftop lounge bar. The hotel is 50 metres from MG Road Metro Station and walkable to Brigade Road.

Ebony has served Pan-Indian cuisine from the 12th floor of Barton Centre since 1993, opening as a Parsee kitchen under founding chef Zubin Aria before expanding into a 140-plus dish menu. The North Indian and Mughlai sections carry the greatest weight, alongside a North-West Frontier layer added later by Chef Arif Ahmed. Signature dishes include Dahi Ke Kebab and Ebony's Ultimate Butter Chicken. The restaurant has been recognised at the Times Food Awards 2020 and the Zomato Awards.

The 13th Floor is a rooftop cocktail bar on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, MG Road, serving a menu of Indian-ingredient cocktails including the Bangkok Sour and Jack The Ripper. Guests can also order full dinner menus from Ebony and ASEAN On The Edge, the two restaurants sharing the same floor. The terrace offers unobstructed views of central Bengaluru, best experienced 30 to 45 minutes before sunset. Entry is restricted to guests aged 21 and above.

ASEAN On The Edge is the Southeast Asian restaurant inside Hotel Ivory Tower, with a menu spanning Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Malaysian, and Indonesian cuisines. The kitchen was set up roughly 20 to 25 years ago by chef Gautam KrishnanKutty, who continues to consult on the menu. Six dishes anchor the offering, including Burmese Khao Suey and Akasaka Prawns, the restaurant's highest-selling dish. Hotel Ivory Tower guests receive 20% off all in-house F&B, including at ASEAN On The Edge.

Ebony is a Pan-Indian multi-cuisine restaurant on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, operating since 1993, suited to family dinners, anniversaries, and milestone birthdays. The central MG Road address and full lift access make it workable for guests travelling across the city, including elderly relatives. The menu spans North Indian, Mughlai, and Chinese cooking in a single sitting, with signature dishes such as Ebony's Ultimate Butter Chicken and Kakori Kebab. Private event capacity reaches up to 150 guests, with reservations required for larger groups.

Ebony, the Pan-Indian restaurant on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, offers off-site catering for groups of 40 to 250 guests. The catering menu carries the same signature dishes served in the restaurant, including Kakori Kebab and Ebony's Ultimate Butter Chicken. Event categories covered include corporate functions, weddings, and milestone celebrations, with dietary briefs supported for vegetarian, Jain, and halal requirements. Bookings are handled directly through the Hotel Ivory Tower team, with a lead time of two to four weeks recommended for events over 100 guests.

North Indian cuisine is defined by tandoor-led grilling, dairy-rich marinades, and slow-cooked gravies, spanning the Punjabi, Awadhi, and Mughlai traditions. Ebony on MG Road runs a long-standing North Indian section built around these techniques, anchored by dishes such as the Signature Malai Kebab and Kakori Kebab. The Malaidar Dal Makhani is cooked overnight over coal for 11 hours, a signature preparation on the menu. Ebony has served this cuisine from the same address since 1993.

Hotel Ivory Tower offers three private-event spaces on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, each suited to a different group size and cuisine. Ebony seats group tables of up to 30, ASEAN On The Edge can be booked in full for 30 to 40 guests, and The 13th Floor holds up to 70 for cocktail-led events. All three share a kitchen, allowing guests to cross-order between menus. Bookings are arranged directly with the Hotel Ivory Tower team.

Kakori Kebab is an Awadhi dish originating from the town of Kakori near Lucknow, built on finely ground lamb mince worked to a paste and finished in the tandoor. The technique produces a kebab soft enough to give way at the first touch of the palate. Ebony on the 13th floor of Barton Centre serves the dish as part of its North Indian section. Reservations can be made by phone or through the Hotel Ivory Tower website.

Three dishes give the clearest read of Ebony's kitchen: the Signature Malai Kebab, Ebony's Ultimate Butter Chicken, and Arcot Mutton Chops, each anchoring a different regional tradition. The Butter Chicken is built on a makhni gravy of imported sun-blushed Italian tomatoes, giving it a richer, less acidic profile than standard preparations. Dahi Ka Kebab is the highest-selling vegetarian starter on the menu. All dishes have been refined across decades of nightly service since the restaurant opened in 1993.

Pan-Indian, North Indian, and Mughlai are related but distinct menu categories, with Mughlai tracing to Persian and Central Asian court cuisine and its Awadhi offshoot centred on Lucknow. Ebony's roughly 140-dish menu illustrates the distinctions in practice, carrying Pan-Indian regional plates alongside North Indian classics and Mughlai mains. The guide explains how to read a menu against these categories before ordering. Ebony is located on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, MG Road.

Five dishes anchor a strong order at Ebony: Kakori Kebab, Dahi Ke Kabab, Ebony's Ultimate Butter Chicken, Arcot Mutton Chops, and the Malaidar Dal Makhani, cooked over coal for eleven hours. Each dish tests a different part of the kitchen, from tandoor work to slow-cook discipline. A recommended sequence is provided for tables of two, three, and four or more guests. Ebony is on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, a short walk from MG Road Metro Station.

Picking a genuine Southeast Asian restaurant comes down to four checks: regional range across at least four cuisines, authenticity markers such as kaffir lime and galangal, chef provenance, and the presence of hard-to-find dishes. ASEAN On The Edge, on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, is presented as meeting all four criteria. The restaurant draws on Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Burmese cooking, including a Burmese Khao Suey introduced to Bangalore over 15 years ago. The guide includes a three-minute method for reading any Southeast Asian menu.

The 13th Floor's cocktail menu is built on Indian pantry ingredients, including raw mango, jackfruit, fermented plum, and pickled mango ginger, rather than imported recipes. Five drinks anchor the list: Bangkok Sour, Aam Panna Party, Pickled Up Picante, Plum Theory, and Jack The Ripper. The bar also carries 14 beers on tap and a full wine list. Guests can order across the shared kitchens of Ebony and ASEAN On The Edge on the same floor.

The 13th Floor is matched here to five distinct occasions, celebrations, first dates, long conversations, reunions, and casual meet-ups, each with a suggested cocktail and food pairing. The bar's music runs at conversation level rather than the EDM common to other MG Road venues. Its position within the Hotel Ivory Tower kitchen network allows cross-ordering from Ebony and ASEAN On The Edge. The bar is 21 and above only, with consistent ID checks at the door.

Hotel Ivory Tower is presented as a strong base for international travellers, built around four factors: a central MG Road location, an all-suite room product, three on-property dining venues, and a 20% in-house F&B discount. The hotel sits within walking distance of Cubbon Park, UB City, and Commercial Street. Direct flight connectivity from London and other major hubs is covered, alongside notes on vegetarian and vegan dining options. Kempegowda International Airport is approximately 35 kilometres away.

Hotel Ivory Tower's all-suite model is presented as well suited to stays of a week or longer, with each Ivory Suite offering a separate sitting area, work desk, and private balcony. Hotel-wide services include 24-hour room service, daily housekeeping, and laundry, removing the friction points that build up across an extended stay. The three on-property restaurants are positioned as a solution to "food fatigue," each offering enough menu range to avoid repetition across a week. The property is compared to Bangalore's serviced-apartment market, which is concentrated in the city's tech corridors rather than the central business district.

This guide compares the actual walking distance from major central Bangalore hotels to MG Road Metro Station. Hotel Ivory Tower, at roughly 50 metres, is measured as one of the closest, ahead of The Oberoi Bengaluru, Taj MG Road, and JW Marriott Bengaluru, which range from 700 metres to 1.2 kilometres. The station's four-gate structure and its upcoming role as a Purple Line and Pink Line interchange are also explained. The comparison is drawn from each hotel's verified street address and published location data.

This guide defines what qualifies a hotel as genuinely all-suite, as opposed to a standard hotel with a small number of suite-category rooms. Hotel Ivory Tower's 12 Ivory Suites are presented as the central-business-district option in this category, each between 450 and 500 sq.ft with a private balcony. The comparison sets this model against Bangalore's serviced-apartment inventory, concentrated in Whitefield and Sarjapur Road. The MG Road location and single room-type structure are the key points of differentiation.

Bangalore's altitude of roughly 920 metres keeps evenings mild for most of the year, making the city well suited to open-air dining, particularly between December and April. Three open-air outlets share the 13th floor of Barton Centre: ASEAN On The Edge, open since 2010, The 13th Floor rooftop bar, and Ebony's terrace. The guide gives seasonal and time-of-day recommendations, including arriving 30 to 45 minutes before sunset. MG Road's own metro station removes the parking constraint common to most rooftop venues in the city.

Hotel Ivory Tower's three rooftop venues are matched here to corporate dinner formats by headcount: Ebony seats group tables up to 30, ASEAN On The Edge can be booked whole for 30 to 40, and The 13th Floor hosts parties for up to 70. All three sit on the same floor of Barton Centre and share a kitchen, allowing a single table to cross-order between cuisines. For events larger than any one venue, off-site catering covers groups of 40 to 250. Reservations for each outlet are taken by phone.

Burmese Khaoswe, known in Myanmar as ohn no khao swè, is a coconut-milk noodle soup thickened with chickpea flour and served with curried chicken and a spread of garnishes. The dish is related to but distinct from Thailand's khao soi, which leans on red curry paste rather than coconut. ASEAN On The Edge, on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, has served the dish for over 15 years and it remains the restaurant's most-ordered plate. Vegetable, chicken, prawn, and tenderloin versions are all available.

The 13th Floor is presented as the natural venue for a college reunion, with capacity for up to 70 guests and a central MG Road address that suits friends arriving from across the city. The bar's music stays at conversation level, a deliberate choice for a gathering built around catching up rather than dancing. Guests can order from the full Ebony and ASEAN On The Edge menus alongside the bar's own cocktails. Entry is restricted to guests aged 21 and above, worth confirming before the guest list is finalised.

Hotel Ivory Tower is positioned as a practical base for business travellers, with each Ivory Suite including a separate sitting area and a desk-and-chair workspace suited to video calls. MG Road Metro Station is 50 metres from the entrance, and Brigade Road starts 100 metres away. Three in-house dining venues, Ebony, ASEAN On The Edge, and The 13th Floor, cover seated client dinners through to after-work drinks. Booking direct adds a 20% discount on the room rate, complimentary breakfast, and 20% off in-house dining.

A good cocktail rests on balance between a base spirit and its modifiers, per David Embury's classic 1948 framing, while a good rooftop cocktail adds three further conditions: a real view, open air, and a pace that allows guests to linger. The 13th Floor is measured against this checklist, with its Indian-ingredient cocktail menu and unobstructed view across central Bengaluru. Five drinks are highlighted, including the Bangkok Sour and Jack The Ripper. The bar shares its kitchen with Ebony and ASEAN On The Edge, allowing a round of drinks to extend into dinner.

Ebony is recommended for client dinners on the strength of its central MG Road address, seated dining-room format, and deep menu spanning Pan-Indian and Parsi cooking. The restaurant was named Best North Indian Restaurant in Bangalore at the 2020 Times Food & Nightlife Awards. Group tables run to about 30 guests, and the vegetarian range is built out enough to accommodate an unfamiliar client without advance planning. Guests can also cross-order Thai dishes from ASEAN On The Edge and drinks from The 13th Floor, all on the same floor.

Two venues on the 13th floor of Barton Centre suit different shower guest lists. The 13th Floor, restricted to guests aged 21 and above, holds up to 70 guests and suits an adults-only bridal shower. ASEAN On The Edge, bookable in full for 30 to 40 guests, has no age restriction and suits a baby shower with a mixed-age guest list. Both venues share a kitchen, so a full vegetarian and non-vegetarian spread is available regardless of which space is booked.

Peranakan Laksa is a coconut-curry noodle soup from Peranakan Chinese cuisine, the Chinese-Malay tradition of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. The coconut-milk style is known as laksa lemak or Nyonya laksa, distinct from the sour, tamarind-based asam laksa. ASEAN On The Edge, on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, serves the dish with coconut milk, spicy curry paste, and egg noodles, with a vegetarian version available. The restaurant is a short walk from MG Road Metro Station.

Ebony and The 13th Floor cater corporate and office parties across Bengaluru for groups of roughly 40 to 250 guests, bringing food from the 13th-floor kitchens at Barton Centre to the client's own venue. A single event can combine Pan-Indian and Parsi dishes from Ebony with Thai and Southeast Asian dishes from ASEAN On The Edge. There is no fixed package; the menu is built around the occasion, guest count, and dietary requirements. Enquiries are handled directly by the Hotel Ivory Tower team, with a lead time recommended for larger events.