One Sunday, I did something slightly unhinged: I packed a day bag, took to the state highway, and travelled 145 km from Bengaluru to Mysuru. I left around 9 am, made the three-hour journey south, had lunch, and was back home by dinner. Not for the Mysore Palace. Not for the Mylari ghee dosa . Also read | Goonj review: I walked into the new Indiranagar restaurant and instantly forgot I was in Bengaluru
Welcome to Neon Castle in Mysuru. If you love food with soul, stubborn founders, and stories that stay with you, this is your spot. Open courtyard, white marble fountain with floating petals, ivy everywhere, vintage iron chairs. It feels like a heritage bungalow, and not a ‘heritage-themed’ restaurant. Inside, the bungalow keeps its bones. High ceilings, cream and biscuit walls, amber lighting, wooden chairs with cane backs. It feels like someone’s tasteful grandmother’s home — if your grandmother also served killer ramen and chocolate dessert in a flowerpot. Neon Castle looks refined but not pretentious. Which makes perfect sense when you meet the people who built it. For a year, they were the neon laser tag kids. Then, one random group of customers changed everything. That changed something. They hosted pop-ups like a ‘Game of Thrones feast with dry ice’ and ‘Mysuru’s first Halloween party’.
I made the day trip to eat ramen (and more) inside a beautifully restored 90-year-old heritage home — a place that 10 years ago was a neon-painted laser tag arena built from tyres and wooden sticks. By 2018, gaming went backseat. Because we had so little seating,” Shamanth said, people started waiting, standing and eating on the pavement.
“There was this group one day who came in, and they said, ‘No, we are not here for the game, we are here for the food.
Neither Shamanth, nor Keerthana went to culinary school. Shamanth interned at a CA firm. Keerthana grew up on food TV, not cartoons. “I didn’t grow up watching cartoons. For me, watching food channels like Fox Traveller, NDTV Good Times, and TLC was my favourite pastime. I used to watch YouTuber Mark Wiens every night before sleeping. He used to eat ramen a lot, and I was fascinated by what it was,” she shared. “One day, Shamanth was sick, and soup was comforting for him. So I was like, ‘Let’s try and make ramen. I’ve always loved spicy food, so to bring that kick, I added more chilli flakes. I wanted South Indian flavours as well, so I added coriander, which in every south Indian household is an integral herb. That is their philosophy: food adaptation. Not copying Tokyo, but reimagining global comfort food through a very south Indian, very personal filter. Like their torched nachos. Why torched? “We wanted to have nachos with melted cheese during the World Cup, and we didn’t have an oven back then. So I took a blowtorch and charred the cheese directly. It got this charred, charcoal-burnt flavour, and people still love it,” Shamanth shared. Or their broth rice and chicken, which is literally inspired by his mother’s pepper rasam. As Shamanth put it: “The goal is not to be the best. How do you compare one idli or one bowl of ramen to another? It’s about being distinguished. It’s about having your own identity and your own personal voice. Also read | Sanjeev Kapoor shares comforting chicken ramen bowl recipe perfect for rainy days
In the early days, they worked 24/7 with no staff, often skipping meals. 2017 is when I created ramen for us,” Keerthana recalled. Because what is ‘the best’?
