MG Road’s old landmarks will go

MG Road’s old landmarks will go
Geetha Rao | TNN

Bangalore: Say goodbye, temporarily, to good old Lakeview on MG Road and the cluster of shops adjoining it. The row of shops from the ice-cream parlour to GK Vale will make way for a commercial complex.
These establishments will move elsewhere for two years. When the old building is pulled down, and the complex comes up in its place, the old favourites will be back again.
Lakeview will soon move to St Mark’s Plaza on St Mark’s Road, says owner Deepak Vrajlal. Having started with three or four flavours, the ice-cream joint now offers more than 200 combinations. And has enticed everyone from cricketers to cine stars, besides being the haunt of NRI Bangaloreans who feel they’re home only when they visit Lakeview.
It’s customer list includes even chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and his wife Anitha who went there on Ugadi. “They both had Black Forest cake and ice-cream, and a mushroom pizza. That’s her favourite,” says Vrajlal. They visited it once again more recently.
Lawrence & Mayo, located there for 60 years, has also seen many famous faces, says Bharathi Dattatri, manager. Among them were politicians like Ramakrishna Hegde, B D Jatti and J H Patel.
And cricketers like EAS Prasanna, Kumble, Parthiv Patel and Sunil Joshi. Lawrence & Mayo will continue to be at Barton Centre. LB Publishers, which has been at this spot for around 50 years, is said to be looking for a suitable place.
Says Vrajlal, “I’m sorry we have to leave but moving is a part of life. We are also planning to open an outlet in Jayanagar. We’ll be back in two years at the same place.”
toiblr.reporter@timesgroup.com
SLICE OF HISTORY
Lakeview, originally Lakeview Dairy Farm near Ulsoor lake, was started by an Englishman called Charles in 1930. It was located where Hotel Kamadhenu (near Lido) was situated until recently. Charles had a dairy outlet at what is now Barton Centre. Later, the icecream parlour was started at the current location on MG Road by Amritlal, Deepak Vrajlal’s uncle.