Arbor Brewing Company - Bangalore

Wow! Life at Zomato ensures one thing - you have a lot of awesome work, you never get bored of the work you do, and well, you also don't seem to be able to make time for some of the other things you love - at least, I'm unable to, and I wouldn't want to straight away chalk it down to bad planning. It's not impossible, but I guess I've just chosen to use whatever free time I have to rest and recuperate.

A while back, I was invited over to Arbor Brewing Company to try out the range of brewed beers and some of the food they serve. The owner, Gaurav Sikka, was an excellent host, and extremely passionate about the beer brewing job. I know there's been a lot that's been spoke about Arbor on various social media platforms about the 'quality' of what it has to offer, but I think the saying 'to each his/her own' couldn't hold more true here. Sure, like at most places, there are a few things that are amiss, and there are few that'll blow your mind.

The interiors of Arbor are what you'd what a pub to look like. It's got an all wood look, and there's a long bar counter...like, really, really long! There's a section where you can see the huge vats in which the beer is brewed, and it lends a little bit of mystic charm to the whole place. I loved the wooden benches - classic! But then there were some couches and cushion-y seating arrangements that I didn't think went well with the whole look. It would have been great had everything been old school.

Ales and lagers

 Now, on to the beers. At the outset, I'm a fan of wheat beers. I used to like dark ales until I was introduced to the paler, slightly less fruity tasting Hoegaarden. And from then on, I've been hooked. The darker ales almost taste bad now :p So anyway, we were introduced to a whole different set of lagers and ales that Arbor brews - 7 to be precise on that night. Except for the Irish Stout, I didn't mind all other lagers and ales. The stout, with its pitch black coffee-like appearance and smoky flavour isn't something I can handle, and hence can't really comment on how good it was. The honey lavender ale was one of the best I had. While it didn't actually taste like honey, it did have a nice 'feel' on the palate. Apart from these, I also liked the Bangalore Bliss (wheat beer) and the Brasserie Blonde (spiced ale).

Moving on to the food, here there were some hits and quite a few misses. Now, I normally prefer a pub to have pub food, and so far, barring one or two places, I haven't come across too many places that stick to their guns and serve only pub food. Invariably, they do go down the road of having India food, especially when it comes to the main courses, and to my mind, that's just an attempt to please a small segment of the masses, who, quite honestly, wouldn't mind if dal makhani and rice weren't available. But what do I know - I'm a bloody Anglophile who loves food and don't care about others, right? Right?

Non veg platter

A non veg platter, with the usual suspects, was presented. The chicken tikka and the prawns were quite decent, not over cooked, and the brown dip given, with a sweet & sour taste to it. The wings were good - the sauce was sticky and nice, while a sprinkling of coriander gave it just a little additional flavour burst while ripping the meat off the bone. What wasn't so great were the chops and the calamari. With the chops, the flavour wasn't the best, the meat was a little tough, and overall, while I like the fact that chops are available, this one wasn't kosher. With the calamari, the pepper coating was way too inconsistent, and the calamari itself wasn't the best.

Hummus with olive tapenade and sun-dried tomatoes

Then came the hummus with some sun-dried tomatoes and olive tapenades. Nice, but not the creamiest hummus I've had. And I'm not even comparing it with the ones I've eaten in the Middle East.

Veg platter

Next came a platter of ghaas poos food. Needless to say, I wasn't too thrilled, but of course, I needed to stay neutral. There was a surprise in store though. The onion rings that you see in the snap above - well, those are by far the best onion rings Ive had. Ever. The least expected dish of the lot brought the biggest smile to my face. My fellow food blogger Swapna of FoodPornDiaries and FoodForSwaps had also joined me with her hubby Arvind, and together, the opinion was unanimous. The rest of the stuff on the platter were mediocre to poor. The paneer and pineapple combo just didn't work because there wasn't enough of acid from the pineapple, and not a strong enough flavour in the marinade on the paneer. The gobi manchurian was, well, an oily glob of soy sauce and cauliflower, and I've far better gobi manchurian from street vendors. The baby corn was decent, but then again, ghaas poos, so nothing great :)

Fish tacos with salsa

We were then presented with fish tacos, something that was being worked on. Well, it needed to be worked on alright! Here's the thing people need to realise with seafood, especially fish. There needs to be some form of acid or the other. Lime/lemon juice, tamarind, even kokum. And chilli. Of course, with the regular seasoning (duh!). When you're going to wrap that seafood in a pocket of dough (tacos, in this case), you need to make sure of two things: (1) any accompanying bits and pieces of anything shouldn't cover the taste of the seafood, and (2) remember all the acid + chilli? You need a little more of it.

Finally, to have something with the last round of beers, we decided to try something else, and this time, we decided to take a pick from the menu. We zeroed in on the Turkish kebabs, or so it said. Don't know how Turkish this was, but one thing was certain - this was the best dish of the night! By a long shot. The herb flavouring used, along with the seasoning, was perfect. I didn't care too much about what the dip/sauce was, because I didn't even want to try it. The meat was grilled very nicely, it wasn't allowed to become dry, the flavours blended in perfectly with the lamb, and it went really well with the beer! Game, set, match!

Overall, I think Arbor has some fantastic beer, some selective snacks that are good, and some that require quite some work to be done before they come out of the kitchen. Also, given that it seemed evident that the kitchen has  its fair share of inconsistent 'behaviour', I think it'd be best to work on a slightly smaller menu, get those dishes right, and then gradually ease more dishes into the menu. Cheers to that day!

Bricklane Grill invitation from Spiritz and More

Bricklane Grill is a restaurant located at the junction of Indiranagar’s 100 Feet Road and 12th Main Road, in the same building that houses Sunny’s, but on the 12th Main side. The restaurant opened up in a low key manner earlier in the year, and is quite popular with the expats in the city, and is yet to hit the mark with most other foodies and gourmands in town. I was asked to review the restaurant along with some of the alcohol brands that are served at the restaurant by Spiritz and More. The restaurant is high above all the hustle and bustle that takes place below. Awash with white walls, white furniture, and even white exposed bricks, the restaurant takes its name from a lane in London, that coincidentally also houses a large number of restaurants that serve curry.

While the restaurant does boast of a very romantic setup in one section, weekends are lively with DJ events, so that special meal with a special someone would have to be done on a weekday. While my photograph of the table in the romantic section doesn't to any justice, the night time view is spectacular. The night we visited the restaurant, there space was arranged for a party of 6, and I unfortunately was carrying only my 50mm lens, so couldn't get a wider shot.

The restaurant can be broadly divided into the following areas: few seats around the bar and the grill area, some tables under the covered area and some in the open, a table for 12 inside which is a chef’s table, primarily to be used for wine pairing events, and lastly, the upstairs area that has a lounge-y feel to it, with the balcony area having a three 2-seater tables – ideal for a romantic dinner with that special someone. The cool breeze in the night meant that the open air seating area was a brilliant location, and for those who tend to catch the chills easily, there are heaters nearby.

I started off with a cocktail – a green apple Martini, while my friend opted for a Whyte and Mackay Glasgow whisky. While the Martini was quite good, with the sour flavour of the green apple giving an additional ‘spike’ in the taste, the whisky, according to my friend was lovely, and he’s taken a liking to it over other Scotch whiskies like the Black Dog 12 year because of the slightly sweeter taste. Both of us enjoyed the drinks and while we were getting warmed up with the alcohol, a plate with toast arrived. I assumed it was the standard garlic bread, but it wasn’t. It was bread alright, but it was green with envy – basil oil. Very novel and quite a ‘refreshing’ change I might add. Before I get into what we ate and how the food turned out, I must say that Bricklane Grill serves Parsi food, which is their signature of sorts, along with a fusion of select Indian dishes and European favourites. While to some this could be seen as being a little ‘confused’, a closer inspection can present a different picture.

Green apple martini

Toast with basil oil - superb!

The first of the starters was a Chettinad chicken tikka, one of the examples of a slight fusion of the north Indian tikka, marinated in Chettinad spices. While a couple of pieces did feel a little dry, the rest were fine and the heat from the chicken was perfect with both the vodka martini as well as the whisky. Before the spices from this ebbed away, we were served with another special – the mango infused paneer with pomegranate. Superb! The paneer was of good quality (and even if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t fault a Bangalore restaurant for not having good paneer), and the flavours blended perfectly – the sweet and the sour coming together beautifully.

Chettinad chicken tikka

Mango infused paneer with pomegranate 

The crispy yellow chilli prawns were a beautiful golden brown, but there wasn’t much chilli, and the plump prawns felt a little chewy, but that’s probably because of the size, and not over cooking, although some experts may say it could’ve been cooked for about 20 seconds less. I didn’t have any complaints. The ajwain fish tikka was also quite superb – well cooked, and thankfully not overcooked in spite of being cooked in the tandoor.

 Crispy yellow chilli prawns

The Parsi starters, the boti soti, cubes of mutton cooked and skewered on a toothpick with a cube of potato, and the batter coated and fried, lived up to expectations in taste and texture, although the outer coat was quite oily. The bheja na cutlets (brain cutlets) would certainly take getting used to due to the soft texture, but if you’re a fan, then the ones served here would give most places a run for their money. In between all these, I ordered another cocktail, a Moscow Mule – vodka, wine and ginger ale – and while it tasted good, it could have done a little more to make sure I felt the mule ‘kick’ me. My friend was in love with the Whyte and Mackay, and smooth whisky was working wonderfully with the starters.

Moscow Mule

Boti soti

 Brain cutlets

We then moved on to the main course, and here we were spoilt for choice. I mean, there are the Parsi favourites of course, and then there were some very interesting combinations that married flavours from Indian dishes to European favourites. The lamb chops with rogan josh masla and red wine reduction was a perfect example of flavours from two regions coming together beautifully. Ditto with the Jack Daniel’s pork chops – the JD sauce going brilliantly with the pork chops, but the whiskey corn salsa was a bit of a mystery as I wasn’t able to understand the reason for that, although texturally it was quite pleasing. The peppercorn crusted beef tenderloin was cooked very nicely, but I found the amount of pepper a touch overpowering as I wasn’t able to concentrate on the taste of the meat. Whisky or no whisky, the pepper was a bit too much.

Jack Daniel's pork chops

Rogan josh flavoured lamb chop with red wine reduction, and Whyte and Mackay in the background

 Peppercorn crusted beef tenderloin

The Parsi mains – sali boti, mutton dhansak, and the biryani with meatballs was quite a delight, although we were quite full by now, and couldn’t do full justice by polishing off the dishes as we did with the previous dishes. The dhansak was good and the sali boti was quite lip smacking – the sweet and mild sour flavours doing well to give the palate a good exercise. The lone veg dish that we had - the tamarind glazed eggplant and tomato - we had them serve us only a fraction of the portion. The tangy tamarind flavour combined well with the smokiness of the eggplant, but unless you're the kind who doesn't mind a light main course, you may want to stock up on something else.

Biryani and dhansak

Sali boti

Tamarind glazed eggplant and tomato

By the time we got to desserts, we were actually about to pop a few buttons on our shirts. Loosening our belts didn’t help, and so we could only take a couple of bites from both desserts. The ice cream sandwich – warm jalebis with home-made ice cream – was a little disappointing. The sweet, crisp jalebi was superb, but the vanilla flavour from the ice cream just didn’t come through. I mean, if you can’t taste vanilla, then that’ll certainly get you wondering, won’t it? If wasn’t sure if it was the sweetness from the jalebi, or the fact that the ice cream being home-made didn’t have enough vanilla flavouring from the pods, or a combination of both. The South Indian coffee brûlée was a nice idea and the coffee flavour wasn’t overpowering, but the custard below the caramelized sugar could’ve been a little more velvety. Also, while some would argue that the almond biscotti served with the brûlée could be used to spoon out every last bit, I don't know if I'm from that school of thought. We really had stuffed ourselves silly by now, and even getting off the chair was a bit of an issue.

South Indian coffee brûlée

 Ice cream sandwich with jalebis

Overall, it was a very nice meal that we had, clubbed with the alcohol. Both the cocktails I had were good on the whole, and the Whyte and Mackay my friend had was something he was quite pleased about. Given that Bricklane Grill has such a vast array of dishes and some that are obviously something new (marriage of flavours from different cuisines), I think they need to iron out a few creases and be spot on with the every dish, or people would automatically blame them for having their fingers in too many pies. Perhaps cutting down on the number of dishes on the menu is one way to go, but that’s for the restaurant to decide.

Sunday Brunch ar The Park Plaza

A couple of Sundays back, I was at The Park Plaza for brunch. Invited. Normally, I don't take invites from restaurants to visit their place and then 'blog' about it - there's always the credibility issue. However, in this case, I reasoned with myself that a brunch cannot be 'fixed' or 'be made more special' for me. I was right.

The Park Plaza is in Marathahalli, near the multiplex (on the same side). The hotel houses a 24 hour coffee shop called The Melange, a North Indian/Mughlai restaurant Zafran (single 'f'), a Chinese restaurant Shao, and a lounge called Gadang. I particularly like the name chosen for the lounge because the word 'gadang' is a  word from my mother tongue Tulu, and basically is used to refer to a local liquor shop. Of course, I didn't ask as to whether that was the case here because I was drawn into Melange like a moth toward a ... no sorry, like a bee toward a colourful flower.

Melange is a huge place, with both indoor as well as outdoor seating. My friend and I chose to sit outside, but that was probably not the best decision in spite of the fantastic weather. The wind was on a rampage, knocking over some of the live grills that were set up outside, and on other occasions toppling over the caps some of the chefs had got on their heads. But it was fun to see in a nice way.

We started off with a laksa that was part of the Asian section along with steamed momos. The laksa had a nice dose of coconut milk and I was sold! The noodles and meat in it was nicely married in the dish along with the veggies. However, I didn't think the dish was spicy enough - given the colour of the laksa, this certainly was not the rempah-based laksa (Sarawak laksa), and it didn't have enough sourness from tamarind for it to qualify as a asam-based laksa (Penang laksa). Given the colour, I'm guessing they were going for the Penang laksa, but I can't be certain. Nonetheless, if you're the kind you enjoys a Tom Kha soup, you're bound to enjoy this, but if you're looking for the real deal, I'm not so sure. 

Laksa

Beside the usual starters like salads, there were also a few neatly laid out amuse bouches that made for a very nice picture. The prawn amuse bouches were really very nice, and the lamb was fantastic - creamy in texture, with good amount of seasoning to bring out the flavour of the meat. Amongst the salads, the carrot salad blew me away simply because of the way it looked (first), and then because of the taste and the fact that is retained a crunch but wasn't hard at the same time, making it easy to eat with a fork. There were also some cured meats - ham and the like, and those were very nice as well, including the melon + ham combo.

The steamed momos that came in, chicken and prawn, were also quite nice, although the shells were a little on the thicker side. However, since they were steamed right there, I'm guessing the shells had to have a slightly thicker 'bottom' to ensure the entire things holds and doesn't crumble and disintegrate.

Starting from top left, moving clockwise: Pasta salad, German potato salad, Mexican carrot salad, and aubergine & broccoli salad

Prawn, lamb, and prawn again

Prawn amuse bouche, all lined up

Mango yogurt

Chicken (left), and prawn momos

The spread for the Sunday brunch is extremely extensive and very impressive. There was a counter where a chef was making pizzas and you could choose the toppings, while another counter had pastas. The are where we sat outside had a tandoor for tikkas for kababs, a burger stand, as well as a huge Weber grill where jumbo prawns were being grilled. The pizzas were decent, although I wish they hadn't been so stingy with the meat toppings.

As part of the brunch, you also get to have cocktails, and there are some really nice cocktails - not your usual run of the mill types - available here. 'Sweet' cocktails are perhaps easy to make, most usually involving the addition of some syrup like grenadine or curacao. However, try one of the spicier cocktails and you'll be in for a treat, especially if you go in for the Indian Mule, a gin-based cocktail.

Salami pizza

Indian Mule (left), and a whiskey-based cocktail along with another gin-based cocktail

I was torn between trying out the tandoori stuff, grilled prawns and burger (all outdoor), and the indoor food that included biryani, rice, and fish curry. Pastas were going to be left out. Eventually, the rice dishes and Goan fish curry won. No regrets. The biryani was spot on in terms of taste, how well it was cooked, and the salan with it was also quite brilliant - a little spicy, tangy, tasty...yum! The Goan fish curry though could've been a little spicier, given that Goans toss in a fair amount of chillies into their curries. All in all, quite a good meal, one that I took a couple of days to work off on the treadmill.

And then there were desserts! Oh yes, I'm not done yet! There was a whole shelf of desserts to choose from, and just looking at them made my stomach want to go on strike, protesting against the stuffing that it was being subjected to. However, better sense prevailed and I did have some desserts. While the creme brulee wasn't up to the mark (it was in a shallow dish, so the caramelized sugar was a in a larger proportion when compared to the custard below. However, the two kinds of creamy deliciousness that I had...they had me hooked. I don't remember what they were called, but they were lovely. I also caught sight of some pretzels (shaped in a manner to resemble the hands of a monk in prayer).

Blueberry & lime

Namashkar, I am pretzel!

Overall, a very satisfying experience and totally worth the drive from where I stay. A few tweaks here and there can be done so that everything is ship-shape and that should certainly get people coming back.

Food: Good

$$$: The Sunday brunch, with alcohol is Rs 1600 + taxes...worth it.

Service: Good

Verdict: Worth a visit at least once, and if you live close by, then whenever you feel like gorging on food on a Sunday.

Hotel Park Plaza, 90/4, Outer Ring Road, Munnekollaly Village, Marathahalli, Bangalore. Phone: 080 49094909

The Fat Chef

Just to emphasize, this blog is NOT dead! Although it's quite an old post, and I thought I'd write in the usual style (what style?), I decided to go with a more 'editorial' approach, just for a change (not that I particularly like this style or anything). A few months ago I'd visited The Fat Chef - the phrase apparently refers to the owner, who is a rather 'healthy' chef - is located next to the Jagriti theatre on Varthur Road in the Whitefield area. Notice how us folks from areas that we consider to be within the city refer to Whitefield as the Whitefield area - that's because not only do we not know where it starts and where it ends, even the residents there don't!

The Fat Chef may be off traditional 'restaurant zones' within the city, the new settlements springing up around the periphery of the city seem to swear by this place. And why not! The restaurant is located within the Jagriti complex, and adjoins a small lawn. Seating is both indoors as well as outdoors, and both options give you sufficient space, light, and a semblance of well-being. White interiors make the place seem that much more well lit, and the place has decent ventilation and is almost always cool. And did I mention that the restaurant's menu is chalked up on a blackboard? This just goes on to add to the charm of the place.

The food at The Fat Chef is mixture of Mediterranean and Western European food. Among the starters, you would do well if you stuck to the nachos, baked stuffed mushrooms, sauteed prawns in coriander, Vietnamese rolls, and chicken wings. The beer battered prawns is a much touted dish, but I feel it's the coriander prawns that score higher simply because of the flavour. Also, I'm not a big fan of batter frying meats because it can so easily mask the actual taste of the meat if not done right. Among the salads, the watermelon, feta and olive salad is a must have. Light, refreshing, and tasty, this should be on our list irrespective of whether you are a weight watcher or not.

























The chicken wings with a barbecue sauce flavoured coating is also a superb starter if you don't mind having starters that have bones in them. For the vegetarians, the sauteed mushrooms is another decent option.


For the main course, if you want something light, then the crepes or the grilled fish are the way to go. If not, then the lasagna, chicken casserole, or the steaks, or even one of the pastas are perhaps options that could satisfy you. There's also quite a decent selection of wine on offer, so if you're a wine lover, then do look up the list.

The fish curry and rice is a wonderful curry-rice combo if you like rice. And in fact, if you don't want to try pastas and other such dishes, I would suggest you go ahead and try this dish - it was finger lickin' good. The ratatouille, on the other hand, was a little insipid in flavour.

Ratatouille
Indian fish curry with rice
Chicken breast stuffed with cheese
Veg lasagna
Lemon grilled chicken
Grilled fish
Mutton curry with rice
The chicken breast stuffed with cheese is nice, but the cheese is just way too powerful and completely dominates the dish. You'd do well to ask them to go easy on the cheese. However, I'd prefer if they used a milder cheese. The veg lasagna was nice and a very satisfying dish, both in terms of quantity as well as taste. The lemon grilled chicken was very nicely done, but a little too lemony for my liking. The mutton curry with rice, just like the fish curry, was a smashing super hit with everyone at the table.

For dessert, it's a bit of a lottery. You need to make sure you place an order soon because desserts are in limited quantity on display.




Service can be a little dodgy on weekends when they're running full, but otherwise, for the best part, the restaurant staff are fairly well informed about most of the details of most dishes. The owners, Mayur (The Fat chef himself) and Vandana can be seen doing the rounds and you could very well ask them your queries. Overall, very good ambiance, and if you can stomach the drive till that corner of town, the food should feel just fine in the stomach.

The Fat Chef, 5/2A, Jagrithi, Ramagondanahalli, Varthur Main Road, Whitefield, Bangalore. Phone: 080 40992981, 080 40992982.