Yes, I know, I’ve already written about Whitefield Social, so what really is new? Well, it’s Koramangala, and we welcome any chance to go back to our ‘native place in Bangalore’. When we heard a Social had opened, we just had to drop in. Koramangala continues to change rapidly, and we notice it even more in our quarterly/biannual visits. Meanwhile, when I heard my friends describe it, I thought they must have taken some independent bungalow on 80 feet Road, but this was near Starbucks in an otherwise (except for Social’s own signage) unspectacular building. (map) But once inside, it is evident that in terms of ambiance, this is easily the best Social in Bangalore yet. It is quite bag, spans two floors and offers much better seating options than the other two. There’s also a lot of greenery around, and that includes the bar area as well. We visited during Halloween, and the staff was dressed for the occasion. The service itself, was thankfully not horrible, and we actually liked it more than the other Social outlets – Church Street folks are clear that they are doing humanity a service by taking orders, and Whitefield people tend to be a little too laidback every once in a while.
In keeping with the newness, we decided to avoid our regular Social fare. I finally had a Coke & Cane and D asked for a Cosmo Explosion. I really liked the presentation of my drink – the syringe, and the card were absolutely cracking! The waiter did his best to get the explosion going in D’s drink, but after 2-3 attempts, we felt really bad for him and just started drinking! They were reasonably generous with the Old Monk in my drink – it worked just right for me. D’s drink, thanks to the cranberry and cotton candy, was cloyingly sweet for me, but she didn’t mind. I also tried an Old Fashioned, but though it was good, the Irish House version remains my favourite. D’s second drink was a White Sangria which Social does a good job of. For some reason, we had never tried the Ghee Roast Chicken here, and though it wasn’t at all like the ones we have had before, its masala was good enough for us to ignore what one could call authenticity.
It’d been a while since we’d tried a burger at Social, and Jus-C Lucy sounded just right for Halloween. The combination of tenderloin patties with peanut butter and bacon only sounds weird. It is absolutely excellent in taste! Since we were still hungry, we decided to try a Signature Social dish – Black Label Butter Chicken, served with naan. I missed the first ingredient in the dish, unless they meant pepper, but the dish itself was quite good. Not surprising, since their Butter Chicken Biryani is quite fantastic too.
Despite the temptation for our favourite Chocolate Bloodbath, we finally opted for a Chocolate Chutzpah. A rich chocolate cake accompanied by a Chocobar and some Crackles that provided a good texture mix.
The bill was a little over Rs.3000, probably our highest one yet in a Social. But that’s probably because we had two rounds of drinks and punched beyond our weight in terms of food consumption! We really liked the ambiance, and the crowd was only slightly younger than the one we have in Whitefield. (One of the biggest put offs in Church Street Social are those ten-something kids who appear to be about a year away from their Board exams!)
Koramangala Social, 118, Koramangala Industrial Area, 3rd and 4th Floor, 7th Block, Koramangala Ph: 40515253