Indian Craft Brewery is psychologically closer to the airport than home, so it made sense that we dropped in there for dinner on our way back from a vacation.
As with most breweries, the place is huge, and the high ceilings add to the effect. I thankfully missed the mandatory artificial water body, but it does exist.
Andrea’s Brasserie happened because sometime in August we figured that Bangalore was done with the rains and we could safely visit Phoenix Mall of Asia without carrying swimming trunks. There are quite a few other options there, but many of them were also present in our suburb Phoenix, and we weren’t in the mood for Asian. (though my nieces had Bubble Tea and Korean snacks to prepare their appetites!)
The place is fairly compact, but I liked what they did with it – the peppiness of the decor and the comfortable seating made it seem more expansive than it was. We chose a cosy, corner.
I hope to see Kammanahalli (Kalyan Nagar) given an honorary status as a Korean suburb in my lifetime, for its contribution to popularising the cuisine in Bangalore. But then again, that would make the place a candidate for multiple citizenships! We were in the mood for Korean and this one came up when we did some Seoul searching. #oksorry
Dam’s Kitchen is off the main road, on two floors, is non pretentious, and manages to use the typical partitioning in Korean restaurants to create small cosy spaces, complete with your very own gas cylinder for the barbecues!
We ordered the Yukgaejang (right) and Dwaeji Meori Gukbab (middle) first. The first is described as the spiciest soup available, and is made with beef strips and vegetables stir fried and boiled in brothy soup. It wasn’t too spicy, and the rice anyway tempered it. We loved it, but on a relative note the Gukbab was the winner. It has pork, soy sauce, miso, rice wine, sesame oil, bone broth and all this made for a fantastic hearty soup. Really chicken soup for the soul (see, I resisted the urge). While the stomach was full, we wanted something to nibble on and ordered Chilli Chicken (without the rice and condiments) Deep fried, chilli sauce and chopped chillis. Great taste, and texture, just the way it should be. We ate half and packed the remaining for dinner. 😌
We felt lighter by just a little below Rs.2500, which included some kombucha. They only had Soju, not Makgeolli. The service is quite friendly and prompt, and the overall ambience is quite peaceful. Lovely place for a lazy Sunday lunch.
Dam’s Kitchen, 301, 5th D Main Road, HRBR Layout 2nd Block Kalyan Nagar Ph: 9148553661
Kalyan Nagar is a favoured food hangout and Float got into our list when we had made the trek that side for Wanderers. While that place didn’t curry any favour with us thanks to its obsession with curry leaves, we live on hop and cannot resist a microbrewery!
Float is spread across some four floors, each of which seemed to have multiple sections! How do these places break even, and when?! We sat on the first floor, next to pretty windows that overlooked the road. High seats, which bordered on uncomfortable.
Not all who wander have lists, but we do. It was Oktoberfest and we had decided to visit as many breweries as we could. So off we went to Kalyan Nagar, which as I’ve said before, is a place we enjoy visiting. This time, we also got to witness the famous (or infamous) “white topping”, because 7th Main, where Wanderers is located, was being subjected to it!
We found the ground floor a little too closed, despite the landscape drapes! The next floor was not yet open, and so we sat on the rooftop, which we quite liked, despite me being underdressed for surgical strikes. A pedestal fan and mosquito coils helped.
We began with Cauvery’s Bliss and Erica. The first is a Pilsner style Lager. Crisp and slightly bitter, it was medium hop and went down smoothly. But we liked the latter more – Kölsch style ale, again medium hop. From what seemed an elaborate menu then, we asked for Assam’s Ghost Chili Balls. The filling was chicken spiced with chili beans and tossed in soy sauce. This was a very good beer companion though it took a while getting to the table.
Zomato had a 2+2 offer on drinks, so we ordered another Erica and a Wanderer’s Weizen, which was essentially a Hefeweizen. The Jamaican Pulled Pork Sliders weren’t available, so we tried a Liver Peppers. That’s when we first encountered the curry leaves fetish. At first, it didn’t bother us. But it hit us hard in the Coorgi Pork, which was a replacement for Australia’s Meat Pie, another dish that existed only on paper. Check out the images below, those two dishes are practically twins!
For an artisan cafe, the desserts were pretty standard, so we skipped. After all, we have our own artisanal fare at Bloomsbury near home! The bill came to a little less than Rs.1550. The service was quite friendly, though a warning on the twins would have been nice.
Wanderers, 7th Main, 1st Block, HRBR Layout, Kalyan Nagar Ph:Â 25455225