Category: North/West Bangalore

  • Arirang

    Korean has been a favourite cuisine for a while now, especially after the Apgujeong experience in Hong Kong. Kammanahalli’s cuisine range has been proven to us these last few months thanks to a couple of visits, which include a lot of “Oh, we should try this one” on our way to our destination! Therefore Korean in Kammanahalli was only a matter of time. Arirang won over Thran this time, and off we went on a balmy Saturday evening. We reached there by 6, but it was already nearly full. We could only get the normal tables and not the floor seating. 🙁

    Banchan arrived even before we placed the order, and we munched on those. We asked whether they had makgeolli but they didn’t, so Soju it was. (does anyone know where one can get the former in Bangalore?)

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  • Byg Brewski Brewing Company

    The first Brewsky that happened to me was the one in JP Nagar, a long while ago. That was a review for Bangalore Mirror and I never really managed to taste the brew. The second was on Sarjapur Road where I did manage to taste the brew(s) but left with a what’s-this-place feeling. Mostly because I couldn’t accommodate grandparents, kids running around, and a dirty pool with fishes – all within a microbrewery – in my mind! I also remember them claiming the place was full only to find entire sections being empty once I got inside! I am happy to report that in the world of Brewsky, there is some consistency. Oh wait, the spelling! Numerology apart, I remember one of the owners correcting my pronunciation to brew + sky during the first visit. Going by that logic, this one could be about water skiing – the waterbody is fairly large. I didn’t see snow, but the place is huge enough for me to have missed it.

    In fact, it reminded me of Hoot and MTV Grind. But much, much larger. I would have said much, much lager but the brewery isn’t running yet. But since we had traveled to Hennur, we decided to endure. The standard procedure was followed – we were told that the place was full (at 5.45 PM on a Saturday) and asked to wait at the bar. The place was crowded but we could see entire sections empty. In less than half an hour we were told that a table was available but we were fairly comfortable where we were, and didn’t want to risk getting wet in case it rained. It was also a great place to watch the crowd – mostly posh locals, no kids. Other than the ones who are probably still in college, of that kind there were many.

    To be fair, the place is overall quite pretty, especially so when sunlight is out of the scene.

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    Most of the fancy drinks weren’t available, so we finally settled on an Old Fashioned and a Binky Burrow. A good time to mention that it took a long frustrating while to get the initial attention from the service staff, but once we got going, it was much better! The Old Fashioned was stronger than my usual, and the sweetness was between subtle and nothing, but I enjoyed it. D’s drink had strawberry and carrot flavours added to a Bacardi Carta Blanca and “topped with bubbles”. That last part wasn’t visible but did come out in terms of taste. D didn’t much care for the flavours though I thought they weren’t bad.

    The Calcutta Club Chicken Cutlets managed the textures well and had really soft chicken. The kasundi mustard sauce was the perfect complement. Cheap wafers could have been better though! The stir-fried beef chili lived up to the spice promise, and would be a perfect beef companion.

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    In contrast, the Naga Pork Baos were absolutely mild. The pork itself was fine, but the Naga chili zing was completely missing. Not to be outdone, we decided to try a Pigs in a Blanket pizza, which promised more pork with onions and quail eggs. It would have been a good dish if only they had managed the salt consistency better. And finally, the most interesting dessert we found was the Kaveri Mud Cake – mud cake, mousse and a custard topping. This was really delicious.

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    The card was damaged to the extent of around Rs.2750. We aren’t going back, not even for the brew. But that’s mostly because of the distance. This is probably worth at least one trip if only to see how large the place is!

    Byg Brewski Brewing Company, 22/123, Byrathi Village, Bidarahalli Hobli, Hennur, Ph: 080 39514766

  • The Druid Garden

    Sahakar Nagar’s role in our lives had been limited to being stared at for a few seconds while on our way to the Airport, but The Druid Garden made us stare longer, at least on Google Maps. Some might say that 25 km is a long way to travel for beer, but hey, when it comes to craft beer, we’re nothing if not committed! It did take a while for us to get around to making this trip though. But when the stars aligned – in terms of weather, traffic and Uber fare – we were ready!

    Sitting atop a commercial building, The Druid Garden is pretty huge, and the design highlights it even more with high ceilings and skylights, and multiple levels of seating. Different kinds of seating too – the typical brewery-style stark long benches, bar stools, lounge seating, and the regular functional kind. At 2PM on a Saturday afternoon, the place was crowded, but we got ourselves a nice corner.

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  • Brewklyn

    In the recent past, whenever we look at “newly opened places” on Zomato, Kalyan Nagar is quite the dominant player. While I am yet to ascertain the exact difference in coordinates between that place and Kammanahalli, given that we’re in Bangalore, it’s probably just a difference on what side of the road one is on! Kammanahalli was mostly nothing when we used to stay in Cox Town a decade ago, but soon after we shifted back to Koramangala, the place started sprouting restaurants and that too varied cuisines! We still hold that grudge and that, plus the thought of having to cross Tin Factory, have kept us away from this part of the town. All we did was look at it guardedly on our way to the airport and back. It was the microbrewery that changed the equation.

    And thus we headed to Brewklyn fairly early on a Saturday evening to beat the traffic. (map) I really liked the area – seems well planned, and in the context of eateries very well sorted! The same building has a Barbeque Nation, and across the road, we could see Korean, Chettinad and steak cuisines! Brewklyn is on the 4th and 5th floors, and since we found a nice road-facing spot on the former, we didn’t bother going upstairs until after we finished our meal. On a relative note, I found the ambiance downstairs a little more gastropub (despite the graffiti and the pool table) and the upstairs section more like a brewery. Downstairs, you could seat yourselves on some plush seating inside or like us, watch the skyline on bar stools outside. The view was fantastic, especially so since we reached around dusk.

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  • District 6

    Back in September, we heard this fascinating piece of news that Malleswaram got itself a microbrewery! We decided to go there at the very first opportunity. The long weekend in the beginning of October gave us just that – four days of holiday meant that we had enough time to get to the Sheraton (where it is located) and back. (never mind the publishing date) Speaking of the Sheraton, if you try to access District6 via the hotel’s main entrance, you’ll be asked to go right back, take the entrance just before Orion Mall and you’ll find the valet immediately to the left.

    The place has a grunge wood exterior, and on a Saturday afternoon, didn’t really have the buzz that one normally sees in a microbrewery. In fact, it seems more like a fine dining restaurant which also happens to serve craft beer, and you’d realise that mostly because of the gleaming vats. There’s a seating area outside where you can sip beer and watch the world go by.

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