Ever since Arbor opened, and I saw them on twitter, I’d been pestering them on when they’d open the microbrewery. On my birthday, we’d wanted to visit Windmills Craftworks, but they had an event and were booked out. I casually looked up Arbor’s menu on Zomato and found that the microbrewery had finally opened!
We went there once more later, and on both occasions, we realised that having a reservation really helped, though the first time we had asked for a table outside, but had to make do with one inside. I missed the passive smoking! 😉 Follow the map to get there, and make use of their valet parking.  I loved the way the building encapsulates Bangalore – Nalli Silks, a restaurant named 4 States, (not sure if it’s open yet, can’t find it on the web) and then Arbor, a microbrewery. The place is quite huge, with various kinds of seating options spread across its space. The music is rather loud, but I liked the playlists, so won’t complain!
Over two visits, we tried the Brasserie Blonde, Bangalore Bliss, Big Ben and the Cold War. I loved the theme of the last one, but the coffee flavour was a little too strong and the drink too bitter for my taste. The Blonde was my favourite, and Bangalore Bliss a close second. D preferred the latter though. Big Ben was not bad either. I liked the way they have explained the drinks with trivia, notes and food pairing.
The Flaming Chicken was our favourite starter – chilli sauce and an assortment of flavours like lemon, pepper etc. Quite spicy and extremely tasty. The Chilli Fish was also reasonably good – the sauce being quite spicy again. We didn’t care much for the Drunken Chicken or the Bourbon barbeque sauce it featured.
In the main course, we tried a couple of pizzas – ‘I Like to Party’ and ‘Buffalo Soldier’. The former featured superstars like bacon, pepperoni, sausage, ham and cheese, but it was the latter’s fiery buffalo sauce that won us over. We also tried The Fleetwood – chicken sausage fried rice with garlic pepper sauce and a fried egg on top. This was just about ok. The dish we really liked was the Fiery Chicken Alfredo – creamy sauce and spicy red chilli paste came together very well indeed. But the star, as on most occasions, was a dessert – the gigantic Long Lasting Vertigo. Three layers of chocolate sponge cake with chocolate mousse oozing through! So awesome that we didn’t bother to try another dessert on our second visit!
Our bill on both occasions came to around Rs.2500 – for a couple of beers, a starter, a main course dish, a pizza, and a dessert. Reasonable, I’d think. There’s a distinct buzz about the place, and I think it has a character that will develop well over a period of time.
Arbor Brewing Company, 8, 3rd Floor, Allied Grande Plaza, Opposite Home Stop, Magrath Road. Ph:Â 080 67 921222