As I sit down to write this, I now realize that I never took a shot of the full size beer glasses when they came along. The beers come in 330ml and 500ml glass choices. Such must have been our enthusiasm to get started. So the Big Ben is a pale ale. Its good if you are planning a long session of drinking, because the relatively lower level of alcohol makes it easier to keep going. It does have a tinge of bitterness to it, but it balances itself out as you continue. This beer went perfectly with the Turkish Kebab and the Battered Fish.

The Blonde is a spiced ale made in the French Belgian style. If you don't like bitter beers, then this is the one for you. It has a citrusy touch to it and went ideally with the Turkish Kebab and later with the spicy fried calamari that we ordered. This would have been my second choice post the Endless Summer that I asked for. The Endless Summer is a new entry to the menu and is a light and really fruity beer. I really liked it from the get go. It combines orange peel and coriander, two tastes you get alternatively as you sip along. Great with salads and citrus based dishes and with the chilli spiked ones as well. We did two rounds each of Endless Summer and The Blonde.

And now onto the food - The Turkish Kebab was the first order and what you see in the bowl there is a chilli spiked tomato sauce and not ketchup. The kebabs however did not need them. They were tender, juicy, stuck strong enough to the skewers to make them easy to eat while not being so strong that it tasted chewy. The hint of coriander was really strong. Overall a nice kebab to begin with. Would have appreciated though if they had split it into 4 skewers, since having three at table of four meant at least one person would be short-changed. It can't be all that hard to do in the kitchen.






Desserts served at the table were on the house that evening. It was a tribute to the king of all fruits who happens to be in season right now. We had the Mango Pavlova which had an absolutely brilliant crunch to the meringue. Crack right through it with your spoon, with a scoop of the fresh mango on top and this is one perfect way to end your meal. I can't remember the name of the second dessert but it was generally agreed that it was a bit too sweet - the pavlova scored over the second one.


Address: #8, 3rd Floor, Allied Grand Plaza, Opposite Home Stop, Magrath Road
Phone: 67921222
Cuisine: Brewery, 
Cards Accepted: Yes
Wallet Factor: Rs 2000 for two with alcohol
Parking: Valet

The place has a nice selection of mocktails and Sudhakar decided to go in for the Burping Panda. This was a mix of ginger ale and apple and was quite nice, especially if you like ginger based drinks.


Hot and Sour chicken soup was the soup of the day. A good amount of chicken in it and nice mix of hot and sour. I always sour up my soups more with vinegar chili sauce and this one was not spared either. Junior liked it quite a bit too and downed most of her bowl.


Starters too were brought to the table - there was Crispy veggies which was zucchini, potato, cauliflower, babycorn and garnished off with some spring onions. These did have crispy coats and were hot on the inside. Veggie fried wontons were there too which junior thoroughly enjoyed. There was spicy chicken wings which were really spicy but deliciously so. I actually asked for a second round of this. Chicken steamed momos rounded up the starter selection. We were tempted to take more starters, but decided to hit the main course instead.



I started with the salads, 2/3 which I feel were more of accompaniments than salads in themselves - there was the curried vegetable salad, which really did have a good curry flavoring to it. Quite nice for a salad to taste that way. There was kimchi which was more the instant done-in-a-day style rather than the ferment-over-a-while way. And there was a radish, carrot and beet salad that was quite vinegary thus putting it in my accompaniment list rather than eat-alone salad. But then again, all the salads were crisp, fresh and crunchy.


And now for the main courses. On the plate below there is Spinach and garlic noodles. These were in between crisp and moist and could be eaten on their own. Good for kids who sprout perpetual allergies to gravies like mine does. There was also the option of a vegetarian rice.  In the the non-veg options there was Shredded lamb with peppers - slightly spicy and a good choice with the noodles. The Fish in Hoisin sauce was another well done dish, the gravy a nice mix of sweetish spicy, good for a rice though if you are not a fan of spicy. And then there was the Tsinghai Chicken which was cooked in rice wine and had the ever so slight fermented taste to it, but was unanimously mine and Sudhakar's favorite of the lot.


Just as for the non-veggies, there was three (if I am not wrong) options for the vegetarians in gravy, all of which did sound nice. And then for dessert, 3 options - a kiwi souffle, a Banana toffee and vanilla ice cream. The souffle for nice and the banana toffee my choice of the lot. Took it twice. Not an ice-cream person, but judging from Anoushka's eating it (which strange for a child her age, she rarely does) it was good.

For main courses, we decided on a chicken biryani for Anoushka, which was really nice. It could have done without the handful of mint leaves on top, but the taste was pleasant and the portion good enough for two. We ordered for ourselves butter garlic naan and methi chicken. The naan was soft with toasted bits of garlic in there. Each naan was cut into three pieces and so there was quite a bit. The methi chicken went well enough with the naan. It had all the ingredients to make it good enough to have - lots of oil, onion-tomato-garlic base, in all probability thickened with a bit of almond paste and topped off with coriander. I wouldn't put it all the way up there with the greats, but its way above the worse of the lot.

The service at Braai is prompt enough. They make a strong attempt to keep you happy, but tend to forget small things like the chutney for kebabs, or water for the table or even spoons and forks to eat with, after setting the food on the table. The buffet is of two varieties and is on the lines of the offerings at a Barbeque Nation. You can opt for the limitless starters version or the 4-starter version. Its a place that is trying to get it right and is doing a decent enough job. It still has some of the road to cover though. This restaurant is on the roster of Dineclub (click on the link above to get yourself a card) and you get a 50% off on the a la carte. We ended up paying just Rs 250 for the meal, so you can do the math.

Unexpectedly this past weekend has been a parade of good music and great food. Bourbon Street, the band Sudhakar is with, had gigs lined up everyday since Friday. So after a spectacular show at Barista in Garuda Mall, we decided to head for dinner to Kobe, a place we hadn't been to in more than a year. What was great once we got there was that we were actually remembered by the staff and we got a table instantly. This despite it being a Friday night.

Kobe has its original branch in Mumbai and is famous for its sizzlers. The common trend in Kobe, at least in Bangalore, is for couples to order one sizzler and split it. This stands testimony to its size. But for Sudhakar and me it has always been one sizzler a head. Of course, that almost always means we have skipped the next meal for the day.

Iced teas and garlic bread with cheese formed starters, the garlic bread more for junior. However, she was busy looking cute for the adjoining table. The iced tea was not of the canned variety and was made at the restaurant. Tall glasses of coolness is the best way to describe it. The bread was straight out of the oven and had a really soft texture, it was almost melt-in-the-mouth, just as much as the cheese on top.

The paper table mats had the day's chef specials and Sudhakar and I both opted from this selection. Sudhakar had the T-bone steak sizzler, which description wise went like this - Succulent T-Bone steak cooked to medium, rare or well done (your choice) with mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables and a choice of sauce. Sudhakar opted for pepper mushroom sauce. The sizzler came with all the hiss and pop and the steak was really well done. The pepper sauce is not for the weak stomached but tasted absolutely divine when you put a forkful of meat, sauce and mashed potatoes together. Of course, you also have the toasted bread to mop up all the gravy that remains.

I went for the Chef Special Spicy Chicken Sizzler with crunchy veggies, noodles and mashed potatoes. Now I have never had a continental sizzler with noodles on it. I must therefore say that I really liked the combination. The noodles were in a spicy red sauce and was an excellent combination with the steak which had a milder taste to it. The meal was extremely hearty and I prided myself in gobbling every last juicy morsel of the steak.

Absolutely no space for dessert, but they have a mean sizzling brownie. The ambience is great and the service prompt. Hmmm, there is a single unisex loo which is placed where you can oversee the entire restaurant. On a full house day you may end up having to line up to go, pretty much like school. This meal came to around Rs 1100 inclusive of taxes. A lovely meal which totally justifies another visit. Reservations on week days would really help.