The Big Brewsky Experience

Brother in town. Beer lover. Conversations. Long hours. Outdoorsy. Connect the dots and you get the Big Brewsky.

It was one of those dress down days where you sneak into your harems and wrinkled clothes and head to chill in a place for long hours. Those days when everything is 'chalta hai cuz we are chillers' and no one is bound to give you looks for wearing yellow shoes with the clothes that don't go with it. Ok, we were more CHILLARS than CHILLERS, but never mind, we were already on the way to brewsky on Sarjapur road. Long commute. And hence high expectations.

We reach the place and what welcomes us is a building that looked like the guy ran out of money while constructing and decided to leave it as it is, or maybe the architect ran off and he didn't know what to do. Red bricks and cements smirking at us. We look at each other like we have come from another continent altogether and this is what we get? But hey, some wise soul (Suchi) told us back in teenage not to judge the book by it's cover, so off we march inside and oh boy, what do we see? In a word - SPECTACULAR!

Love at first sight. You see those wooden tables by the pond? They keep cushions there by evening  to sit. Clicked by Manu when I was staring mouth wide open 

Bar counter on the other side. (c) Manu

Rustic, outdoorsy and lazy. Just what we came looking for. A pond - pentagon or hexagon I don't remember- with plenty of orange fish in there swimming in full glory. I look at the others not so innocently "do we get to fry and eat those?"(Seafood deprivation!) and someone politely whispers "SHUT UP".  Decks and tables around the pond and a drinks counter also. As we walk further inside we see the indoor seating as well. Very captivating. We reached by around five in the evening and could very well imagine the place well lit at night with tandoor running. Mogambo khush.

Sat down by the pool of the fish, err the pond (no bad intentions I swear) and the the guys were pretty prompt with the menu. Pretty elaborate and covering bit of everything. Ordered drinks and then the guy announced no tandoors until 7pm, never mind, we weren't gonna leave without seeing this beauty at night. I told him we are coming from a far away land so the food betterrrr beeee goooood.. He smiles showing all his teeth and nods approvingly. We ordered our starters and I like how they were well timed. When one plate was about to finish, another one arrived - just what the gluttons would desire.

What's this pic doing here? Just like that.

Oriental style stir fried steer mushroom - Plain awesomeness. Crunchy outside and soft inside.
I'm falling in love with mushrooms these days, dear dad! Here's the thing - way back in childhood the rain lover dad showed the rain lover me a mushroom that grew out on the garden and said "that's mushroom" and I see a frog resting under the umbrella and since then mushroom to me is frog's house. God knows what a frog must be doing at home. And the mental block is finally wearing off after twenty hears, bravo!

Singapore crispy fried potato in tangy sauce. Die hard potatopian in me sent it straight to tummy with the "you earned it" nod of approval.

Hungry vegan ate like a pig. And I ended up having mostly veg. Food was amazing. I'm a huge fan of finger food and that should explain me frequenting breweries despite being a teetotaller (shut up again. thank you.). And soon we slipped into our endless conversation on everything beneath the sky. Pond side, good food, lovely music (EDM mostly) and what else did the chillers need!

Brewsky's overloaded nachos. With sour cream and guacamole. We asked for extra cream and what came was the cousin milk. Nachos were good.

Cheesy fries, If you look close, you'll know its an epic fail. They got us the plain fries by mistake,
we sent it back and the same plate came with cheese added on top. and hence NOT gooey. Cheese did NOT melt.
No salt. Dislike. 

Before we knew it, Mr. Sun had called it a day and headed for his underwater scooba diving. Brewsky looked an absolute beauty at night with all the brilliant lighting. A fresh off the boat Aussie would scream "what a beaut, mate". Perfect setting for the pleasant Bangalore weather for a bunch of bros, or a girl gang, a romantic dinner with your bae (how I hate youngster lingo) or you can come all alone to sit on the deck and just muse and occasionally look at the fish to act like Alex in Madagascar.

Cheesy chicken sausage toast. Loaded with sausage and mushrooms. I took off the sausages
 and gave it to the Vegan which she happily devoured

Though the place transformed to a beauty be evening, my phone cam didn't. But that's an indirect way of telling you to go and see for yourself (sour grapes)

Night view 

I was beyond happy. Excited and worked up and slid into an argument to defend Justin Bieber when they played 'baby baby baby oooo'. Come on, that guy is not all that bad. How many of us actually loved that song before we knew it was his. Ok, I'm losing a few friends after this.

His beer and steak. The only one to have main course. I tasted and oh mister steak, you are so yum!
Pepper mushroom sauce - slurrrp!

We had a great time. After close to four hours we left, taking with us memories of great time - good food and music by the pool, long conversations and some selfies here n there. Wholesome package. 3k for 3 people :)

Location : Sarjapur road, right behind M.K Retail. Apparently somewhere close to Wipro
Cost for two : 1800 for two
Mood of the place : this ones a chameleon. Outdoorsy, Lazy, Romantic. 

We didn't have to say "What The F"

Let's admit it, we get too demanding at times. We want great food, fancy ambiance, want to be treated like royalty and all this we want without a dent in the wallet. I was in one such fussy, unreasonable mood and kept shaking my head at every option thrown at me by my cousin. Honestly I wasn't hungry but wanted go out and get some Saturday night breeze into my lungs. I could see her getting uneasy by the minute and she subtly hinted she's hungry. That was my panick alarm because there is nothing scarier than my hungry cousin who transforms into a dinosaur in labour pain when hungry. Remember animagus from Harry Potter?

I had no guts to throw tantrums further and we settled for what we saw on Zomato, some new place on the St. Marks road named What the F.  My best guess on the way was Fun or Food for the F and of course bingo! I didn't forget to remind myself of my impressive IQ as no one else does it. Problems of being constantly looked down upon on this front. Sigh. 

We could see young crowd outside What The F as soon as we stepped out of Uber. Not that we are too old by the way but sometimes it gets to my nerves when I hear every sentence beginning and ending with a 'dude'. By passing a bunch of noisy teens, we entered What The F which was on the third (I assume as I was panting by then) floor. We were immediately welcomed by the servers and showed our reserved seats which were pretty high and they kept coming to check if we are comfortable.

I noticed how the servers were pretty friendly and warm and attended to us promptly. Music was a bit too loud and I made a note to self to take the blabber mouth friends there since it's literally not possible to have a good conversation there and the occasional anti social in me gave it an instant plus ;) What The F has the same stuff. Wooden decor. It must be the in thing now, as I see a lot of wooden, rustic ones these days.  I like the ambiance but I get a feeling it's going to look much more nicer on a Sunday morning. Got to try once. Two floors and we settled on the lower one, since the upper deck was occupied by the 'dude' kids. Now that I say deck, I see it's kind of like a ship.

They passed us the wooden menu but I had already taken screen grabs of the nice pics from zomato and told the server I want this and that on the pic. He seemed pleased I have done my homework and come. I couldn't help but notice they were all very reasonably priced. We got the ambiance and service bang on without the dent in wallet. And if the food turns out good, I'm going to have that victorious grin to defy the universal law of 'itna paisa mein itna hi ich milega' that gets thrown at me every time I'm broke and fussy.

I wasn't hungry and ordered the Magic Macaroni for myself. Mac and cheese itself is magic for me and I was curious what magic they had in the magic macaroni. She ordered Mini Umbrellas and a pizza for herself. Pizza was okay, nothing to brag about. Mini umbrellas were so good that I sent them straight to tummy despite not being too fond of mushrooms (that's a story that I'll tell you sometime in the future). 

Kiwi Crush - my companion for the night

Mini Umbrellas - stuffed mushrooms. Loved the spices and flavour.
Definitely, the tandoori chicken equivalent of veg. 

Magic Macaroni - the Italian adopted by Thailand and now welcomed by an Indian family and desi values given.
I loved the perfect blend of Thai and Indian flavours. 

Smoking Pine Pizza - grilled pineapple, corn and jalapenos in smoked scarmoza.
so so. not too impressed.  

What I must tell you is about the Magic Macaroni.  It was a blend of Indian and Thai spices. And I like both. One spoon of this mac and I was like "aila, this is ramu kaka's macaroni". That's one thing I love about Indians. Welcome home the firangi khaana and adopt and covert to a desi babu. Chef did a fab job there. I liked the tinge of our spices and flavours. There was something that stood out - I wonder if it was olive oil or coconut milk. I couldn't figure (note to self : go to kitchen more often). My cousin wasn't too pleased and I acted like it's acquired taste. Told the friendly server how awesome their magic mac is and I went on and on until the Chef himself landed by our table to hear from the horse's mouth. He was mighty pleased and got us both treats :) 

Blueberry Cheesecake. My cousin and I wanted one more of these
but neither of us wanted the guilt of suggesting it. Finally, we settled for the diminishing marginal utility
and gave the second dessert a skip.

With Chef Sombir, the magic macaroni man. 

Sweet gesture - treats from the Chef after our relentless testimony of magic macaroni and how it saved our lives.

Our bill came to 1200 and we had a great time. 
Ambiance - check, Service - check, Easy on pockets - check. Food - pleased (minus one for the Pizza)
Definitely going back to see what the place looks like in daylight. They have a Sunday brunch running that's called the Brunch factory.  

Cost for two : 1200
Location : St. Marks road, next to Karnataka Bank and St. Marks Hotel
Mood of the place : Hep..and err.. Ship

Cometh October, Cometh The Black Pearl, The Fisherman's Wharf and Mamagoto

"Salary is credited"

Our one straight ticket to cloud nine. And from cloud nine I went over to Black Pearl, The Fisherman's Wharf and Mamagoto - three places I had been wanting to get off my glutton bucket list.


1. Black Pearl, Koramangala

Corporate comes with its share of bad days. After a particularly bone breaking, issues packed day at work I decided to treat myself to some good food to make up for the horribly demanding day. And within two hours of my log off time, I saw myself nicely relaxing in a cosy seat in Black Pearl. After all, days like this deserve nothing less than barbecue :)

My elixir for the night. I liked the prawns the most. And they seem
all the more exotic when served by pirates in a storm! 

Black pearl is set up in Pirates theme and they have done a mighty good job at it. It definitely does feel like dining in a ship and the lovely Bangalore weather (read heavy rain) made it feel like a ship in storm. Made my day, or what was left of it. The beautiful chandeliers, servers dressed up as pirates and the musician with the cow boy hat added up to the total pirates ship feel. Service stood out. They were very friendly, took us through the whole barbecue concept, promptly refilled our barbecue table and quickly got us extra servings of all that we asked for.

Blackpearl is a treat to both vegetarians and non vegetarians alike. Barbecue had chicken, fish, prawns, mutton, tangri kabab, mushrooms, paneer, potato, crispy corn, veg tikki etc. Every single one of them tasted so good that my day was redeemed. When it comes to barbecue, my funda is starters and desserts only, hence can't comment on the main course. I just tasted a little bit of biriyani just so my loyal relationship with biriyani doesn't strain. Dessert spread wasn't too impressive but I was too stuffed to crib. A must try place because it was a wholesome experience of good food, service and ambiance. Be sure to click pics with the pirates, and reservation is recommended.

Grilled Pineapple. An absolute bliss when you have one bite of this, and then prawns and shuttle back to this :D

Desserts were limited. But as I said, I was too stuffed to crib. Gajar ka halwa in rabdi, Mousse, Black forest cake, Lollipops, Chocolate coated cookie. 

Rab ne bana di rabdi... This is the desi way to get fat. Gajar ka halwa immersed in rabdi. 

Priced at 699+ tax for dinner.
Location : JNC Road, Koramangala
Mood of the place : Pirates

2. The Fisherman's wharf

Where in Lavelle road would you get a seafood buffet for Rs.349 per person? I kept rechecking Zomato to see if I read it wrong. No. It is 349. And the pics on zomato looked great. Now, that is a throwaway price and I am morally bound to go now. God himself would question my audacity to say no to a seafood buffet priced like this. And we ended up there on a Saturday noon.

Fish to your left and Crispy chicken to your right,
And together they shall march to your tummy. 

The ambiance was pleasant and we were way too early and perhaps the first ones to reach for the buffet. The spread was small and simple but looked very inviting. What fascinated me was the open glass kitchen. You can see the chefs running around in the kitchen and I couldn't stop giving occassional glances that side. The servers were proactive and after a point I wished they stopped asking me how the food is and if I am comfortable. They were dressed in beachwear shirts which kind of looked good in a seafood restaurant. The Chef walked by and asked if everything is ok. I made sure to check if they have decent veg items on the menu and it was not one bit disappointing. There was a kati roll counter next to the salad counter. I tried the veg kaati roll and the salads. They were ALL yummy. Buffet had plenty of veg and that's a plus for a restaurant that has fish in the name. For seafood, there was shrimp salad, fish starter and Goan prawns curry. All of the starters were yummy and I couldn't help but take a second serving of veg and non veg again. Biriyani could have been much better and I did give them the feedback.

Desserts were minimal - tiramisu, bebinca, rice kheer, jamoon, rasgolla and icecream. It was a good experience in all. Before leaving they gave us a seashell each and I thought that was pretty sweet. Oh did I forget to mention they have a lounge upstairs which I'm going to try soon. And in my next visit, their seaflood platter is on my list.

Paneer and Tandoori Aloo. They were so delicious and that's a plus for a place that boasts of seafood. 

Chicken Biriyani with Goan prawn curry, salad and pepper. Chicken was tender but the biriyani masala lacked the flavour, I did give them the feedback. Goan prawn curry had a distinct flavour and this is the first time I lay my hands on something Goan other than good old bebinca.

Desserts were very limited. I skipped rasgolla and gulab jamoon. Tiramisu, the famed Goan sweet Bebinca and Rice kheer. They nailed it!

Rice kheer was not too sweet, just about right. I took a second serving and while I'm typing this, I'm craving for more.

Hello Sous Chefs. How fancy is thy job!

The servers were very proactive. After a point I wished they left me alone to romance with the food. Or perhaps I had switched over to my anti social mode. But when they gave this cute seashell just before we left, we thought that was a pretty sweet gesture. :) 

Priced at 349+tax per person
Location : Lavelle road. Opposite to Harley Davidson showroom
Mood of the place : Beachside

3. Mamagoto, Indiranagar

So when my friend called up and said let's meet at Mamagoto, I kept chanting the name a few times because it sounded funky and nice. What I did not know was that it means Asian fun eating. No no no, not a fan of Asian food but the decor looked so interesting that I instantly put on my adventurous foodie mask and gave a nod of approval.

This new place on Indiranagar was crowded when I went for lunch and dinner and they had very comfy couches yay! I remind myself to walk around and take pics but sometimes I get too carried away by my hungerpangs and decide to give in to the comfort of the cosy couch. It was one of those days. Sorry! (how irresponsible of a food blogger!).

The servers were very prompt and they helped us through the menu. In both my visits, I did not like the veg curries. Not at all. They looked delicious but the flavour was amiss. It's a little on the pricier side, but the interesting chic decor and service makes up for it. Would I visit again? mmm when I have to act easygoing to the Oriental food fanatics in friend circle, I'm game. On my own? No.

Cranberry Kaffir Lime Punch - my drink for the day. Pink and nice :) 

Crispy Chilli Potatoes - a starter that cannot go wrong. Potatoes with bell pepper and scallions, The potatopian in me loved it.

Sticky Rice, the celebrity in Mamagoto these days and one spoon of this will tell you why. Comes in veg, egg and chicken. Needless to say which is the best (I tried all by the way!)

Sliced chicken in black bean sauce. Without mushrooms. There comes the fussy eater. Do I like it? The flavour is a tad too strong for my liking but it was good. 

Chicken sticky rice, Chicken in Black bean sauce and the mixed veg curry that was just average. 

My Peach Iced tea and her Passionfruit Orange cooler.

Cost for two : 2000 for two people
Location : 12th Main, Indira nagar. A little ahead of Golds gym.
Mood of the place : chic

Marriott turns One.

Ok, we all have been warned by our Grandmas to do good deeds, eat whatever is made at home without cribbing, not to waste food, share our chocolates with siblings to secure a good seat in Heaven. And after all this whale of an effort from an innocent childhood, with such sense of betrayal I learn about the sin of gluttony which washes down all my goody two shoes life down the drain. Really? After all the reluctant sharing of my caramilk and toys, after all the bittergourd sabjis I religiously ate, you are telling me that I am a sinner and you are sending me to Hell?

Now that I have come to terms with my future life in Hell, where I hope and pray to see a live barbecue running, I did a bit of research to go prepared. After all I shouldn't flunk the test there and end up in quarantine. Here's a list for my fellow sinners.

• Praepropere – eating too soon
• Laute – eating too expensively
• Nimis – eating too much
• Ardenter – eating too eagerly
• Studiose – eating too daintily
• Forente – eating wildly

And when I got a call from Sneha to invite me to the first anniversary celebrations of the renowned brand in the Food industry, Marriott, I jumped with joy and said yes. In any case I'm going to Hell and I might as well commit the sin with some class and style. Marriott needs no introduction. Fairfield Marriott, the first Fairfield in Asia, turns one this October and they threw a rooftop poolside party to celebrate. Thanks to Bangalore weather acting like a lady with mood swings, the party was moved to their new art studio in the eleventh hour. But I did have a glimpse of the pool side
and it looked wow. I can totally imagine a barbecue party running by the pool side and it cannot get better.

I'm so high on food, I will let the pictures do the talking.

Marriott ties up with Areli Gallery to raise funds for the less fortunate blind children to sponsor their treatment. 

The latest addition of a rooftop Pool. Looks so much spell binding than this low light iphone pic!

Live Pasta counter - my white sauce pasta in the making. Sinfully rich. I can't thank cheese enough for adding colors to this world. 

I might be a proud Indian, but my tummy is a cosmopolitan. "Lokame tharavadu". Good old friend from Italy, in all its glory.

Salad counter, I usually skip the salad counter and try a namesake one, but this one had me!

Hello healthy life. Pleased to meet you after eons.

Je t'aime, Cheese. To bits and pieces. 

Spinach canneloni, this is one of those delicacies that makes your sinner life so worth it. 

Roasted potato wedges. Garlic and rosemary to compliment it. No meal is complete without potatoes. I don't really approve of the kingdom of Paneer in a vegan's world. I think Potato is the bacon of vegans and it should get the respect it deserves. 

Cajun spiced grilled chicken with roasted onions and artichoke.

Karare Paneer, one showstopper in Marriott. Sorry for the blurred pic. Be sure to try this when you head to Marriott.

Chicken satays, fish, prawns - you name it, they make it fresh. 

Neti neti. Scholars, when asked to describe the glory of the God, would say neti neti which means no language or no words in any language can do justice to the highness of God. I hope you get the point. 

Ok, I have got laughed at countless times when I ask for a virgin drink. Really? Like really? You mean, you do not need alcohol? But you are from Kerala, Just a little bit? Why don't you just try once? And hence, I like anyone who fixes me a virgin drink no questions asked. Plus one to this guy! Raspberry mint cooler, by the way. 

Those who know me, know very well that Biriyani is the second oxygen in my life. I can't think of anything that disappoints me as much as a mediocre biriyani. Ok, maybe a tiltled cupcake in the takeaway box, with the frosting stuck on the cover. Marriott brought that biriyani smile to my face in my first visit itself. Mutton biriyani, because they say there is no biriyani like mutton biriyani. Second smile today. 

Rogan josh. Not that biriyani needs a company. No harm to have some friends on the way to tummy. 

Paneer curry. 

Kava daal - much talked about daal in Kava. I usually skip daal but zomato brags about this daal and with a spoon of this, I knew why. 

The problem with this generation is that no matter who they are with, their focus is mostly on the phone. We often forget to spend "quality time" with people despite sitting next to them, thanks to this smart phone who gets all the attention. And after a bit of walking around with my phone clicking away pics of everything my cam could lay its eyes on, my tummy started complaining. And I had to give in, and spent some quality time gorging on the inviting spread on display.

Let's not debate, Science has proven that consumption of desserts lead to temporary hyper activity. That could explain my newly found confidence that I can fly. Really, who needs Uber when I can float and fly home. Who's the villian...scroll down..

Dessert porn. Maybe I should frame this pic in my room :D do you see that tiny bakes cheesecake tucked in between the mango mousse and baked yoghurt? Him! He is a darling! 

Caramel pudding and banoffee pie - need I say more?

I'm a tea person and the only way coffee gets into my system is Tiramisu. 

Baked yoghurt - sweet and simple. 

Skipped skipped skipped.

Chocolate tart - an absolute treat for the dark chocolate lover.

Opera Cake

With Head Chef Mahesh, coincidentally with the dish that he is a master at. :) 

Happy birthday again, Marriott! Hope you soar high because good food deserves nothing less. :)