Saturday, March 3, 2012

At- The Piano


So this is my Resolution for the month of February. To revive my dying blog. (Atleast) One (meaningful, useful, sensible) post a week.


Weekend before last, we had been to Bangalore. Met a couple of friends, walked along the streets, lots of laughter, crazy fun. This is not my first trip to the city, but it was one of the most special trips, in many ways. For one, this was the first time I was there sans family, so there was no pre- defined itinerary. Every next action was on impulse. On one of those impulsive moments, we ‘just’ decided to go to this place called The Piano.


I wanted to figure out the exact location of the place, but it does not even show up on google, which I think could either be 1. Such a shame – because it is one of the most amazing pubs that I have ever been to, else 2. They are doing famously well without all the unwanted publicity, which is a credit, by itself. So I shall try to give you a near accurate location of this hidden place-it is located on the Castle road- Near Museum Road (!!)


So in we tromp, four hungry souls, two already in dream land about the fare in store (these buggers had been to the same place the previous night) and the other two, neck deep in expectation, having heard such tummy-inspiring tales, that they simply HAD to sample the place. First thing that struck us was the ambience. Not overdone. Filled with knick-knacks. Funny one liners all over the walls. Make you stop, read, grin, and then walk on. Nice crowd, and nicer staff. Made one feel genuinely welcome, the sort of people who come by, crack a joke or two, laugh with you, and continue their work.


So we were settled in our table, the much awaited menu arrives. This is the best part. The specialty of this place is- flavoured beer. They come in 6 diferent flavours, the ones that we had, I would recommend: Fruit beer (beer mixed with passion fruit juice), Bee sting (the name says it- with a hint of honey) and lemon beer- of course. In a word- AMAZING. Out of the world. Though, after going this far I must warn you- Once you have this, beer would never be the same again. Post this we asked for a pitcher of ‘normal’ beer- and it simply wouldn’t go down.


A few lines about the food as well: Pretty decent, though I wouldn’t call it pocket friendly. They boast of chicken wings in a variety of flavours. We had something called the Old Monk- which is not recommended at all. It was way too spicy, with a little bit of sweet somewhere in between, that teased your tongue and made your eyes water. Vegetarian fare was pretty good- said the Vegetarian who accompanied us. Non vegetarian- Great stuff. Nachos, the lamb lasagna, and the stroganoff. All cooked perfectly, in their own way. (Though, personally, the best stroganoff that I have had would be at 10 Downing Street, Chennai, anytime) Meal for four- Rs 2,400. But worth every paisa of it.