Arbor Brewing Company – An interesting evening out at a micro brewery!
So when the child was traveling to his granny’s house for 3 weeks, among the top things (the list of things to do was pretty long in case you are wondering) to do, was an evening out at a micro brewery. We have both done it on our own, but somehow, never been able to do it together. So one evening, we trotted to Arbor Brewing Company since I had heard such good things about it and we both hadn’t tried it. ABC (which is what it will be called hereon in this review) is basically from Michigan which has set up a shop in collaboration with a local owner here. It has a brew master sent by them. The first thing that hits you when you enter ABC is the space and how well is organized and compartmentalized into spaces and divisions, just by the use of furniture. A very smart design. I found the interiors of ABC very inviting and friendly, being chic at the same time and it was fairly crowded for a Wednesday evening.
We started with the beer sampler, the idea of which I love, small portions all the brews they have available. The day I went they had Raging Elephant an IPA, with a distinctive bitter aftertaste that I loved and the hubby didn’t. Brasserie Blonde, A Spiced Ale which was the man’s favorite that evening. Phat Abbot, Belgian Tripel – fruity and malty just as it should be. Irish Stout , blended with coffee my favorite for the evening. Belgian Brown and Big Ben which in my opinion, needed a little more punch than it had, but had a lovely mildly bitter aftertaste.
After tasting and loving the beers we ordered our glasses, which are available 330ml and 500ml. I stuck to Irish Stout and the man changed his drink with every round.
And but, of course we ordered food to eat along. What did you think we could do otherwise?
Nachos Loaded, my most favorite food with beer. This one had great sauce and flavoring but by the time I could reach down it felt like plain soggy nachos.
Lemon Saffron Prawns – a winner dish, perfect on most counts.
Beer Battered Onion Rings – Right crisp coating, lovely sized. I absolutely loved them. Must order at ABC!
Everyone has their food demons, something that they know they shouldn’t be ordering but still keep on ordering day on day. Chili Fish is mine. Sigh! It’s almost strange how much I love it. This was great too!
Drumsticks, they are such a delight to eat isn’t it? Specially when they come packaged like this. The minute they landed on the table I went click click click, alas I still don’t have a single good picture. I blame all the beer for it.
Now we were full at this point because of the beers and the food, happily full at that, so I decided to give the mains a skip. But the man is the kind who needs to have a little bit of mains, his share of carbs else he feels he hasn’t had a meal. So we ordered Prawn and Sausage Étouffée – A richly flavored Creole stew made with spicy sausage and grilled prawns layered over Spanish rice. For me this was the only dish that was a miss that day, somehow didn’t work for me.
And, of course, we tried the dessert. Profiterole Sliders – A trio of crisp pastry filled with chocolate mousse, vanilla ice cream, and strawberry ice cream. The one filled with chocolate mousse was a winner, the rest two, sadly did nothing for me. The ice creams made it bit soggy in my opinion.
In the end, I would say ABC has all the qualities to become may be the next new happening hangout place in Bangalore. I have tried most micro breweries here and I always maintained that “The Biere Club” made the best beers but ABC is a good competition to them. Beers are as good, some may be even better. The place where TBC wins is the food though. ABC food was good but TBC is great but still I think I can see myself hanging out there so often now, the fact that its big open and central just helps its case a little more.
Address: #8, 3rd Floor, Allied Grand Plaza, Opposite Home Stop, Magrath Road
Phone: 67921222
Cuisine: Brewery,
Cards Accepted: Yes
Meal for Two: Rs 2000 /-
Parking: Valet
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