Monsoon is settling in across the country, making us crave for something crunchy and hot. Most of our gloomy weekdays are spent dreaming about some spicy bhajiyas paired with a hot cuppa that will warm our soul, and looks like the Monkey Bar team thinks just like that as well! Starting today, the gastropub will run a two week special menu celebrating fried goodies amped up with dark rum cocktails. We stopped by last night to soak in the goodness of Fryday on a Thursday, and started the weekend early.
The menu – running across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore – gets all the elements right. It has things that are fried, spicy and have a generous crunch in every bite. With that in mind, we started our tasting with a bowl of their Canadian style fries – Poutine (Rs 190) served with a side of gravy and topped with cheddar cheese, caramelised onions and mushrooms – that just screamed yum! If you wish to take things to the next level, they allow you to add an extra helping of bacon as well. For shroom lovers, there’s Stuffed Mushrooms (Rs 220) that will make you very happy – stuffed with an earthy mix of bell pepper and feta, the mushrooms are deep-fried, giving it a generous bite followed by a melt-in-the-mouth creamy texture. The dish was accompanied with spicy mayo and homemade fritters (an assortment of tapioca, potato, okra and bitter gourd) and it was these two elements that sealed the deal for us. To our delight, most dishes that followed came with a helping for these homemade chips.
Bringing in the local flavours from the state of Andhra Pradesh were the Chicken Chettinad Samosa (Rs 280) and Fried Chilli Chicken (Rs 260). While the samosas had a generous amount of the Chettinad stuffing, the filo pastry made the crust flaky and less doughy unlike traditional samosas. The fried chicken, though, will transport you to a Coorg shanty where Old Monk or beer comes with a plate of chicken pakoda and an extra helping of deep fried chillies. The plating adds that rustic appeal to the dish, as the chunks of chicken come wrapped in a newspaper cone. But if you fancy some Asian flavours, then the Deep Fried Dumplings (Rs 310) will hit the sweet spot. We sampled the seafood version where the stuffing had generous bits of prawn with spicy Schezwan sauce.
Nothing helps you warm up better than dark rum, and so there are a host of Old Monk cocktails to do the trick. Our favourite was Love to Malibu (Rs 225), which as the names suggests was loaded with Malibu and rum paired with the sweetness of pineapple, but if you like your drinks spicy, then the Green With Imli (Rs 225) is for you. The drink is a sweet and sour mix of green chilli and tamarind paste that goes well with the rum, providing a burst of flavours.
We suggest you go all out with the indulgence and get yourself a dessert too. The humble Churros (Rs 190) with a side of hot chocolate dip are what we picked. This Mexican dessert came wrapped in the perfect amount sugar and cinnamon, countered by a dark chocolate dip, which was still a bit warm.
Where: Monkey Bar outlets in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore
When: July 22nd to August 5th, 6 pm to 1 am (Monday to Friday) and noon to 1 am (Saturday-Sunday)
Monsoon is settling in across the country, making us crave for something crunchy and hot. Most of our gloomy weekdays are spent dreaming about some spicy bhajiyas paired with a hot cuppa that will warm our soul, and looks like the Monkey Bar team thinks just like that as well! Starting today, the gastropub will run a two week special menu celebrating fried goodies amped up with dark rum cocktails. We stopped by last night to soak in the goodness of Fryday on a Thursday, and started the weekend early.
The menu – running across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore – gets all the elements right. It has things that are fried, spicy and have a generous crunch in every bite. With that in mind, we started our tasting with a bowl of their Canadian style fries – Poutine (Rs 190) served with a side of gravy and topped with cheddar cheese, caramelised onions and mushrooms – that just screamed yum! If you wish to take things to the next level, they allow you to add an extra helping of bacon as well. For shroom lovers, there’s Stuffed Mushrooms (Rs 220) that will make you very happy – stuffed with an earthy mix of bell pepper and feta, the mushrooms are deep-fried, giving it a generous bite followed by a melt-in-the-mouth creamy texture. The dish was accompanied with spicy mayo and homemade fritters (an assortment of tapioca, potato, okra and bitter gourd) and it was these two elements that sealed the deal for us. To our delight, most dishes that followed came with a helping for these homemade chips.
Bringing in the local flavours from the state of Andhra Pradesh were the Chicken Chettinad Samosa (Rs 280) and Fried Chilli Chicken (Rs 260). While the samosas had a generous amount of the Chettinad stuffing, the filo pastry made the crust flaky and less doughy unlike traditional samosas. The fried chicken, though, will transport you to a Coorg shanty where Old Monk or beer comes with a plate of chicken pakoda and an extra helping of deep fried chillies. The plating adds that rustic appeal to the dish, as the chunks of chicken come wrapped in a newspaper cone. But if you fancy some Asian flavours, then the Deep Fried Dumplings (Rs 310) will hit the sweet spot. We sampled the seafood version where the stuffing had generous bits of prawn with spicy Schezwan sauce.
Nothing helps you warm up better than dark rum, and so there are a host of Old Monk cocktails to do the trick. Our favourite was Love to Malibu (Rs 225), which as the names suggests was loaded with Malibu and rum paired with the sweetness of pineapple, but if you like your drinks spicy, then the Green With Imli (Rs 225) is for you. The drink is a sweet and sour mix of green chilli and tamarind paste that goes well with the rum, providing a burst of flavours.
We suggest you go all out with the indulgence and get yourself a dessert too. The humble Churros (Rs 190) with a side of hot chocolate dip are what we picked. This Mexican dessert came wrapped in the perfect amount sugar and cinnamon, countered by a dark chocolate dip, which was still a bit warm.
Where: Monkey Bar outlets in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore
When: July 22nd to August 5th, 6 pm to 1 am (Monday to Friday) and noon to 1 am (Saturday-Sunday)