If you’ve been following my blogs or my FB page “Forks in the road”, you know I’m currently having a love
affair with food. I cannot stop bragging about it nor can I stop writing. I guess somewhere in blog etiquette I'm not supposed to
post too much. Since I am not much for blog etiquette and like Sheldon often
says “not now, in zone”, I need to write when I am “in THE zone” and as the
inspiration hits me, sometimes there are three posts in a row. Sometimes
writer's block cripples me and its weeks until I am heard from again unless I
post something on my Facebook page, which is growing slowly but surely and I
like interacting with everybody.
I am off for my sister’s
wedding this weekend, so it will be a while for my next post to arrive, may be later next week or the week after my dudhsagar trip; But before
leaving for this long leave, I will leave you with a little food porn that’ll
certainly add a few inches to your… waistline.
BBQ seems to be having
a bit of a rebirth as of late in Bangalore, and I’m totally down with that.
I remember Derrick
Riches mentioning in one of
his blogs about the origin of BBQ’s. He says “the history of Barbecue people goes
way back to olden ages where, the indigenous people of the Caribbean preserve
meats in the sun in order to avoid the spoiling.” Meat had to be either, cooked
and eaten quickly after slaughter or preserved by either a spicing or smoking
process. If we credit the peoples of the Caribbean with the advent of Barbecue
or “barbacoa”, as a method of
preserving meat then it only follows that modern day Barbecue is an evolution
of this process.
Lately, many barbeque
joints have taken its root in Bangalore. Whether it is Barbeque Nation or
Barbeque Factory or Absolute Barbeques; every month, Bangalore plays host to
newbies. I have had my fair amount of share dining in these BBQ’s, and today I shall review them, but in a slightly different fashion; I shall compare
them and place my verdict based on different aspects like ambience, food, service,
and cost. The restaurants of focus today are, Barbeque Nation, Black Pearl
& Absolute Barbeque.
P.S Even though I had
been to Barbeque Nation a little while ago I will try to recollect as much as
possible and provide apt data.
General Info:
All these food holes
need prior bookings.
Absolute Barbeque has
to be booked 7 days in advance, yes you heard it right, there is always huge
demand for AB’s compared to other barbeque joints.
The others can be
booked 2-3 days in advance either for the 12.00pm slot or 2.00pm one. BN and BF
have a number of outlets spanned across Bangalore whereas AB’s has just one
outlet in Marathahally.
Aura:
The atmosphere at BN is very simple. They have square
tables and round ones. I personally feel round tables are best for BBQ’s as it’s
easier to gather people around the grill, to watch, smell and eat. Like the
fires of prehistory this is the place to eat, drink and tell stories.
AB’s again has a very simple atmosphere; one section of this floor is divided into bar, another one for exotic starters and the last one for main course and deserts.
AB’s again has a very simple atmosphere; one section of this floor is divided into bar, another one for exotic starters and the last one for main course and deserts.
Black pearl has done a commendable job in this genre. They stand by their name “Black pearl” and define it. They did a noteworthy job recreating the entire atmosphere of “Black pearl” from Pirates of Caribbean. Right from the wooden bar skeleton hand shaped stools to the webby nets, to the statuette of various pirates, the wagons and wheels, the cannons and the gun deck and the upper deck, I could see certain stills of this movie recreated right in front of me, alas, now i can say Bangalore has its own Jack Sparrow ship. Even the staff was dressed in pirate fashion. Kudos to them.
Black Pearl has a clean slate win on this aspect.
Food & Service:
The services received
at all this places were commendable. We had atleast 2-3 dedicated staff members
for our table. Staffs were polite and humble, they keep insisting on certain
starters that were famous, particularly at their service.
Drinks: BN provides complimentary drinks with their buffet package,
whereas Black Pearl and AB’s don’t. But upon request AB’s and Black Pearl
provided us with an option for complimentary drinks.
BN: either a glass of beer or aerated drinks
or mocktails.
Black Pearl: Mocktails, Aerated drinks or Wine
(Red/White)
AB’s: Mocktails & Aerated drinks.
Starters: The Starters, main course and desserts for all the buffets were
almost the same. Each provided us with usual BBQ starters:
Veg: Mushroon, Panner, Capsicum, Pineapple,
Tomatoes, Onions, Sweet Corn.
Non-Veg: Chicken, Mutton and Fish.
Apart from this, there were other 2-3 veg and
non-veg starters which involved, panner,
crispy potato, veg kebabs, corn roasted, chicken tandoori, mutton seekh etc.
Almost all the dishes at these places were same, except that AB’s also serves
some exotic starters mainly for the non-veg folks. They serve exotic non-veg
starters like emu, octopus, and rabbits.
Clearly AB’s won this
round by providing some exotic starters in there menu.
Soup at AB's Aloo Patty at AB's
Starters and soup at Black Pearl
Crispy Potato and Harabara Kebab at AB's
Exotic Veg Starter at AB's
Main Course: Again
this is same at all places. Papad, dahi chawal, rice & dal, biryani both
veg and non-veg, noodles, 2-3 curries, salads, pickles, bread sticks, soups
both veg and non-veg. Most of times I am so over filled by starters that, I generally
tend to avoid my main course and straight away jump to my desserts. Geeee!
Since these places are more known for there starters, there main course are not any different from rest of the places, so its not worth the talk.
Since these places are more known for there starters, there main course are not any different from rest of the places, so its not worth the talk.
Main Course at Black Pearl
Desserts: Under this genre, I would give AB’s more credits over the other
2 places, followed by BN and the BP. Even though the options available at all
these places are almost same, AB’s has this wonderful way of serving ice-creams,
when it comes to 2 different flavors. If you want a mixture of Chocolate and
Vanilla with few toppings, they hit them together under a flat knife till they
are mixed properly and then serve it with cherries and Oreos and choco syrup. And
they have atleast 4 choices in ice-creams.
BN serves good deserts too with a lot of
options on toppings and syrups but AB’s wins this round fair and square.
Black Pearl has not got any out of the box
menu in this genre and hence I rate them the least.
Again AB’s wins this
round.
Cost:
Again AB’s wins here. Their price ranges from
450 to 475 for Veg & Non-Veg folks respectively, with dinner cost as 550
and 575.
Black Pearl cost 500 and 600 for veg and
non-veg respectively whereas BN costs highest among all 3, with 618 & 742.
AB’s has better menu
and cost lesser.
Verdict:
AB’s has a clear and cut win, there food and
rates are quite over the top when compared to the other 2 BBQ joints, and that
explains the madness in reservations. BN and BP shares the same dais with 2nd
place.
I work
in a world surrounded by food porn, and the amazing people who make it every
day. Me, I just sit back, watch, ogle and eat and let the world (or my few followers)
know what wonderful things exist in this crazy place. With this, I, Manju bid you all adieu for a
while; stay tuned for more blogs and food orgy.
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