the bak bak appeared on Bangalore Mirror first
The place has a bakstory – the Manchester United Restaurant and Bar. But after its game ended, the buck was passed on to Bak Bak Bar on Children’s Day in 2011. (map and menu at Zomato) It belongs to the same group as Bakasur, and even if you miss the mention at the door, you might find an odd stirrer or two that have the Bakasur motif. But there ends the connection. The theme stays true to the name, sometimes in the form of good advice – “Don’t walk into a bar. Use the door instead” (though the poster is inside) – and sometimes as great conversation starters – “Avoid nuts. You are what you eat.” Coasters, posters, plates, bak bak is all over the place. A special mention needs to be made of the music – from Modern Talking to Peter Andre to Coldplay, it seemed to be a soundtrack of an average 30 year old’s life! The volume level is generally toned down to allow bak bak, but Saturdays are a loud exception! But enough bak bak, and on to the bar and the rest.
It’s difficult to slot the menu into the regular starters, main course silos, so we’ll just proceed in the order of consumption and move to the next section at half time! The drinks have amazing names – mostly popular culture characters! It was difficult to believe that Captain Jack Sparrow was a mocktail, but even then it was more entertaining than Mary Poppins. We also tried Princess Leia. Yes, that does sound wrong given that she’s an (ahem) icon among males, and unfortunately, we found her lack of taste disturbing! Since the idea was to pig out, we began with ‘Porkalicious. Though the meat was well cooked, it was a bit bland given that it was supposed to have a green chilli presence. The Beef Kheema Pav made up for it though and was probably the best of the starters. In close contention was the Prawn Pesto cutlet, though we felt that the signature gunpowder mayonnaise that came with it did not live up to gunpowder standards. We’d also tried the Spiced Beef Baklet earlier, and it wasn’t bad either. The PCP (Perfect Citrus Potatoes) had an excellent masala coating, but (thankfully) was not as addictive as its more famous acronym. The Lemongrass Fish steamed riceballs were really strong on flavours, and if you find that too overpowering, its dip is a real help. The Chicken Sausage Kalimirch is usually a safe bet, but during this visit, was lacking in spice.
The Monk-Flamed Chicken provided some flambé entertainment, but was more or less a flame out. The Mushroom Tikki ‘bakwich’ was also very mediocre and it was only the Beef Burger (with the bacon contributing generously) which brought some respite. The patty scored well on texture and flavour, though it was a task to ignore the over-excited lettuce leaves which was forever trying to get in the way! The Lamb Seekh ‘Bak Wrap’ failed to evoke any extreme reaction and played a decent supporting role. The star though was the Chicken Roulade with Makhni sauce. The cheese filling was subtle and allowed the Makhni sauce to shine. The only tiny chink was the strong mustard flavour in the mashed potato. We had tried the Butter Chicken pizza (yes, you heard that right!) the first time we dropped in, and it was awesome, but the second time, it was a huge disappointment thanks to its unavailability!
The writing was on the wall (actually a plate, but you get the message) “Exercise is good, but desserts taste better” So we tried everything that was available. The chocolate easily won – Ganache Tart with Badam Milk sauce, though the latter was ignored. The second half of Apple Pie with Pista Kulfi was a favourite as well, and if they had been less stingy with the Caramel Rum Sauce, the vanilla ice cream would have left us in high spirits as well! The Apricot Meetha Pastry couldn’t really match up to the other performances.
In terms of price, for about Rs.2000, you could share a cocktail, a couple of non veg starters and main course dishes each dishes and a dessert. (Inclusive of taxes and service charge) But beyond that, Bak Bak Bar serves oodles of character – from the liberally strewn fun messages to the yellow cycle. The food they served was not stellar, but it doesn’t make you go ‘What the bak’ either. There’s a definite buzz about the place, and courtesy that, and the Bak Bak meter (a bill holder) that thankfully doesn’t do a one-and-a-half, an extra point.
Bak Bak Bar & Restaurant, #1, Kira Layout, Hosur Main Road, Ph: 8792000390/1
We then saw a rudraksh tree and the poor guy was asked for the significance of the number of faces a rudraksh had! He did say that a single faced one only appeared once a century and apparently Rajinikanth, Sonia Gandhi and Queen Liz had one! From there we moved on to see Elaichis, and the leeches decided to crash the party again! I got a video of one doing its version of the pub crawl.
) was everywhere, and thanks to ‘Bulbul’, so was Darshan! Shaded roads, a smattering of brand outlets and large parks, Mandya made a pretty picture. Neither of us knew that we’d meet again in a more elaborate way during the trip, but that’s for later.
The menu is limited, (click for a larger view) so drop in here specifically for the cuisine. No multi cuisine stunts have been attempted. We asked for a couple of basic thalis, and also decided to try the fish fry and the pork fry. Later we also added the duck for good measure!
The thali has rice with a series of side dishes – an awesome chutney, brinjal both fried and a thick pasty version, dal, papad, a dry mixed veg dish, a mashed potato + chilly combination (
We barely had space for dessert, which was a mix of many flavours, though the curd dominated it more than we’d have liked. All of the above cost us exactly Rs.800. The service is pleasant and courteous, and quite prompt as well.
The Spicy Chicken and Coriander Soup had been a favourite, so we decided to begin with some nostalgia. Unfortunately, it hasn’t taken the location transition very well. It was thinner, stingier on the coconut cream, and the chillies hadn’t been informed about their role. The Fried Prawns that came next did nothing to salvage the situation. The prawns were leathery, and beer wasn’t the only thing that deserved to be battered. Mustard Chicken Sausage Flowers hooked us with its matter-of-fact, non-flowery description, but the actual dish, though not lacking in flavours, went a tad overboard on the saltiness. Hope took a long time coming, and it came from an unexpected quarter – Vegetables with Feta. But even that was too little, and too late, since we had to remind the service staff at least a couple of times that we had ordered a veg starter, as the vegetarians at the table cast mournful glances at the dishes that arrived much before theirs. In the end, they gloatingly offered to share their fried vegetables and tasty cheese dish with us meatheads!
All the knives that were out thus far for the place were replaced with spoons after the desserts arrived. In a heavily competed section, the Mud Pie emerged the winner, despite having a slightly tough base. The unique Death by Chocolate would have won if it had not been at room temperature, and had been less grainy. The Tiramisu was not bad either. But the actual winner was the chocolate sauce and they clearly knew it, judging by its active presence in any dish that offered a chance!
