Whitefield scores high on beer, but is relatively less awesome when it comes to cocktails. Shizusan was a welcome relief, and we then found out that Bar Bar had opened right next door. The menu seemed very promising and we landed up there one Saturday evening, braving the Kumbh Mela in front of Phoenix. We weren’t early enough to catch the outside-facing tables, but were comfortably placed at a table near the bar. This portion was rather empty, and we didn’t mind the peace. There was no quiet because the sound system was blaring hits. We didn’t mind that either. The decor echoes the grunge look that Social made familiar, but the decor has more fancy elements and yes, better cutlery! 😉
On our first trip with friends, we had tried the Grapejito, The Hawaiian and a Spiced Pear Mojito. They have a deal where the prices come down as per economies of scale. 300 for 1 glass, 265 for 3 glasses. But we were told that we would have to order 3 glasses of the same drink for this to be valid. Our plan was to test out 3 different drinks and have only one of them in the next round, but that second round never happened. I liked my Spiced Pear Mojito most – refreshing, smooth and generous with alcohol. The Grapejito, which obviously had grape juice, is likable too according to your affection for grapes. Mine is limited. The Hawaiian – vodka, cardamon, pineapple, Red Bull – sounded like a disaster, but it wasn’t.
On our second visit, I repeated the Spiced Pear Mojito and D tried a Mixed Berry Sour (Whiskey with all sorts of berries – straw, rasp, blue!) But I have to admit, it was pretty good. This time, we were told that the 3 drinks offer was valid on any 3 drinks! You didn’t have to order 3 glasses of the same. We couldn’t really find a 3rd drink, so the person who took our order volunteered to make us a dark rum based cocktail. Very awesome!
On our first visit, we had tried the Southern Fried Chicken and Pork Cuchifrito Popcorn. Both are excellent drink companions, but not very spicy. The latter is sausage based, and comes with what’s billed as a spicy sauce. The Sriracha Chicken Wings we tried on our second trip delivered on the spice. The only thing we found off with the menu was that the description says Chicken Wings Four Ways – Sriracha + Chimichurri + Bourbon Barbecue + Kung Pao. We thought the + meant there would be four pieces with 4 sauces, but we had to choose one.
While there were lots of pizza/burger/pasta/tandoor options, we went for the Oink Oink Platter – Pork Belly (excellent) BBQ Pork Ribs (heavy) Bacon (no adjective required) Pork Sausages (best in the platter) & Ham (just ok) served with Apple Slaw. This was very filling, and probably meant for 4 people!
While the setting was good, the music was great, the service excellent the second time around, and the food was not bad at all, I’m not very convinced that we would visit the place baar baar, and that’s largely because of the pricing. On our second visit, the 3 drinks, a starter and a platter cost us a shade under Rs.3000, which is quite beyond what we’d call fair pricing.
Bar Bar, Level 2, Phoenix Marketcity, Whitefield Ph: 7338630404