Sahakar Nagar’s role in our lives had been limited to being stared at for a few seconds while on our way to the Airport, but The Druid Garden made us stare longer, at least on Google Maps. Some might say that 25 km is a long way to travel for beer, but hey, when it comes to craft beer, we’re nothing if not committed! It did take a while for us to get around to making this trip though. But when the stars aligned – in terms of weather, traffic and Uber fare – we were ready!
Sitting atop a commercial building, the place is pretty huge, and the design highlights it even more with high ceilings and skylights, and multiple levels of seating. Different kinds of seating too – the typical brewery-style stark long benches, bar stools, lounge seating, and the regular functional kind. At 2PM on a Saturday afternoon, the place was crowded, but we got ourselves a nice corner.
Craft beer was what we came for, so we got ourselves a Hefeweizen and a Dunkelweizen. The first had slightly more malt than I expected, but also had a mild fruity flavour that compensated. I liked the latter much more – dark, and shades of spice and sweet. The Pork Chili Fry, from what seemed a special Indian menu, was an automatic choice, and really delivered on the faith. Superb spicy masala and well cooked pork made it a fantastic combination with the beer. The Chettinad Kozhi Roast was our next choice, and was quite unique. Served with ada and chutney, it had quite a melange of flavours – mild spice, tang and the chutney adding a little zing to the mix.
We weren’t sure of our hunger levels, and thought the Korean bbq Chicken Sandwich would give us a measure. This, while not a disaster, was our least favourite dish. Note to self: Korean in specialist restaurants only. Our second round of drinks consisted of cocktails – Spiced Bliss and Bourbonweizer. The first one was quite awesome – white and dark rum, with apple juice, an egg white foam topping and a strong cinnamon flavour. A strange combination of orange juice, bbq sauce and honey with whiskey and hefeweizen made up the latter. It really was much better than it sounds.
A quick peek into the desserts section convinced us that we couldn’t manage a main course dish, so we went with a Buttermilk Fried Calamari with a Thecha (green chili) dip. For a change, I could really sense the buttermilk flavour, though the dip was a little mellow.
In a surprising turn of events, a non chocolate dessert won out in the selection process. The Unbeliever’s Dessert had a black sesame cake with a superb kaffir lime coconut sorbet, lemon curd and miso butterscotch. Burst of flavours, and fantastic textures, this one is highly recommended.
The wallet was lighter by a shade under Rs.3000. But it was money well spent both in terms of food and experience. Very friendly staff and a lively yet mellow ambiance made for a wonderful out of Bangalore experience. 😉
The Druid Garden, 3rd Floor, Century Corbel Commercial, Sahakara Nagar (map)