This time last year, Brunchies All Day was an ice cream parlour that served a few finger foods to boot. Today, the menu comprises steaks, fried chicken, a range of biryani, hearty Tamil fare, Chinese, Italian, sandwiches, waffles, apple pie and its signature offering — hoagies.
“Hoagies are basically the Philadelphia style of subs,” explains restaurateur Uday Shankar Ranganathan, who runs the place with his friend. He had spent his MBA years in that city, living off this simple food truck fare of meat and sauce between breads. While the term hoagie instantly brings to mind the Philadelphia cheesesteak synonymous with the city of the Liberty Bell, Ranganathan is yet to introduce beef into his kitchen, and serves a chicken version of the streetside classic instead. He also has a number of other hoagies on offer, a public favourite being the Buffalo-style chicken wing hoagie.
There are a number of other interesting quirks to the menu, quite a few of which bear a mark of his US days. Ranganathan has also brought in, for instance, pierogis, cheese and potato dumplings that are native to the state of Pennsylvania. Picture everyone’s favourite combination of cheese and potatoes, baked into momo-like dumplings and then lightly sautéed. Equally delicious are the simple chicken crispers, and the in-house ranch sauce served with most of these dishes. And, of course, no American menu would be complete without the classic apple pie.
But there’s very little that can be described as classic in this menu, and deliberately so. Even the biryanis are experimental, a case in point being the ones served with Moroccan chicken barbecue or Jamaican jerk chicken tossed in, instead of the usual meat that gives the rice company for aeons, seeping in flavours together inside a dum. Oddly enough, this hasty combination works quite well. For the culinarily steadfast, the Chicken 65 biryani might be a less scandalous choice, and regular chicken and mutton biryani are on offer as well.
There’s more than enough on offer to satiate the not-too-adventurous as well. The Malabar fish curry, for example, is pure homely joy served on a platter. In contrast, the boti kebab, malai tikka, and pretty much everything served from the tandoor is richly flavourful and tender. The boti kebab, at the very least, will keep you coming back for more. Brunchies All Day serves up an Indian fare that is as good as the American, if not better.
However, for an enterprise that began as a dessert place, Brunchies All Day falls surprisingly short in the final course of the meal. The crepes are satisfying, but not exceptional, something of an anticlimax after a meal full of surprises.