The Lebanese-style Grilled Chicken was next, served with a pickled vegetables salad, pickled chillies and lots of olives of different kinds.
BENGALURU: Few things in life can compare to the smell of food grilling on a cold night. And while you won’t actually see the grills or smell that aroma of charring meat at Smoke House Deli, their limited-period menu – Smoky with a chance of beer cocktails – will satisfy all your grilled fantasies.
We started the meal with the Cottage Cheese Skewers, which were served with a garlic sauce and a light, summer-y salad. Despite a dislike for all-things paneer, we were very impressed with the soft, fresh chunks of grilled paneer, which went perfectly with the garlic sauce.
The Lebanese-style Grilled Chicken was next, served with a pickled vegetables salad, pickled chillies and lots of olives of different kinds. The Lebanese spice mix and tender chicken pieces complemented each other well, and the beer cocktail we paired with it – Pineapeno (beer, pineapple juice and jalapeno water) – completed the dish. The Burrata Salad with a Parmesan Hazelnut Crust and Grilled Mixed Fruit Jam was next. While we thought the jam was too overpowering, we enjoyed the mixture of sweet and salty flavours along with the freshness of the arugula leaves.
For mains, we had the Grilled Lamb Chops with a Spicy Chickpea Salad. The meat, we felt, was slightly dry, but was cooked well and tasted good, with a finger-licking spice rub. The Grilled Rib Eye Steak with Soba Noodles is another great option. The tender, medium-rare pieces of meat with a sweet glaze won us over, but it was the soba noodles – with plenty of garlic – that won us over. The Herb Marinaded Pork Chops with a Cauliflower Puree was next, but we thought that the chops themselves were slightly lacking in flavour, perhaps better suited to hardcore meat lovers. However, the meat and the sweetish cauliflower puree paired well together.
Smoke House has some great desserts on display, and they taste just as good as they look. We tried the Philly and Plum Cheesecake first, and fell in love. Being cheesecake fans, we found this one to have a very homemade feel. Warm and soft with just the right amount of sweetness, the sour-sweet plum compote cut through the creaminess of the cake well. Being a cold night, we tried the Warm Apple Cake with a Vanilla Cardamom Sauce next, and liked the ‘comfort food’ feel of this dish, though it was a little high on the sweetness quotient. The special cocktails on offer are a must-try for lovers of beer, and there are plenty to choose from to. This menu is available till September 30 at all outlets. Cost for two: `1,600
