<p>Thanks to our love for beer, there’s no dearth of breweries in the city. The latest to join the bandwagon is Aurum Brew Works with absolutely gorgeous ambience and a menu that’s different (it’s about time!) from probably every other pub in the city.</p>.<p>If you can muster up your courage and make it past the traffic, Aurum is worth the drive to Sarjapur. One thing is for sure – because it’s so far away, you know that you don’t have to worry about the noise and dust of the traffic outside.</p>.<p>I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that the ambience is gorgeous. I recommend the rooftop as the falling lights and round-table sort of set up makes for a fantastic proposal setup.</p>.<p>As I also mentioned earlier, the menu here is unique. In fact, they don’t have pizza on their menu, but have a menu for kids and there are talks about serving boozy ice creams in the future.</p>.<p>So what really is so special about the menu here? They have dishes from different parts of Karnataka on the menu – for starters, main course and desserts. For someone who had spent her fair share of authentic Karnataka dishes, I was quite surprised and happy to taste the dishes didn’t get commercialised in the process.</p>.<p>So there’s everything from ‘Goli Bajji’, ‘Chicken Ghee Roast’, ‘Kaima Curry’, ‘Mutton Pulao’ and ‘Badnekai Yennai’, to name a few, available here.</p>.<p>We decided to dedicate the evening only trying the new items on the menu and happily skipped over the usual nachos and burger. Although when we were there, I almost wanted to order the burger as it looked so good at the table beside us!</p>.<p>Being a brewhouse, we had to try their beers too. I personally liked the Witbier which wasn’t too bitter. It seemed to go well with the dishes we ordered after too.</p>.<p>We had to start with the ‘Goli Bajji’ and man, oh man – what a fantastic way to start the dining experience. The Mangalorean bajji was light and fluffy. I cannot begin to tell you how great the chutney was – it as absolutely perfect.</p>.<p>Giving it a slight twist to ‘Menasinakai Bajji’ was the addition of masala puffed rice and chilli bajji in a papdi basket. It was definitely interesting but I would have been okay not trying it too.</p>.<p>The fish dishes were a must-have here. The Mangalorean speciality ‘Kane Meen Rawa Fry’ and Konkan-style ‘Belanji Rava Fry’ were refreshing appetisers. If you’re a fan of sear fish, you might enjoy ‘Surmai Fish Fry’ as it’s marinated in virgin coconut oil and coated with rice batter crust.</p>.<p>We can’t talk about Karnataka dish and not order the neer dosa. We paired that with ‘Savji Koli Curry’ which was cooked in a spicy fresh herb, coconut and tamarind gravy. In fact, the chef told us that it’s a cuisine influenced by a community from Nagpur-Maharastra region.</p>.<p>My favourite among all of the dishes was the ‘Mutton Pulao’. For a hardcore biryani-girl, this was an absolutely refreshing dish. The highlight of this Mysuru dish is that it’s made with four varieties of rice. And of course, the tender lamb cooked in a spicy fresh herb masala is what gave the dish its flavour.</p>.<p>Okay, now for the dessert. I was recommended to try the ‘Banana Halwa’, even though I’m not really much of a halwa fan; I was really hoping to be converted that night but that didn’t happen. Though it’s made with ripe banana, fresh coconut, cardamom, caramelised raisins and jaggery rice crispies, I could swear that it tasted like something made of jackfruit. However, my friend absolutely loved it – so maybe on this one, you can go by my friend’s recommendation.</p>.<p>Thankfully, there was boozy ice cream that I helped me wash off the jackfruit-like taste.</p>.<p>I recommend the Nutella and Bailey’s ice cream and the Stout Chocolate Orange ice cream. Be warned, the alcohol will hit you faster than you’ve expected. Within a couple of spoons, I was almost tipsy!</p>.<p>Aurum Brew Works is located at 3rd floor, Gold Sand, Doddakanneli, Sarjapur Main Road, Kaikondrahalli. For reservations, call 68233131.</p>
<p>Thanks to our love for beer, there’s no dearth of breweries in the city. The latest to join the bandwagon is Aurum Brew Works with absolutely gorgeous ambience and a menu that’s different (it’s about time!) from probably every other pub in the city.</p>.<p>If you can muster up your courage and make it past the traffic, Aurum is worth the drive to Sarjapur. One thing is for sure – because it’s so far away, you know that you don’t have to worry about the noise and dust of the traffic outside.</p>.<p>I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that the ambience is gorgeous. I recommend the rooftop as the falling lights and round-table sort of set up makes for a fantastic proposal setup.</p>.<p>As I also mentioned earlier, the menu here is unique. In fact, they don’t have pizza on their menu, but have a menu for kids and there are talks about serving boozy ice creams in the future.</p>.<p>So what really is so special about the menu here? They have dishes from different parts of Karnataka on the menu – for starters, main course and desserts. For someone who had spent her fair share of authentic Karnataka dishes, I was quite surprised and happy to taste the dishes didn’t get commercialised in the process.</p>.<p>So there’s everything from ‘Goli Bajji’, ‘Chicken Ghee Roast’, ‘Kaima Curry’, ‘Mutton Pulao’ and ‘Badnekai Yennai’, to name a few, available here.</p>.<p>We decided to dedicate the evening only trying the new items on the menu and happily skipped over the usual nachos and burger. Although when we were there, I almost wanted to order the burger as it looked so good at the table beside us!</p>.<p>Being a brewhouse, we had to try their beers too. I personally liked the Witbier which wasn’t too bitter. It seemed to go well with the dishes we ordered after too.</p>.<p>We had to start with the ‘Goli Bajji’ and man, oh man – what a fantastic way to start the dining experience. The Mangalorean bajji was light and fluffy. I cannot begin to tell you how great the chutney was – it as absolutely perfect.</p>.<p>Giving it a slight twist to ‘Menasinakai Bajji’ was the addition of masala puffed rice and chilli bajji in a papdi basket. It was definitely interesting but I would have been okay not trying it too.</p>.<p>The fish dishes were a must-have here. The Mangalorean speciality ‘Kane Meen Rawa Fry’ and Konkan-style ‘Belanji Rava Fry’ were refreshing appetisers. If you’re a fan of sear fish, you might enjoy ‘Surmai Fish Fry’ as it’s marinated in virgin coconut oil and coated with rice batter crust.</p>.<p>We can’t talk about Karnataka dish and not order the neer dosa. We paired that with ‘Savji Koli Curry’ which was cooked in a spicy fresh herb, coconut and tamarind gravy. In fact, the chef told us that it’s a cuisine influenced by a community from Nagpur-Maharastra region.</p>.<p>My favourite among all of the dishes was the ‘Mutton Pulao’. For a hardcore biryani-girl, this was an absolutely refreshing dish. The highlight of this Mysuru dish is that it’s made with four varieties of rice. And of course, the tender lamb cooked in a spicy fresh herb masala is what gave the dish its flavour.</p>.<p>Okay, now for the dessert. I was recommended to try the ‘Banana Halwa’, even though I’m not really much of a halwa fan; I was really hoping to be converted that night but that didn’t happen. Though it’s made with ripe banana, fresh coconut, cardamom, caramelised raisins and jaggery rice crispies, I could swear that it tasted like something made of jackfruit. However, my friend absolutely loved it – so maybe on this one, you can go by my friend’s recommendation.</p>.<p>Thankfully, there was boozy ice cream that I helped me wash off the jackfruit-like taste.</p>.<p>I recommend the Nutella and Bailey’s ice cream and the Stout Chocolate Orange ice cream. Be warned, the alcohol will hit you faster than you’ve expected. Within a couple of spoons, I was almost tipsy!</p>.<p>Aurum Brew Works is located at 3rd floor, Gold Sand, Doddakanneli, Sarjapur Main Road, Kaikondrahalli. For reservations, call 68233131.</p>
