Let’s just say – its a hidden gem ! Firehouse Bar & Kitchen is one of those places that is meticulously planned with an aim to provide a family dining as well as a pub experience. Having passed this place n number of times , it was surprising that I never noticed it with the road median fence and a few trees blocking the entrance view from the Outer Ring Road. Thanks to a get-together invitation, we ended up here to savour the food and beverages !
Ambiance:
Spread across 2 levels, this place has a quaint feel to it. The Ground level is more of a family dining area with the first level operating as a pub where smoking is allowed as well.
Click to view slideshow.The decor speaks wood and brick walls with the furniture and lighting complimenting the setup at both levels. The walls paint a picture of art with some antique collections framed and dotted across. They also have some catchy one liners and upcoming events promotion details lined up on the walls as well. Tables are well placed with good space to navigate or to move across the place.
Cocktails:
Lipstick Jungle was my cocktail for the day, had requested for a mild sweet drink and this vodka based refreshing jungle is what came to my table. Nice blend with right balance and not strong at all.
Rest of the gang had a few spicy cocktails which did justice to the name, one sip and its all spicy.
Shooters :
Brain Damage was a mild alcoholic based shooter and yes not so strong to get one’s brain damaged but definitely packs a punch. One could definitely see the brain out there before gulping the shot down
Another shooter that was tried by my friends out there, which I did not was the Layered shots which was all glitter and color. The feedback and the best one you could get at it is the faces of these folks when the shot was gulped down and I could tell that it was strong and happy faces few seconds later meant it was good too !!
Food – The menu is vast here with Western, Continental and Chinese cuisine playing a major part. They do have Sunday brunches as well.Now to the food we tried
Appetizers
Tangy Potato – Nice presentation but lacked the tangy taste that it was supposed to deliver. Potatoes were well done and the veggies like tomatoes, onions went well with it. Just some more sauce to balance the flavour would have done it.
Butter Garlic Prawns – Delicious prawn with nice buttery glaze presented with colorful veggies as base. Dip was excellent as well and taste was mouthwatering.
Chilly Garlic Basil Pork – One of my favourite dish of the day, pork perfectly cooked with the basil, the onions, the black pepper and the sauce enhancing the taste and giving it the spicy tadka !
Firehouse Fried Chicken – A word of advice if you are ordering this, grab it when its hot. Fried Chicken tends to dry a bit if left for long and that’s what we did, ordered for another portion which turned out to be good as we grabbed it no sooner than it was on the table. Nothing fancy about the dish, good old fried chicken served with a well presented tower of french fries !
Fish Finger – Well cooked and succulent strips of fish.Comfort food to go along with a nice beer!
Saute Mushrooms with Olives – Add this to my favourites as well. Sauteed well with all the right spices while retaining the flavour of the mushrooms. I personally am not a fan of olives especially in appetizers, but olives in this dish seem to be working well.
Coorg Chilli Pork – On the staff’s recommendation, went for this dish. I hadn’t really tasted Coorg style pork before so could not relate to the taste well. It was a little sour for me and not consistent across in terms of balancing the flavour. However squeeze more lime into it and for some reason, it starts tasting better.
Maincourse :
After all the appetizers that we hogged on, it only meant that we kept main course to a minimum and share from a single portion while also leaving some space for desserts !
Pizza – Wanting to taste both the veg and non-veg varieties with very little tummy space to gobble, we went in for half and half ( read half veg and half non-veg pizza). Good thin crust and quantity of cheese. Veg side had all the veggies and the non-veg side, the chicken. Bite full of happiness !
Chilli Garlic Basil Fried Rice (Chicken) – Wonderful aromatic flavourful rice. Did not have much expectations when we ordered this considering it would be the regular fried rice that we get anywhere else, but it was beyond expectations when we started digging into the rice.Basil adds a nice touch to it and its a dish that doesn’t need a sauce or curry to go with it.
Kung Pao Chicken – We ordered this just a side to go with the rice but like I mentioned that rice needed no company ! The sauce was good and the color, taste all represent a perfect Chinese cuisine.
Desserts :
Tiramisu – A non-debatable and obvious choice was the Tiramisu for dessert. I think it would be fair to say it was a perfect one with all the boxes ticked right.
Click to view slideshow.Blueberry Cheese Cake – I love cheesecake and I like Blueberry as well and this did not disappoint.
Click to view slideshow.Caramel Custard : Not totally happy with the custard. Could have been better.The syrup seemed too much for a single portion of custard and at times overpowering
Click to view slideshow.Service : Impressive service and an expert mixologist ! We were told in advance of the time it would take for the dishes to be ready so we had an idea on how much would be the wait time. All suggestions were taken well and all needs taken care off.
Pricing is a bit high and we were told that they working on revamping the menu and the pricing, so good things to come. Valet Parking takes the stress out before a dining experience.
Location : Outer Ring Road, 2nd Stage, HBR Layout, HRBR Layout 3rd Block, HRBR Layout, Kalyan Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560043
