BENGALURU : This one’s for all the meat lovers in Bengaluru. With different experimentations done with chicken, fish, pork, duck, lamb and beef, one can choose their favourites from the Big Meat-Up menu that Smoke House Deli, Lavelle Road and Indiranagar, introduces every year for a brief period of time.
Pairing the course meal with Shiraz, I started off with Cashew and Almond-stuffed Chicken Breast with cauliflower steak on a chilly Wednesday evening. With dim lights providing the perfect setting for a quiet dinner, the soft meat was glazed with olive oil and served with a delicious white sauce. The cauliflowers accompanying the right-sized chicken piece were roasted just fine.
This, in itself, can be a sufficient main course as the quantity is just right for an individual, with the required amount of starch put in the item. However, some might feel it’s light on the appetite, so we recommend you to order steamed rice along with the dish, if you’re not having anything else.
The next one, Olive oil-poached Barramundi served with microgreens salad and Yuzu dressing, was really tasty and above my expectation. With pop songs playing on a low volume in the background, it was an utter delight to savour the sea fish, also known as Bhetki. As Chef Saurabh Arora mentioned, all the dishes in the special menu have been slow-cooked, which means, the texture of this fish is smooth and flavourful with its own elements, without being deep-fried. The salad accentuated the taste, and with red wine, a burst of flavours came about in the palate.
Spice-crusted confit
of duck breast served with Bora Saul rice risotto was an interesting one, indeed. Since the meat has been slow-cooked, some people might find it a little chewy. The rice is very different from the usual ones, as it showcase a creamy texture once cooked, so you don’t need to add anything much to make it better. Braised lamb shoulder had a Mediterranean touch as it had hints of butterbean hummus topped with labneh, the Greek yoghurt. The latter is meant to give a twist to the meat laden with barbecue sauce. Apple jam and jaggery glazed pork chops garnished with Malabar spinach had a similar taste, but again, the meat felt a little hard to chew and swallow.
Everything on the menu has been prepared keeping a strict check on the spice level, considering a lot of foreigners visit their outlets, according to Arora. While I shifted to dessert wine, my dessert came in too. Bacon and oat pie with ruby ice cream is an excellent way to end the night as the combination of meat in dessert is a new trend coming to the market.
The food festival is on till Dec 12. Cost for two: `1,700 (approx)