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Monkey Bar

Monkey Bar

By Anubhav Sapra

I still remember an article titled “The Year That Was” written by Rahul Verma in The Hindu, the only food writer in India whom I follow religiously, and who mentioned in his last article of 2013 about his most memorable meals of the year. One of them was in Monkey Bar.

Indeed, it turned out to be one of my most memorable meals of 2014. Monkey Bar. or Mobar, a gastropub, opened their second branch in Connaught Place this year, located at 3, Connaught Circus, Connaught Lane, above Uttam Sarees shop.

The dishes have been curated by one of India’s most promising young chef and entrepreneur. Manu Chandra. I had no doubt about the food as I had read extensive reviews before visiting the Mobar.

InstagramCapture_26db3abd-34af-4e29-9880-70a4b8c91c7bAnkit, a trained chef and the restaurant manager at Monkey Bar CP, introduced the dishes one by one to me comprehensively. With deep research about the nearby restaurants and bars in Connaught Place, these fusions have been curated to suit the palate of every customer. On Ankit’s recommendation, I started with ricotta and paneer kebab, served with grilled pav and tomato kalonji chutney. Next was keema bao, a freshly steamed bao of rice, stuffed with spicy minced mutton and served with rich mutton broth in a small glass topped with coriander. The keema bao broth is perfect for Delhi winters. I can imagine myself having mutton broth on the terrace of Mobar to keep myself warm, when the temperature will dip further in the coming winter months. Dabeli, a Gujarati snack is served with tamarind and masala flavoured potato in fresh pav coated with sev, heeng peanuts, pomegranate, fig, tamarind, and garlic chutney. The two starters, which I am sure would be loved by Delhiites are chilli cheese dragons – spring rolls filled with cream cheese and mozzarella, green chilli, capsicum, coriander, onion and served with roasted garlic chilli dip; and butterfly chicken, which consists of sweet, spicy, crispy bits of chicken tossed with sesame, chilli, honey and peppers, stuffed in Mobar’s signature butterfly shells.

WP_20141112_19_08_22_Pro In the main course, I had Chandra Ji’s mutton curry. This dish is named after the chef’s father, Mr. Chandra. The succulent lamb is cooked with khada masala, curd, butter, and served with steamed rice topped with caramelized onions. This was my kind of mutton, which I normally cook at my home with raw spices. The aroma of the spices is intact and can be felt while eating. The most interesting dish I had at Mobar was butter chicken khichdi. It sounds really unusual to mix khichdi with butter chicken, and the dish while being offbeat, was truly delectable. The softness of creamy moong dal khichdi with succulent pieces of chicken served with “khichdi ke paanch yaar” – ghee, papad, dahi, salad and achaar, was a great gastronomical experience. I added a spoon of ghee, crushed papad, mixed dahi, and salad to make a perfect mix of khichdi and butter chicken. It was indeed divine.

I was also served patra ni machi, a classic Parsi dish with a Bengali twist, basa topped with green chutney and kashundi, steamed in banana leaves, and served with steamed rice. However, it was too salty for me.

I ended my journey with filter coffee panna cotta, cardamom and milk cake crumble with salted caramel sauce and coffee ice cream. I am sure this would have been inspired from the next door restaurant, Sarvanaa Bhavan’s filter coffee.

 As the year 2014 is coming to an end next month, I am already eagerly waiting for Rahul Verma’s list of memorable food trips of 2014, so that I can relish throughout the year.

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.
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Monkey Bar

Monkey Bar

By Poorva Shourie

You know that the food of a restaurant is mind numbingly awesome when you crave for it on a Sundaymorning. True story! And this, according to me, is the best way to introduce the much talked about Monkey Bar.

Monkey Bar is a Gastropub from Bangalore that has everything you need for a good time; mouth watering food, great music, brilliant ambience and superb service!

The minute you enter this ”Gastropub”, the first thing that hits you is the atmosphere. There is this contagious vibe that I have never experienced in any other restaurant before. Everyone working in the restaurant exudes this vibe and it’s very difficult not to catch it and be a part of it. From the moment you enter Monkey Bar its hard not to feel happy.

The place has been done up nicely – it’s located at the glass pyramid building where Ministry of Sound stood previously. They have used the glass building to its advantage – the sunlight gives the restaurant a very warm and fuzzy feeling. The interiors are very raw and rustic. The walls bare a look of bricks and exposed water pipes and are adorned with quirky posters that entertain you as you wait for your food. There is also a pool table and a foosball table that can be used free of charge (they really know how to earn those brownie points).

While the ambience is great and the music is fabulous, the service is impeccable and the entertainment is plenty, what really stands out is their food!

They have the best, and I mean THE best burgers in the City! Almost all burgers come with caramelized onions (a major win), mayonnaise, lettuce and mouth-melting meat fillings. The bread of the burger is soft but what is softer is the patty- chicken, lamb or beef. One bite and you are guaranteed a free trip to foodie heaven. Since I am a chicken lover, I root for the Rooster Booster however if you have no qualms about beef or lamb, go for the MoBar Burger, the Cheese Burger and/or the Lamb Burger.

You could also sink your teeth in the Sea Food Sliders – three mini burgers with fish and prawn fillings topped with onions, mayo and mustard. For any Sea Food lover, this is their stairway to heaven. These patties are so soft that they almost melt in your mouth. In fact they had to make three small patties in order to prevent it from breaking.

If burgers don’t float your boat then you can always have the Bacon Wrapped Tandoori Sausage Dog. When a hot dog is wrapped in bacon, its can hardly ever go wrong, however what makes this Hot Dog really good is its pork sausage. The Keema Bao is also a great dish to try – it’s like a big dumpling stuffed with Keema and served with mutton Broth. The Keema filling is flavorful but the mutton broth adds that extra punch to the dish.

The best way to top all this delicious food is with a dessert! A must try is the Mobar Sundae – layers of chocolate ice cream, cake, Nutella (yes Nutella) chocolate spread, cookie and tutti-frutti. It’s a wholesome meal in itself, however the only thing that I didn’t like on it was the tutti-frutti and the cold,rather soggy cookie. If the cookie was crunchy and the dessert was sans the tutti-frutti, it would’ve been nothing short of perfection. Also another great chocolaty dessert is the Flourless Chocolate XS Cake – my tip, order it with ice cream.

I can go on and on about the food at Monkey Bar but personally I believe that no matter how much one raves about the food here, it’s something everyone needs to experience for themselves. So this weekend, head to Monkey Bar and excuse me while I go wipe the puddle of drool off the floor.

Price for Two: Rs. 2000 approx.

Address: Plot 11, Upper Ground Floor, LSC, Pocket c 6 & 7, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi

Phone Number: 011-30146033 ext.855

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.