Tuesday, 3 September 2013

Smoke House Deli, Bangalore



"When are we meeting?" was a question one friend asked. Almost instantly, the others replied, "this weekend."

The conversation ended here for the rest of the week. Come Saturday and we go all around Bangalore before we all strike a chord for our lunch meet up..

Where?

The much heard and talked about restaurant currently - Smoke House Deli.

Menu
We usually are at least 8 of us and an extensive menu of food and drinks always excites us. Smoke House Deli has one such Menu - An extensive listing of both food and beverages. 

The food menu includes varied cuisines primarily European and Continental while the beverages menu is very impressive too. It holds a range of very interesting cocktails like smoked pineapple mojito, smoked melon martini etc. They also have an additional placard style menu for the appetizers. Both vegetarians and non-vegetarians are well thought out for by Smoke House Deli and this can be said from their menu listing.

What we ate:
It was a lovely Sunday we spent over a couple of drinks, loads of fabulous food, fun and conversations. Being a good number of us on the table, I think we covered every section of their menu, well if not everything, it has to be pretty much everything. Let’s go over a pictorial review of what we ate at Smoke House Deli and what we think about it:
The Customary Start: Assorted Bread Basket

Breakfast Section: Yes, they have a section on their menu listing breakfast dishes like cereals, pancakes, scrambled eggs, range of omelet, French toasts etc. The good news, all of this is available all day long.
Masala Omelette

Appetizers - These are listed on a placard placed on every table. Our pick included:
Chicken Fritters: Dry and chewy meat; Can be avoided
Three Cheese and Jalepeno Toast - Gooey cheese and crunch bread. A good pick
The Cottage Cheese and Chicken skewers were delicious with chicken being juicy and tender and the cottage cheese - melt in mouth.
Spiked Cottage Cheese Skewers
Coriander Chicken Skewers
I am not very fond of mushrooms, but the mushroom lovers on my table liked the Mushroom crostini.
Mushroom Crostini

Moving on from appetizers, we decided to go with 2 Italian dishes, 1 burger and 2 Smoke House Deli signature mains. In Italian, for us it was the Ravioli that stole the show. 
Spinach & Ricotta Cheese Ravioli
Do not recollect the name of this dish
The cottage cheese steak was nice and crunch on the outside with well seasoned and minced cottage cheese on the inside. Ratatouille provided a nice blend of flavors and texture to this dish. 
Cottage Cheese Steak with Ratatouille
The Lamb burger was delicious and was all eaten up without ever being placed back on the plate.

Fish 'N' Chips - another SHD special was fabulous. The fish was flaky and moist; perfectly cooked with encased in a really light and crispy fried batter coating. 

Desserts – We were over stuffed with a lot of food and drinks but were in no mood to settle without desserts. We thought we could do with 4 desserts to share but the decadent looks got us calling for 5. The best we liked was the White Chocolate and Orange 'Creme Brulee' closely followed by the 'Hazelnut Mousse Flan'. The 'Raspberry and Oreo Cheese Cake' was nothing exceptional. Oreo only constituted to the crumble base. To our surprise, the 'Molten Chocolate Cake' was a total disappointment. The melting chocolate or the cake lacked any trace of flavor and sweetness.
Hazelnut Mousse Flan
The super delicious White Chocolate & Orange 'Creme Brulee'
Raspberry and Oreo Cheese Cake
Roasted Almond Ganache Torte
Molten Chocolate Cake

Verdict:
It was an afternoon that left each of our stomach and heart very well satiated. The food was fabulous; most of the dishes hit the good notes be it the appetizers, the burger, Italian or continental. Desserts provided for a perfect end to a fantastic meal. The only disappointment being the molten chocolate cake. 

The cocktails were a disappointment with Bellini being an exception. The smoked drinks like the melon Martini lacked any smoked flavor; the smoked pineapple mojito was not very refreshing and also lacked any flavor of pineapple.

The ambiance was really captivating. We got to sit by the lovely glass facade that provided for natural light. The interiors are done up in all white adding to the brightness. The service started off on a weak note but caught up really well for the rest of our visit. The staff seemed well informed about their menu. They were quick to suggest when asked for an opinion. Everything we ordered was served well in reasonable time. The food and desserts were well plated too. The portions are well sized and more than sufficient to feed a very hungry person.

A worry on a busy 100 FT road has to be Parking space. You need not work, Smoke House Deli provides for Valet service.

Two diners can have a good and relaxed meal at an average cost of Rs. 1500 (without alcohol) plus taxes.

Quick Tips:
To me, Smoke House Deli definitely qualifies to be one of the restaurants I’d love to visit again and again. I’ve already been here 2 weekends back to back and look forward to visiting them soon.

The menu is extensive but from what I've eaten so far, here are my recommendations for when you are at Smoke House Deli –

Spiked Chicken Skewers, Smoked Lamb Burger, SHD Fish ‘N’ Chips, Spinach and Ricotta ravioli, House spiced smoked Chicken with 5 spice Jus. To give a perfect end to a lovely meal, do not miss the White Chocolate and Orange ‘Crème Brulee’.


Address: 1029, 100 FT Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore
Phone Number: +91 80 2520 0899

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