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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
So there’s everything from ‘Goli Bajji’, ‘Chicken Ghee Roast’, ‘Kaima Curry’, ‘Mutton Pulao’ and ‘Badnekai Yennai’, to name a few, available here.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thankfully, there was boozy ice cream that I helped me wash off the jackfruit-like taste.
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!
Aurum Brew Works is located at 3rd floor, Gold Sand, Doddakanneli, Sarjapur Main Road, Kaikondrahalli. For reservations, call 68233131.