blueFROG Opens in Bangalore! Live Gigs and All-Day Dining Galore

Eat

Banana Leaf-Wrapped Fish and Red Wine Poached Pear Salad

Drink

Honey Basil Tini

Winning For

Live music, obscene amounts of space, and an all-day dining menu that pays homage to this part of the world

When Chef Vikas suggested we start our meal with the Red Wine Poached Pear Salad, our lunch companion wrinkled her nose at the thought of bitter chocolate sauce being drizzled on her entrée. She soon cheered up when she took a bite of the poached pear that laid resplendently on a bed of salad greens, walnuts, chocolate and blue cheese. The sweet and crunchy salad was a great way to start the meal, especially when paired with Blue Frog’s Honey Basil Tini, a gin-based cocktail with honey and fresh basil. We then moved on to the Crumb-Fried Mushrooms,were crunchy and the cheese melted in our mouths as we bit into them. But the highlight was the baked brie, little clouds of multigrain puff pastry topped with a sweet pineapple compote. The shotgun chicken was a nod to the live music venue’s newest home in the city {a lot of the menu has outtakes from South India} with curry leaves and chilli sauce, and served with pineapple pickled in Bengali five spices.

The ravioli for our mains was stuffed with sundried tomato and goat’s cheese and came with a pesto cream sauce. It was beautifully made, drizzled with chilli oil and a kick of garlic. The highlight of the meal was the banana leaf-wrapped fish, a kaffir lime-infused coconut milk curry served with coconut rice. The delicate flavours mingled together to make for a satisfying meal. With all of that to choose from, we had to decline dessert, but we know we will be back for the Japanese cheesecake.

If you have been to blueFROG in Mumbai, you can’t help but be struck by the pods that ring the stage area. The Bangalore venue also has pods, but they are scattered across the place. What works for this live music venue is the amount of space it has. Gig aficionados can stay on the ground floor, right by the stage, while there’s also a first floor, and an outside seating area for those who want to smoke while listening to the music. We really liked the comfortable bar chairs that don’t make you feel like you are going to topple over, drink or no drink in hand.

blueFROG Bangalore’s food is a notch above the Mumbai one, and we know that the next time we come here, we will not only be there for the music, but also for the food and drink.

Where: 3, Church Street

Contact: 080 69999549

Price: INR 2,000 for two {approx.}

Find them on Facebook here

Check their website here