Enough has been said in the last year about how Erandwane is blowing up and becoming the place to be in Pune right now. Innumerable new restaurants, amazing new pubs and world-class food! But one thing it lacked was a brewery. And guess who delivered on that very thing? Who else, but the Kalinga people! Revolutionizing Erandwane, one concept restaurant at a time. At the same location. In the same building, 6 floors of utter magic! Babylon Craft Brewery, House of Nosh, as they call it.
Ambience - One of the most beautiful pubs I've ever visited. Classic old school pub feels, loads of wood, comfy chairs, walls festooned with amazing posters and memorabilia. All this with the beautiful shiny brewing tanks in the background. The ceiling is made up of millions of bulbs which gives such a beautiful look and feel to the place. Best part? The music. They play amazing rock music, all the 80s-90s-00s, just reminding us old folk of our childhood and college days, at the same time setting up the perfect mood! But at 10.30 pm or so, everything goes super Bollywood. Exactly what the doctor ordered after you've downed a few drinks!
Beers - Babylon Brewery is the largest craft brewery of Maharashtra. They have introduced 5 beers at the moment and will introduce a few more in the coming months. What matters the most for me in craft beers is quality and taste. The flavour and feel of the beer are so important. Ever since I've tasted craft beer, I just haven't touched commercial beer. And the beers at Babylon more than deliver on this. The best part is, it's priced so reasonably. Just 200 for a pint (330 ml) and 950 for a pitcher (1.5 litres).
The Belgian Wit has to be my favourite of the lighter beers. So refreshing, light and subtly fruity - zesty. I could have multiple of them together. So good. The Hefeweizen is amazing too! Again very light and easy-going fresh beer with an amazing aftertaste.
Stout was my favourite overall! No surprises. I love me some stout. So intense, incredible dark chocolate and coffee flavour and such a deep aroma! No bitterness with some amazing creaminess.
The IPA is fruity and moderately bitter but fresh at the same time. Not my go-to, but I would love a pint or so once in a while. Apple Cider is nice too. I'm not much of a cider person, but I like that it wasn't sweet at all. But they are contemplating adding sweetness, as Punekars are used to sweet cider.
Food - They have just an incredible selection of food on the menu. Very interesting, different but the kind of food one loves after a pint or two!
The Beer Bacon soup was superb. Creamy, buttery, loaded with bacon, really soothing and heartwarming. Served in a crispbread bowl, it's fun to dunk the bread in the soup and polish off the remaining bread bowl which has soaked all the soupy bacony goodness. I even had the Chicken Manchow soup and it was amazing, classic. Felt especially good, as I had a slight cold.
Asian Truck Prawn Cigars were crispy, with juicy and fresh prawns inside!! A dip into the accompanying sweet chilli sauce and mayo and you could finish the bunch in under a minute!
Kheema Kaleji Pav - Frankly, if for nothing else, just try this out! Juicy minced mutton with creamy kaleji, absolutely perfect spicy and intense flavour! Accompanied by crisp toasted in-house baked mini pavs, which are soft and fluffy on the inside! Perfectly to give you some texture as well as absorb the amazing juices of he kheema! Mind-Blowing!
Pull-Apart Cheese Garlic Bread - What a dish! Mini pav style little bread, absolutely brimming with cheese-filled with some tomato, garlic and red chilli masala. A little more garlic and some more flavour would have been appreciated though.
Edges & Curls with Cheddar Seasoning - An avalanche of onion rings and potato wedges, incredible crispy goodness served with 4 sauces. The crazy Smoked Bourbon Ketchup and Imli Barbeque being my favourite. So smokey, tangy and delicious. Sour Cream and Honey Mustard, classic and equally tasty.
Amul Cheese Pizza - Probably the most interesting and fun dish of the lot! Extremely home/street food style pizza!! Basic thick pizza bread topped with onions, capsicum, some ketchup type sauce and heaps and heaps of Amul Cheese!! Don't tell me, you don't crave this every once in a while!
Banana Leaf Fish - Small fish fillet steamed to juicy perfection in an intense and extremely flavourful, sauce of Asian inspired flavours, lemongrass, kaafir lime, garlic and tamarind!
Peri-Peri Arbi Tuk - Arbi or Taro root deep-fried to make it super crisp with a peri peri seasoning.
Pear and Feta Salad - amazing salad, pear, lettuce and feta in a simple tangy vinaigrette topped with dried cranberries, nuts and croutons! Amazing combo of flavours and textures! Such a perfect way to balance out all the spicy and fried food and beers!
Dessert - We were served Chimichanga!! Crispy delicate sweet samosa, filled with chocolate and nuts. Accompanied with berry compote and sweet-spicy pineapple sauce. Very different, really tasty!
Verdict - What verdict? Go try the place, man! The beers, the feel of the place, the music and the incredible and different off-beat food. This place has everything. And, the best part is it's 5 minutes from my home. Khata Khulne Wala Hain Mera Idhar!
Ambience - One of the most beautiful pubs I've ever visited. Classic old school pub feels, loads of wood, comfy chairs, walls festooned with amazing posters and memorabilia. All this with the beautiful shiny brewing tanks in the background. The ceiling is made up of millions of bulbs which gives such a beautiful look and feel to the place. Best part? The music. They play amazing rock music, all the 80s-90s-00s, just reminding us old folk of our childhood and college days, at the same time setting up the perfect mood! But at 10.30 pm or so, everything goes super Bollywood. Exactly what the doctor ordered after you've downed a few drinks!
Beers - Babylon Brewery is the largest craft brewery of Maharashtra. They have introduced 5 beers at the moment and will introduce a few more in the coming months. What matters the most for me in craft beers is quality and taste. The flavour and feel of the beer are so important. Ever since I've tasted craft beer, I just haven't touched commercial beer. And the beers at Babylon more than deliver on this. The best part is, it's priced so reasonably. Just 200 for a pint (330 ml) and 950 for a pitcher (1.5 litres).
The Belgian Wit has to be my favourite of the lighter beers. So refreshing, light and subtly fruity - zesty. I could have multiple of them together. So good. The Hefeweizen is amazing too! Again very light and easy-going fresh beer with an amazing aftertaste.
Stout was my favourite overall! No surprises. I love me some stout. So intense, incredible dark chocolate and coffee flavour and such a deep aroma! No bitterness with some amazing creaminess.
The IPA is fruity and moderately bitter but fresh at the same time. Not my go-to, but I would love a pint or so once in a while. Apple Cider is nice too. I'm not much of a cider person, but I like that it wasn't sweet at all. But they are contemplating adding sweetness, as Punekars are used to sweet cider.
Food - They have just an incredible selection of food on the menu. Very interesting, different but the kind of food one loves after a pint or two!
The Beer Bacon soup was superb. Creamy, buttery, loaded with bacon, really soothing and heartwarming. Served in a crispbread bowl, it's fun to dunk the bread in the soup and polish off the remaining bread bowl which has soaked all the soupy bacony goodness. I even had the Chicken Manchow soup and it was amazing, classic. Felt especially good, as I had a slight cold.
Asian Truck Prawn Cigars were crispy, with juicy and fresh prawns inside!! A dip into the accompanying sweet chilli sauce and mayo and you could finish the bunch in under a minute!
Kheema Kaleji Pav - Frankly, if for nothing else, just try this out! Juicy minced mutton with creamy kaleji, absolutely perfect spicy and intense flavour! Accompanied by crisp toasted in-house baked mini pavs, which are soft and fluffy on the inside! Perfectly to give you some texture as well as absorb the amazing juices of he kheema! Mind-Blowing!
Pull-Apart Cheese Garlic Bread - What a dish! Mini pav style little bread, absolutely brimming with cheese-filled with some tomato, garlic and red chilli masala. A little more garlic and some more flavour would have been appreciated though.
Edges & Curls with Cheddar Seasoning - An avalanche of onion rings and potato wedges, incredible crispy goodness served with 4 sauces. The crazy Smoked Bourbon Ketchup and Imli Barbeque being my favourite. So smokey, tangy and delicious. Sour Cream and Honey Mustard, classic and equally tasty.
Amul Cheese Pizza - Probably the most interesting and fun dish of the lot! Extremely home/street food style pizza!! Basic thick pizza bread topped with onions, capsicum, some ketchup type sauce and heaps and heaps of Amul Cheese!! Don't tell me, you don't crave this every once in a while!
Banana Leaf Fish - Small fish fillet steamed to juicy perfection in an intense and extremely flavourful, sauce of Asian inspired flavours, lemongrass, kaafir lime, garlic and tamarind!
Peri-Peri Arbi Tuk - Arbi or Taro root deep-fried to make it super crisp with a peri peri seasoning.
Pear and Feta Salad - amazing salad, pear, lettuce and feta in a simple tangy vinaigrette topped with dried cranberries, nuts and croutons! Amazing combo of flavours and textures! Such a perfect way to balance out all the spicy and fried food and beers!
Dessert - We were served Chimichanga!! Crispy delicate sweet samosa, filled with chocolate and nuts. Accompanied with berry compote and sweet-spicy pineapple sauce. Very different, really tasty!
Verdict - What verdict? Go try the place, man! The beers, the feel of the place, the music and the incredible and different off-beat food. This place has everything. And, the best part is it's 5 minutes from my home. Khata Khulne Wala Hain Mera Idhar!
