Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Lounge Review | Social, Bangalore
BackBack

Lounge Review | Social, Bangalore

Another self-consciously cool bar with quirky food, fun menus and mason jar drinks

Location and price may work in favour of the eateryPremium
Location and price may work in favour of the eatery

How many self-consciously cool bars with quirky food, fun menus and mason jar drinks can a central business district accommodate? Any number, it would seem, especially if you price the alcohol cheap, offer valet parking and abide by that old restaurateur’s mantra: location, location, location. Hospitality entrepreneur Riyaaz Amlani’s Social opened a few weeks ago in Bangalore at a spot most businesses would kill for; it is scheduled to travel to Mumbai and New Delhi soon.

The good stuff

It begins even before we can step in, as a valet offers to take the car off our hands. Finding parking in the Church Street-MG Road area on most days is more difficult than discovering a butcher who knows his art. So we happily hand over the car keys and step into Social, expecting it to be lightly populated on a Tuesday night.

The place is throbbing with life, every table is taken, and the noise level could shame a football stadium. We aren’t too wrong about the last, we discover: The Bengaluru FC are in the house, fresh off their I-League win, and they are in the mood to party.  

However, our grey hair probably helps us snag a table soon. As pleasant is the fact that there’s no need for wild gesticulations for a menu: Each table is equipped with multiple rolled-up copies of the food and drink listings. We pore over the menu, the server takes our drinks orders and we’re set for a good evening, we think. The cocktails and beer arrive promptly, but it’s all pretty much downhill from there. The saving graces: The Thai Sweet Chilli Fish Bao ( 180), an ingeniously stuffed pair of pita breads, with the taste-free basa a happy vehicle for the piquant sauce, and The Thai Thali (rice, vegetable green curry, raw papaya salad, mango pickle, 240), charmingly served in kansa (bell-metal) utensils.

The service is amiable, if slow, the buzz exhilarating, the grunge-meets-industrial décor intriguing enough to be a talking point. The best, though, is saved for the last: The bill, when it comes, is so low by Bangalore standards, we check and double-check, in case we’re missing the taxes. But no, the grand total is the not-so-grand total and we leave pleasantly surprised and a bit more appreciative of the power of super-competitive pricing.

The not-so-good

The food and drinks, in general, are pretty meh. The emphasis is on the presentation: Bring on The Longest Long Island Iced Tea ( 480 for 500ml; 780 for 1,000ml) in chemistry lab-like apparatus, or the Aacharoska (a lime pickle twist on the Caipiroska, 250) in a miniature ceramic jar, or even the iced tea ( 90) in something that resembles a bed-pan (how gross is that). A friend’s Old Smoke whisky cocktail ( 280) arrives with the smoke trapped in an upturned glass, but the drink itself is overpowered by the orange zest oil. My Aacharoska is simply unpalatable: a concoction that resembles what slop water from washing out a pickle bottle would taste like if topped with crushed ice.

The small plates are relatively less offensive, if not particularly memorable. Beneath the cheesy crusts of Them Potato Skins ( 180), the mash itself suffers from an over-generous sprinkle of black pepper, and the Hickory Smoke sauce announces its bottled origins from a foot away. The Southall Fish n’ Chips ( 220) is innocuous and oily. The unfortunate soy-kafir lime-rosemary-thyme marinade, however, can’t disguise the excellent quality of the meat in the Sexy Sautéed Tenderloin Chunks ( 220). It encourages me to order The Jus-C Lucy ( 350): Again, the very good meat patty is let down by the stone-cold buns and the indifferent assembling of lettuce and cheese. But the biggest puzzle is the Grilled Kingfish with Kokum Butter ( 280): The fish steaks with a strange kokum coating come inexplicably with rice and a glass of sol kadhi. The lack of cohesion in the dish is quite astounding.

Talk plastic

A meal for two, including alcohol, averages around 1,650, including taxes.

Social, 46/1, Cobalt Building, Church Street, Bangalore (41622755); open 9am-11.30pm.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 26 Apr 2014, 12:03 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App