Going to VR Bengaluru is usually a day trip for me. But the nice places to eat there make the journey worth it. And of course, the shopping scene there. That was how we planned our Saturday brunch last week, heading out there on the nice not-so-sunny day. Whitefield Arms is a big place – comprising of a café section as you enter, down a lobby into the British style pub, then out into a patio seating area and finally a lovely outdoor section. And even though the place is probably just a few yards from the noisy traffic of the main road, it was quiet and serene, perfect for a meal during the laid-back weekend.

So we settled down in the outdoor area, and ordered a couple of Bira to start with. Our meal started with the Dak Bungalow Quack, Barrack’s Special and the Melting Lamb Sliders. The Dak Bungalow Quack is a must try – beautiful little confit duck tartlets with plum and soy chutney, topped with goat cheese and frizzled onions. Looked great and tasted just as good! The Barrack’s Special was soft chicken thigh marinated in coriander and mint – made very well. And was served with a simple saffron yogurt on the side. Again, very good. The lamb sliders were a bit of a letdown though, the lamb patty lacked in taste. We moved on to one of the new menu items – the Mulligatawny Soup, nice and peppery, which we thoroughly enjoyed, despite the weather.

The mains were picked – Half Fried Chicken came first – a classic that was made and presented well. Garlic mashed potato and veggies on the side, quite comforting. The BBQ Pork Ribs looked nice, but the sauce didn’t complement the meat well enough, and could have been cooked a little more as well. Then came the Chef’s recommendation of a Mutton Curry and Rice with prawn crackers on the side. This was delicious, the mutton was succulent, the spices were hot but delicious. And this paired very well with rice. And another recommendation was Roast Lamb Shoulder – slow braised lamb and rice, with an aubergine curry on the side and topped with fried onions. Tasted pretty damn good!

The meal ended with a baked Bavarian cheese cake and a Sticky toffee pudding. Safe to say it was the toffee pudding and not the cheese cake that actually took the cake. But both had its charms. I prefer my desserts to be easy on the sugar, so the Bavarian cheese cake served well – with an orange marmalade glaze. The Sticky Pudding was a stark contrast – rich cake soaked in thick toffee sauce topped with vanilla ice cream was as sinful as it sounds!

Summary

The Whitefield Arms as well as The Waverly Hotel has a history associated with it – going back to the 1800s British India, and the lobby leading to the bar has some of this captured. A quintessential modern British Pub, it celebrates the history of Whitefield through its unique menu and Bangalore’s love of beer. I look forward to their brewery starting up soon, nothing beats outdoors and fresh beer!

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