Hoteliers Akshar Halgali and Karthik Chandrasekaran, who founded culinary destinations like URU BrewPark, Record Room and Boteco, now bring us another gourmet destination in the city tucked away in the quiet suburb of Yelahanka. Spread across three acres, Garden City Beer Collective (GCBC) is a new microbrewery that is an ode to the vibrant spirit of Bengaluru.
As we walked around the premises enveloped in greenery, soaking up the familiar tunes of Ed Sheeran while enjoying the sweet breeze, our minds had achieved a sense of calm that is hard to find in the city these days. Sporting an earthly ambience, the brewery is divided into five different zones, each named after botanicals that have a significant presence and value in the city and serve unique cuisines, ambiences and experiences.
Those of you who wish to bring your fur babies along can do so as GCBC has a designated petfriendly zone, The Hoppery, where your felines and canines can run carefree. This zone is where the brewery will set up shop later this year, although some of the city’s favourite beers are already available on tap. The place also boasts India’s first outdoor Sushi and Dim Sum Garden with a bonfire, titled The Silk Cotton Tree serving sake and Asian fare. Adjacent to the sushi paradise is a sports lounge with bar games called
Badminton Ball tree. When we arrived at Hydrilla, a poolside private party area, we knew we had found our favourite spot.
Concluding our tour, we made our way to the heart of the place, Flame Tree, a lush garden area set before an open kitchen and beneath ceiling art crafted from ropes. We picked a spot away from the sun and made ourselves comfortable. Running our eyes through the menu curated by chef Shailendra and chef Vikram, we noticed the concept of ‘native meets modern’ in several aspects, including the names of the dishes. Besides, the menu also features global cuisines and an exclusive mix of food and cocktails, inspired by various elements of the city and the state. As South Indians, we were drawn to Upinkai Frappe (a potion made from vodka, lime juice, sugar syrup and a dollop of garlic pickle) and Rasa Gin & Tonic (a concoction of kokum syrup, lime juice, gin, tonic water and rasam air). As comforting as these familiar flavours of Indian spices in the former were, the drink was equally strong. The latter wasn’t as palatable.
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We paired our drinks with a couple of dishes — Tempura Prawns Dynamite and Dharwad Chilli Bhajji. The crispy prawns drizzled with sriracha and the green batter-fried capsicum bites stuffed with spiced potato and topped with onion and chilli dressing took us back to northern Karnataka. We followed these up with Margherita Nero, a classic brick oven bake and Mangalore Chicken Curry & Neer Dosa. Both were on point. One of our personal favourites was the Kummu Pepper Fry where mushrooms tossed in pepper, curry leaves and green chilli hit the right spice notes.
We brought our meal to a close with Chikmangloor Filter Coffee, unlike the name suggests, this was actually a dessert serving Vanilla Panna Cotta with an essence of coffee. In addition to the greenery
and dedicated zones aside, GCBC offers a well-rounded culinary picture of Karnataka by highlighting its infamous dishes that come with a modern twist.
Meal for two:₹2,000. AtYelahanka