Barbecuing has always been fascinating to me, as I’m sure it is to a lot of you. Having stayed in number of countries, I’ve seen this activity as a common way of getting together with friends and family. As the modern cooking technology has improved, so has the art of barbecuing and this trend has been catching up in India as well. A lot of restaurants have also gone with the tide to give their services on customer’s table in many innovative ways. One such new entrant in Bengaluru is Absolute Barbecue, which opened its doors to customers 3 months back and has been doing brisk business since then. I went to experience their expression of India’s first wish grill restaurant.
The Location
Absolute Barbecue or AB’s is located on the much developed outer ring road near Marathalli, Bengaluru just next to Park Plaza Hotel. Its closeness to technology offices and residential colonies is supposed to bring in the right target customer.
Address: 3rd Floor, 90/4, Marathalli, Outer Ring Road, Bengaluru – 560037
Phone: 080- 67683696
The Hours
AB’s is open for lunch from 12 noon to 3 PM and for dinner from 6:30 PM to 11 PM. I would recommend reservations for weekends and public holidays and generally for dinner’s if you don’t wish to wait long. Valet service is available.
The Ambiance
The restaurant’s entrance is loaded with more than usual barbecue set’s and utensils. However once inside it has a nice layout, full windows on one side overlooking the outer ring road and a singer dishing out Bollywood classics over guitar. It has a live world grill station, a bar, a cold stone ice cream station and a buffet area with open glass kitchen which seems to be a norm with most new restaurants. The seating is suited for couples, families and bigger groups with table tops grills in easy reach. The lighting is well done for the place and makes it look much lively.
The Service
I was much pleased with the service, my young son was given a little toy car as we entered. The waiters are trained to explain the concepts of live grill, table top grill, buffet and cold stone to the clientele. They are equally trained to get regular feedback on the quality of food. While I must mention a copy of American tradition of giving a cake and singing for the birthdays with loud claps. Not to forget the valet who refused to take tips, so it feels the restaurant is taking due care of their employees.
The Price
AB’s has a fixed price menu, dinner is priced at INR 900 ($15) per person all inclusive for non-vegetarians and INR 800 ($13) for vegetarians. The lunch can be had at INR 700 ($12) for non-vegetarians and INR 560 ($9) for vegetarians.
The Food
A lot of concepts in the restaurant have been imitated pretty well from leading world restaurants and I’d no complaints for it as Indian market has been missing this fun.
The live barbecue let’s you enjoy a typical Mongolian Barbecue with a large counter having couple of chef’s cooking to your demand. It serves world grill including Rabbit, Quail, Emu, Baby Octopus along with noodles or pasta and vegetables with different spiced cooking sauces. The food is cooked as per your direction and once selected it is served on your table.
The table top barbecue has most Indian starters including paneer, corn and bell peppers for vegetarians and chicken, fish and prawns for the non-vegetarians. Some sides like American potato, chicken wings and tikka is also served on the table. All items were just the right taste for me.
The buffet spread is more even for vegetarians, with quite a few options in curries, rice and salad. It all looked pretty good, however I was already full with a couple of barbecue rounds and wanted some dessert.
The cold stone concept is also well known where the basic ice cream flavors are mixed with cake, dry fruits of your choice over a frozen granite stone. The other desserts include mousse, cakes and gulab jamun, so a good balance of dessert menu.
Overall a great experience of a world cuisine at a good price, definitely worth an evening or a friends birthday party.