“Beauty lies in the eyes of the BEER holder. “
This is pertinent to describe the Effingut journey by the the man himself, Manu Gulati who once upon a time in UK hated beer, would you believe that?
An awesome Friday evening at the swanking new #KharadiFeelsEffingut and my weekend was made.
Effingut- A home away from HOME!
This place is known for their craft beers, place to chill with friends and #fam & most importantly lip-smacking food!
I distinctly remember one of my visit to the Baner branch with a hardcore Beer lover friend who goes by the saying ‘mein aur meri BEER aksar yeh baatein karti hai’…and since then BEER for him has always been Effy. I guess that’s what this charming place does to you.
The recent launch in Kharadi, WTC was an enthralling one which was graced by Atul Khatri, the laugther riot session did tickle everyone’s funny bone.The evening was full of food, fun and beer off course!
I was recently invited for a Bloggers Table at this new place and had an amazing time interacting with Manu Gulati. The anecdotes of his journey, experiences, discussion about varied nuances of food was fascinating.He even explained me all the craft beer variations served, Hefeweizen, Dunkelweizen, Mango chilli cider to name a few. After the quick restro tour and photo session, we started with the new menu, read on to know more:
Starters:
Veg spring rolls- I love spring rolls, these were quite good with veggies, crunchiness and hot garlic dip. It was served with a toothpick which looks really good in terms of presentation, but can be avoided as the rolls fall off the stick once you start having them. They also had a Chicken version and I enjoyed the shredded chicken variant more.
Loaded BBQ potatoes is an in house BBQ sauce which is generously mixed with thick cut fries. For me the best french fries are the ones we Bongs make at home, this one goes well with a chilled beer.
Fishy-vishy was the next dish on the table- Golden fried prawns with the in house sambal sauce, a Malaysian sauce with high proportion of chilli peepers. This was the perfect dip for the crunchy, extremely well cooked prawns.
This was followed by, Threaded cottage cheese marinated with oriental spices. It lacked the punch, as I delved more to the explore the ingredients.
As I glanced the menu for more…the LIVE band added Bollywood colors to the beautiful evening.
Crispy chicken bites with piri piri dip which is primarily made of crushed chillies, pepper, and other ingredients complimented well with the nuggets.
Tequila, Lime & Thyme Prawns was the last one in this section, this was cooked in a creamy thyme sauce with mix of lime and tequila. For foodies who love fusion variant of prawns you might enjoy this one, for me a simpler version of prawns which is less overpowering works the best.
While, I had a detailed look at what was coming next, Thecha chicken which was on my ‘To eat list’ was on its way!
My happiness knew no bounds when all I wanted was that greenly,spicy chicken!
Shutterbugs too had to wait till I grabbed the first bite…spicy as it should be, fire thrills for many. I loved the succulent chicken wrapped in kathi rolls which was perfectly crunchy and green chillies layering on this was heavenly!
One of the best dishes curated with something as simple as thecha, this was the highlight of the evening.
For the veggies and paneer lovers Mexican kathi rolls is an ideal choice. I am a paneer person and I strongly believe one can experiment a lot with this richy softy! This dish epitomizes one of those innovations, here paneer is nicely grilled in tandoor with a layer of cajun coating tossed with onions and bell peppers. The amalgamation of flavors was impressive!
‘Tu cheese badi hai mast mast, Tu cheese badi hai mast’- it was time to indulge in some cheesy affair!
Quattro Formaggio pizza is a treat for cheese lovers as the thin crust pizza is loaded with four types of cheese- orange cheddar, parmesan, scamorza and mozzarella. I had a similar cheese version in Italy, the land of pizzas and this one was did take me back to my travel diaries. If you’re someone who wants to experiment with pizza this one must be on your list!
They say ‘There’s no WE in pizza, it’s only me’ quite true for the pulled pork and bacon pizza which as my friend described was bang on and fantastic!
As we continued to chit chat about Effy, types of customers, pune food scenes, plans of future expansion and more…it was time to binge on some delicacies!
Hazelnut Cheesecake & Hefeweizen Banana Triffle were waiting for us!
I am not a cheesecake person, though I love desserts and for
me there’s always a room for DESSERTS, somehow they are not my best picks. However, the hazelnut with the cheese loaded dessert was a good change. Did I tell you- the layering of nutella was made in house? this indeed adds to the experience.
To conclude the evening full of food, fun and fantastic food, Hefeweizen Banana Triffle was just the right choice! This one is tricky, especially with the famous Hefeweizen, subtle banana flavors which in my opinion complimented and balanced this one is a must try- stellar job done with this masterpiece.
Experiences at Effy have always been good and this one just got better…Thank you to the warm staff who made sure we always had a table full of food, Chef Nikhil for being patient and receptive, Manu Gulati for being the gracious host. Team Ideosphere and Sanika Kelkar for the invite.
Contributing Writer: Anu Banerjii
Anu is a Bong by genes,Punekar by birth, Media professional by choice and Foodie by heart. Food Blogging for her is not being a critic, but it’s all about relishing the flavours to the fullest, thereby share experience.
Follow Anu’s food journey at- www.anubanerjii.com
Drooling photographs on Instagram handle: anukaadda
