Monkey Bar has a twin in Indiranagar!

I had heard of Monkey Bar in Ashok Nagar near MG road of Bangalore from many of my friends but I didn't realize it was opening soon in Indira Nagar! Many friends had mentioned that the Ashok Nagar one was very congested though it was brilliantly good with its food and drinks. So when I got invited to the opening of the Indiranagar Monkey Bar, I practically jumped at the opportunity and made my way there with other foodie friends on one hot Saturday afternoon.

Nestled in uber-cool Indiranagar, which is unmistakably Bangalore’s most happening hub for restaurants and pubs, Monkey Bar creates its own distinct niche, with the warm ambience of a friendly neighbourhood pub and just the right doses of quirkiness and irreverence. The interiors invoke the feeling of being in a fun New York-esque space: exposed brick walls, soft wood floors, and large comfortable booths in deep tones, offset by mismatched yet warm lights and fixtures. Split across two levels, the space is welcoming and intimate with its own brand of charm. The spiral staircase leading to the upper floor is dramatic and lends credence to the large space in the middle, which offers a common roof to both floors. Walk into a place that offers you long, solid wood bar counters, edgy in-built bar stools with GI-pipe footrests and a bar that invites you to lounge for a few hours. Across the space are cool concrete tables and comfy seating, with layers and islands for groups.

One of the first starters we tried was Mushroom Satay which was Black pepper, coriander and curry leaf spiked minced mushroom skewers. These were pan seared and served with a yoghurt mint dip. I loved the way they were presented like Ice cream sticks. Loved the taste which was prepared freshly and was a good spicy starter to the drinks.

One of the salads which we had was the Roasted Beet and Orange salad. This was made of Three mustard dressed lettuce, feta cream, sesame beans, toasted and candied walnuts and of course crumbled feta. It was a refreshing salad which combined the goodness of both fruits and veggies on a hot sweltering day.

In the other starters which were primarily Non-Vegetarian, I liked Devilled Fish which was sauted seer fish with chilli oil, ginger, garlic, galangal and lemon grass. I liked the taste very much and would call this as one of the highlights of the menu at Monkey Bar Indiranagar.

One of the other highlights was the Pirogies which are pan seared polish dumplings. I had the chicken, celery and jalapeno ones which blended beautifully and gave a very unique taste to the usual dumplings that we have. These Pirogies just melted in my mouth and were a perfect companion to the amazing cocktails and mocktails we were having.

Not just dumplings but even fried wontons had a different kind of look and feel in Monkey Bar. The Crab Rangoons which were fried wontons filled with crab meat and cream cheese tasted amazingly well when served with sweet chilli sauce that someone like me who doesn't enjoy seafood too much too could like it!

In desserts, I really liked the Chocolate Pot De Creme with Salted Caramel. This was Caramel popcorn in a glass of melted chocolate which provided a perfect finish to the amazing meal at the Monkey Bar gastropub in Indiranagar. It is very rare to see these kind of dishes which are in other restaurants in Bangalore. There is a lot of love and affection with which these dishes have been crafted at Monkey Bar and you can that's why enjoy the brilliance of these dishes. I would recommend everyone around Indira Nagar and East Bangalore to drop into Monkey Bar for an enjoyable gastronomic experience!