Effingut Brewerkz, Baner – For an EffinGood Time!

What do you do when a favorite uncle calls you over to his snazzy new place for dinner? You cannot refuse simply because it is one of your favorite uncle who treats you with such personal attention and keeps you happy all the time. Especially if you’ve missed his grand house-warming party!

So how do you tackle it as a food blogger? Do you review the place? Do you not? Do you be brutally honest about it? Do you offer a little leeway simply coz its home?

Well, we faced the same conundrum when Priyank extended a food tasting invite to #TheBTeam at the spanking new Effingut Brewerkz at Baner. #TheBTeamExclusive #BanerFeelsEffingut

So with a song on our lips and happiness in our hearts, we headed to our new second home to be pampered and treated like royalty.

We kicked off the evening with some chitchat with Manu Gulati – the man behind the brand [and our favorite uncle. 😛]. Welcoming us with open arms, he took us on a quick tour of the place – which looks retro-fabulous, BTW.

Having set a special bloggers menu for us, we were really looking forward to sampling some of his legendary dishes. Including some from his new menu section – #PEORecommends wherein suggestions were taken from PEO members and a list was finalized.

For drinks, I ordered my favorite of the currently available brews on tap – Ginger Peach Melomel, a honey mead infused with the goodness of peach and ginger.

Ginger Peach Melomel

We also tried some of their beer based cocktails, which were good but we simply didn’t want to dilute the beer with mixers so stuck to our beers!! #CheersToBeers

Beer Cocktails

Veg. Starters

Gunpowder Onion Rings [Rs. 170] – Crispy onion rings with the zing of in-house gunpowder. Part of the new #PEORecommends menu, this was one finger lickin’ delicious dish. The addition of the spicy gunpowder worked very well with the super crunchy onion rings. #YumYum #HighlyRecommended

Gunpowder Onion Rings

3 Cheese Quesadillas [Rs. 290] – Quesadillas with 3 cheeses, jalapenos and scallions worked wonders on our palate. A slightly acidic bite to the quesadillas due to the cheese complemented the dish. #DeliciousDelicious

3 Cheese Quesadillas

Classic Chili Paneer [Rs. 290] – Paneer cooked in classic Asian style but with amazing flavors. Super soft paneer cubes marinated in a wonderful chili based sauce. #YumYum

Classic Chili Paneer

Italian Cottage Cheese Kebab [Rs. 290] – A fusion cottage cheese kebab marinated in pesto and stuffed with olives and capers. While I am not a fan of pesto sauce based dishes, the chunks of paneer looked tempting enough for me to try it. And once again, EB delivers on the softness. Silken smooth to the cut, the paneer had the appropriate coating of the pesto sauce. The crunch of the burnt bits of the tandoored paneer added the crunch to the dish. #DeliciousDelicious

Italian Cottage Cheese Kebab

Non-Veg. Starters

Tornado Sausages [Rs. 330] – Chicken sausages laced with herbed pancake batter and cooked to perfection. Nicely laid out in a very presentable manner however a little too dry for our taste. The accompanied dips didn’t help much. A quick feedback to Manu, which was well taken.

Tornado Sausages

Pulled Chicken Tacos [Rs. 270] – I have simply no words to describe this dish. Such a simple looking dish – Plain Jane taco shells with some pulled chicken, fresh salsa and iceberg lettuce with cheese. But the flavor punch that gets you when you bite into it, oh-sweet-heaven-of-Lord!!! Absolutely speechless. One of the stars of the evening for me. #YumYum #HighlyRecommended

Pulled Chicken Tacos

Thai Grilled Fish [Rs. 380] – Another beautifully presented dish. Basa fillet chunks pan seared and served with red and green honey coconut cream sauces. Keeping the main fish aside for a moment, I was mind blown at the sauces itself. Red and green honey coconut cream?? Never had I ever heard of this combination before, let alone have it. One lick and I was in chutney heaven. And they complemented the fish so perfectly. Coming to the fish, oh-my-God!!! Super soft, super moist, super sexy. #YumYum #HighlyRecommended

Thai Grilled Fish

Murgh Thecha Kebab [Rs. 330] – This was chicken kebab marinated with coarse, fiery Maharashtrian green chili thecha. And lemme tell ya, that is one fiery thecha. And bang on proportion of the thecha coating on the chicken – makes you sweat yet makes you reach out for another piece. #DeliciousDelicious

Murgh Thecha Kebab

We also tried their unique Steak Style Paneer Effzza [Rs. 290] and the Steak Style Chicken Effzza [Rs. 330]. It was basically a tube of pizza base stuffed with the goodness that is paneer or chicken. Both well cooked and well spiced, the effzzas tasted heavenly. #DeliciousDelicious

Steak Style Paneer and Chicken Effzza

Already stuffed by the time the mains arrived, our resolution wavered in the face of some delicious looking dishes that had just made their way to our tables.

Veg. Main Couse

The Cheese Makhani [Rs. 320] was a twist on the regular paneer makhani dish using cheese instead while the 3 Cheese Spinach Ravioli [Rs. 330] made with a trio of ricotta, cheddar and parmesan cheeses was flavorsome.

Cheese Makhani	3 Cheese Spinach Ravioli

Non-Veg. Main Course

Murgh Dhaniya [Rs. 410] had chicken cooked in a creamy fresh coriander gravy which had strong flavors yet did not overpower the entire dish. The Chicken Triple Schezwan Rice [Rs. 410] was another standard classic with amazing flavors.

Murgh Dhaniya	Chicken Triple Schezwan Rice

Desserts

Beeramisu [Rs. 220] – Having seen this on the menu earlier, I was pretty excited to try this. A twist on the classic tiramisu, infused with Effingut beer. Traditionally made with Coffee Porter, the one served to us was made with Lager. Remarkable taste but I feel the coffee porter variant would be more impactful with incredible flavors. #YumYum #HighlyRecommended

Beeramisu

Sizzling Brownie with Ice Cream [Rs. 240] – To be honest, I wasn’t too keen on this one having just had one of the best desserts I have had so far. But once again, Effingut manages to surprise and impress. A rich walnut brownie and warm chocolate sauce, flambéed to a mahogany dark brown. Amazing theatre, a nice burnt bittery after-taste. #DeliciousDelicious

Sizzling Brownie with Ice Cream

Every moment at this place seems like home for us, for we can quite literally stay put for the entire day – eating, drinking, playing board games, reading comics, making merry and even working. With staff so friendly, you feel as if you are amongst cousins who banter with you and give you company. A sweet homecoming this was for #TheBTeam at Baner.

A tasting that lasted 8-10 drinks and 16 dishes and there was nary a dish that wasn’t appreciated and loved by all. And that is saying something about the place which is still known primarily as a brewery, although Effingut is slowly but steadily breaking that stereotype. A complete package it is!!

Holding back after the tasting to enjoy some rocking Holly and Bolly music only ensured we left well past the Cinderella hour. But then again, it is always beer-o’clock at this Effingut place!

A big shout out to Priyank Passey from Ideosphere for inviting us and Manu, Jason and Team EB for hosting us.

Effingut Brewerkz is located at Deron Heights, Baner.

Disclaimer: The invite was for a complimentary food tasting event.

This review is a narrative of my experience at the event. The views expressed in this review are solely mine and others are more than welcome to agree or disagree with the same. The review is in no way influenced either personally or commercially nor has it been lifted, copied or plagiarized from any source however I have done my due diligence on the event via publicly available information on the internet and as shared by the client/PR agency.

All rights reserved.