There are some places that catch your attention the second they open their doors to the public. Call it great marketing or the power of social media, there are a few new places that simply scream out for you to come check them out and get a feel of the place asap. Church Street Social is one such place. So thank goodness we were invited to Sunday brunch at the place recently and got to experience it first hand.
Let me tell you that any place that does a good breakfast has already got brownie points from me. Social was quite packed on the Sunday we headed there. There is always clamour for a new place and it is in these few initial weeks that an impression has to made. What did bode well for us when we got in there was that despite this being an invite, the word of our arrival did not reach the right ears and so we were just another group entering the place. Gave us a good sense of how the place generally is.
We were seated immediately and took a few minutes to take in the place. Exposed brick walls, eclectic lighting fixtures, Tissue paper designed on a roll, a ruler-based cutlery stand... lots of little quirks in the place that grab your attention. The menus are designed to be rolled up newspapers, grey for the food menu and blue for the drinks. We had two of the wait staff that stopped by the table regularly. Everything on the menu looked fabulous and so it was going to be quite a task ordering, even though we had a good number to our group.
One of the first drinks to come to the table was the Cosmo-explosion - a Martini glass filled with cotton candy and then doused with a mix of Vodka, Cranberry and Triple Sec. A candied orange peel is then set on fire and plopped into the drink. Great on the theatrics and equally good on the alcohol and taste.
Cosmo-Explosion
Anoushka was with us and so Saddlebags - Pancakes stuffed with bacon, chicken sausages and topped off with eggs with maple syrup on the side was called for. I have never been one for maple syrup on bacon, but the little champ enjoyed it and from the number of swipes the rest took off her plate, it was obvious the combination was a great one.
Saddlebags - Pancakes stuffed with bacon, chicken sausages and topped off with eggs with maple syrup on the side
Now when you read a name like Aacharoska on the drinks menu, you can't help but order it, especially when it has your all time favorite lime pickle as a core ingredient. So in a classic pickle jar comes a vodka + sweet n sour + lime pickle + lemon wedge and mint drink, which was way up on the charts in terms of innovative and bang on the spot.
Aacharoska
Earl of Gin is bound to catch every tea lovers eye - Gin + Earl Grey + tang. This one didn't really come together as the tea bag was left to infuse in room temperature water and nothing happened. Perhaps a tea decoction pre-made and provided would work better.
Earl of Gin
Hot Shoddy - for those who would like to drink with a bad throat - a hot concoction of Brandy, honey and fresh cinnamon, with a slice of lime and apple and cloves. As soothing as it is aromatic. 2 rounds of this found its way to the table.
Hot Shoddy
And now for some food - Elvis fan at the table just had to have the Elvis Presley French Toast - thick slices of bread drenched in peanut butter, drowned in french toast batter, fried and served with bananas and dusting of sugar and served on a vinyl record! - Let's just say that the sounds coming from said Elvis fan at the table were enough to make us go red!
Elvis Presley French Toast
I narrowed down on the OTT Dawg - a dog that was really over the top - a bacon wrapped dog, topped with Mexican Lamb Chilli, cheese and fries. I love gooey meat in dogs and burgers and this one fit the description to the last T of OTT and then some more. On the spicy side but in a good way (for me).
OTT Dawg
The fish tacos with prawn crackers - pleasant without being too memorable
Sid's Very Posh Breakfast has it all - Two eggs of your style, toast, jam and butter, hash browns, baked beans (though this was the canned variety and after you have been spoiled by a certain home style recipe available close by its tough to accept), sausages, bacon and coffee - It's a massive tray that takes a good chunk of your table, but it packs in a good deal in that size.
Sid's Very Posh Breakfast
Old Smoke arrived at the table - an upside down whiskey glass filled with hickory smoke that you turn over and pour in your mix of whiskey, sweet n sour that filters through an orange zest. Again, the gimmickyness seemed to live up to taste expectations as well.
Old Smoke
The Anda Shammi kebab was next on the list - Shammi kebab with a mozzarella and red onion stuffing for a twist, in between a pav with some mint chutney on the side. This one you have to eat to experience. The shammi got the approval of the Hyderabadi Muslim khaana expert at the table. Soon after this we had the shammi kebab as a slider and in a mini burger form at two different places (seems to be the innovation of the season) but both of them did not match up to this one.
Anda Shammi Kebab
And as if all this was not enough, we had the Mexican Poutine - house fries with a Mexican meat sauce. Awesome when you are sipping on a drink. But this also essentially sealed any chances of us having dessert to wrap up the meal. So instead we asked for the Blue Pill or Red.
The Blue Pill or Red is Vodka + Gin and Berries with Blue Curacao in a Syringe. You inject it into the red liquid and watch it turn a deep dark blue before you sip on.
Blue Pill or Red
And that brought us to the end of the indulgence. The food is brilliant, no question on that but where I think Church Street will need to majorly look into is the service aspect. It was quite good on the day we went, except for the fact that there were large gaps of time in between placing an order and having it come to the table. Dishes asked for in the beginning came close to the end of the meal after reminders. All of this is typical of every new establishment. The food and drinks here score high and with spot on service on full house days, the place is bound to rock, as the packed tables already show.
A meal for two here would be in the Rs 2500 bracket with two drinks each. The price factor for the place is phenomenally good.
Address: 46/1 Opp. Empire Hotel, Cobalt Building, Church Street, Bangalore
Phone: 41713016
Cuisine: Alcohol, breakfast, A mix of everything
Accepts Cards: Yes
Accepts Cards: Yes
Parking: Valet on weekends
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