Give your taste buds a fusion you would have never thought of – fruit-flavoured beer. With pleasing aesthetics and food to die for, this place is every beer lover’s paradise
There’s something quite alluring about blueberries. Legend has it that Danish King Harald Gormsson used to binge on the fruit so much that his teeth turned blue. Some believe this to be the reason behind his nickname —Bluetooth.
If it’s true, we don’t blame the king for his fixation for the fruit. It makes a delightful snack. But who could have imagined that it can enhance the taste of a glass of beer?
We did not, until we tried the Blueberry flavoured beer at Antidot Waterbar Cafe in Safdarjung Enclave. To keep up with the summer spirits, the restaurant is holding a Flavoured Beer Carnival, to serve delectable drinks, infused with different kinds of fruits.
This fascinating infusion of different fruits with beer is an innovative idea to satisfy your penchant for beer as well as for a fruit like blueberry or an orange.
The straight spikes seen on the white checkered floor on the L-shaped terrace of the restaurant look extremely chic. The soft pink cushioned chairs and sofas complement the sheesham wooden tables. The artificial mini water body ups the bohemian quotient and gives the feel of modern aesthetics. Also, this part of the décor makes the café live up to its name – ‘waterbar’.
There are also mist coolers that operate every other minute, in order to keep customers happy as they enjoy a view of the lush green South Delhi neighbourhood.
They serve a global cuisine menu, which means one can savour dishes from cuisines like Mexican, continental, Chinese and of course, Indian. The North Indian tikkas and kebabs heavily dominate the appetiser section of the menu.
After spending quite some time appreciating the decor and the stunning view, we are served our first dish to kickstart the evening — Smoked Cheese Asparagus Tartlets (Rs 297). These perfectly oven-cooked tarts were filled with vegetables like onions, asparagus and had dry salami as toppings.
These tarts were evenly cooked and the crust felt crispy, yet soft to chew. The cheese and the dry salami worked out as a thoughtful duo for our taste buds, casting a spell of softness with fresh meat.
As we continued enjoying these six beautifully cooked tarts, we ordered flavoured beer.
Choosing the first beer of the evening was a tough task, it required us to ponder over which fruit would go with what beer.
To kill the tedious process of choosing our first beer, we went with two regular fruits — orange and water melon.
The pulp of both these fruits was pumped into beer with added artificial flavour of the same fruit. And as the plate of tarts got over, two gorgeous 330ml mugs in screaming bright orange and red colours were brought to the table.
For a few seconds we were sort of awestruck with the brightness of these drinks, the colours pleased our eyes, while the coldness of the glass soothed the hands on a sunny day.
These glasses looked more aesthetically pleasing, kept on the tables that were filled with water beneath the glass top. Water runs deep in the cafe.
The first sip of the orange beer gave a tantalising feeling and simply gushed into our mouths, not asking for permission, but dictating us to drink to further.
We knew the dictatorship of the drink will not be over in a few sips, so we continued listening to it and took one sip after another, slowly reaching half of its quantity
Finely cut pieces of orange were floating atop the foamy layer of beer. It’s a regular affair to chew a delightful snack while having a beer, but when it’s a fruit you cannot figure whether to judge or enjoy — it’s a sweet request, you try to accept it and continue.
Slowly it starts doing wonders to your taste buds and stomach. While the orange gave us a tantalising feeling, the melon seemed like the sweet cousin of orange, without the tangy taste.
Rahul Thakur, the bar manager, told us that the watermelons are kept for 3-4 days to further enhance their flavour, and the drink also holds some 5-10 ml of lemon juice.
The drink looked a bit funny with the half-cut pieces of melon playing at the bottom, while some showed a sense of hierarchy, resting atop the drink.
The music won our heart. As sick beats of Drake to Cardi B kept booming out of the speakers, giving a true sense of a beer session at a quintessential downtown bar seen in the movies.
Next up were two good looking drinks — Blueberry and a Jagerbomb. The Jagerbomb beer had a tiny shot glass filled with Jägermeister, which was then kept in the beer mug. It was like a treasure waiting for an explorer.
The Jägermeister’s strong alcohol intensity, along with the crispiness of the lager, created a perfect merger to get a person a bit tipsy. And we were!
With each sip, the shot glass helped its big cousin (the beer), by giving small splashes of Jägermeister. The blueberry beer felt like a solid drink with a strong taste of blueberries. A leaf was placed on top of the drink, which we took out soon, because nothing should become a barrier between the mouth and the beer. Right?
These extravagant flavours demanded us to eat a solid dish from the menu. Since we were a bit clueless, the bar manager lend us a helping hand and recommended the Chicken Kebabs (Rs 447).
The kebabs smelt heavenly, with chapta kebab, chicken tikka, masala slaw, a soft parantha and some good ol’ green chutney.
Every bite felt soft and gave a sense of a thoroughly cooked dish. The parantha, along with the chicken tikka, is a good bite to have with a sip of the crispy lager beer.
By this time, the mist coolers were working in their full force, while the music kept getting upbeat. We bid adieu to our table, promising ourselves to at least come again for the blueberry beer.
Address: 2nd Floor, B-6/2, Opposite Deer Park, Safdarjung Enclave
Visit on invitation
