Oktoberfest! That Bavarian tradition of beer and meats and all things fun, has caught up well in India over the last few years. India being primarily a beer guzzling nation, has adopted it well and many restaurants are doing throwing ‘specials’ throughout the month of October living up to the Oktoberfest traditions.
blueFROG in Lower Parel is one such place which has crafted a special Oktoberfest menu which runs only till October 4th (I wonder why) and does a mighty decent job of it.
Those of you who have been to Blue Frog, know that their USP lies in hosting concerts and stage shows around a well-stocked bar and an expansive dining space straight out of a sci-fi movie. The giant screens playing funky videos give the place quite a psychedelic feel.
Our evening started off with a potato based soup called Kartoffel Suppe (Rs.250) which was served with a very fresh a lovely rye bread. The soup with leek, carrot, radish and bacon was a hearty soup thatreminded me of walking through the city of Frankfurt in peak winters. I wished that there were more bacon bits in my soup though.
We did feel the service was quite slow, but the chef came to our table and graciously informed that he was making each dish fresh on order, so it was taking some time. The mains saw us digging into a Schweinbraten (Rs. 700) along with a good helping of Spatzle Mitzkraut (Rs.400). The beer roasted pork belly in the Schweinbraten was a bit tough but the sautéed vegetables and the roast sauce were finger licking good. Similarly the vegetarian Spatzel Mitzkraut was accompanied with an amazing beer and cauliflower based sauce which was creamy, decadent and hearty. What impressed me the most was that in both the dishes, the vegetables were sautéed perfectly, where they retained their crunch and yet were cooked through well enough.
Another dish we tried that night was their version of the classic Schnitzel called the Hanchen Schnitzel (Rs.450) which was perfectly breaded and fried completely non oily; this was complemented well with a butternut squash sauce a very decent attempt at recreating a classic Schnitzel and should definitely be a must have for all of you who intend to visit their restaurant to try out this promotion.
For desserts we tried the Homemade Beer Sorbet (Rs.500) which was served with a berry gateau which was soft, luscious and extremely decadent. The sorbet on the other hand was loaded with beer and could be an acquired taste for a non-beer drinking person. The Kaiserschmarren (Rs.350), was surprisingly cheaper than the beer sorbet but was a huge decadent portion of warm pancakes, topped with rum soaked raisins, poached spice plum, compotes of orange and apricots and different berries. All this topped with a silken creamy vanilla ice cream and maple syrup. Each bite reminded me of us sitting next to a fireplace on a cold snowy winter evening, listening to Christmas carols while eating this dessert. Do keep this visual in mind as you try out this dessert at blueFROG and you will agree with me as well.
On the whole, blueFROG has made a decent attempt to bring Germany close to us through their buy one get one all day deals on local beers and a buy two get one free deal on imported German ones. The accompanying menu is the proverbial icing on the cake. The only thing lacking here are the beautiful German dames serving those beers straight to the table. My heartiest Danke Schoen to team blueFROG for bringing Germany closer to us, through their Oktoberfest promotion! Prost!
Meal for Two without Alcohol: Rs.3000 Approximately plus taxes| Alcohol: Yes | Credit Card: Yes|
Timing: 6 PM to 1 AM|Happy Hours: 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (Tue – Sun)| Wheelchair access: Yes
Address: CD House, Ground Floor, Behind Benefice House, Mathuradas Mills Compound, Lower Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400013
Telephone : 022 6158 6158
Disclaimer: This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. Due judgment and care has been applied by the author to remain objective and unbiased in the review; however readers may exercise their own discretion.
