TILT Bar - A Beer Paradise
Hyderabad was a year ago looking forward places that serve amazing beers and brews and wonder when will the city get limelight in that sector? Boom fast forward now, we have plethora of brewery options that we have to pick and experience their unique servings. But does that mean you don't have places that special in imported beers, the ones you don't get somewhere else. Definitely NOT. Bar Exchange has been my favorite in terms of having some unique imported beers and it was a bit far to frequent. To answer both my concerns above, here comes TILT - The BAR Republic recently opened in the heart of Gachibowli - Bio Diversity junction. With ample valet parking and nicely tucked from the huzz-buzz in terms of newly launched building. Located in 2nd floor, as you enter, the decored TI'L'T light makes the intent that they are something different from get go.
Place is well lit and what caught my attention was the wide open Hi-tech Gachibowli street view while dining which gives it a nice feeling while dining and watch by vehicles go in their crazy mode. The lady graffiti was also eye catching and so was the alcohol related posts that you make you want to connect to it sometime in your life LOL :P Overall I think the place is definitely well designed and with a nice bar and projector setup in one end, it's got everything for you to unwind yourself.
The place has some amazing collection of imported beers but here is the interesting part not on regular 330 ml beers but on TAP. Can you believe it? Ranging from the most interesting Belgian Kriek (Cherry based) to the strong La Trappe Dubbel, from the flavorful Oranje Boom to my favorite Forrest Rossa. This is probably one of the few places where you get the Dutch beers while other places predominantly have Belgian brews. I also loved the pricing on them and ways you can order - 170 ml / 300 ml or samplers of 4 or 8 which makes any beer lover to relish the options and then settle down with your beer - your mood. In short, it will soon be beer lover's paradise :)
Note: This review is based on Food Tasting Invite but review and opinion stands unbiased in interest of readers.
I started to flavor their beers and chose their famous unique Cherry flavored Belgian Kriek , a Belgian beer from Brasserie Lefebvre Brewery which is a perfect blend of white beer and cherry juice. It was one of the most unique beers I have had and this one to my understanding will be loved by women who love to repeat again and again as it doesn't have a tinch of bitter after taste that you get in most beers. I can easily go rounds of it without getting bored.
Then I tried their Abbaye De Forest Rossa , Belgian Pale ale from Brasserie De Silly Brewery. Quite strong with 6.8 % alcohol level , its a full taste beer with orange reflections and definitely strong citrus aroma. This is for strong beer lovers. Then I didn't want to miss their Oranje Boom B, beer from B.V Brewery, Netherlands and light on alcohol level. Its got a noble hop aroma and clean dry taste throughout which may or may not appeal to you. I personally loved all 3 with extra WOW factor to Belgian Kriek due to its unique sweet flavor. Try their beers and you will definitely appreciate the hard work and planning done to bring such amazing beers from International Breweries.
We started off with starters coming one by one. We started off with Caesar Salad which looked visually very appealing and on tasting it proved right. Everything was perfect and I loved the little twist in it by added roasted ground nuts to it which add the extra nutty crunch that I always love in salad. Perfect way to start. This was followed by Cajun Baked Spice Potatoes w, another wow dish the small baby potatoes baked with nice spice levels were a treat to it while Crostini another beautifully presented dish served its purpose. Similar to bruschetta , this snack was an instant it with fresh veggies and cheese over super soft bread, made it vanish in a jiffy. That yumm it was.
The dish on veg side which disappointed us was Nachos which was not appealing at all. The corn tortilla chips were made in house but didn't connect to us as it more tasted like our local fafdas & also the salsa gauc combination didn't work well in its favor. It was more like rajma curry on fafdas. Feedback was given to the kitchen team to completely re-think this dish as it didn't related even remotely to the Mexican classic.
We then moved on to non-veg dishes which started with Cilantro Grilled Fish which was splendidly done and each piece of the dish was perfectly cooked and spice levels were top notch. It was followed by Lasooni Murgh which might not ticked for me on presentation as it looked so much like Malai Tikka but on tasting it definitely could agree the strong flavors from garlic and the cook of the chicken was perfect. Another nicely made dish.
This was followed by Zesty Chicken Wings which looked again nice n crispy and on tasting, we could get the flavors. But for me it was OKish dish as it was a bit on dryish side for me as I like my wings a little bit soft and saucy. Overall it was a good dish. Then came in Egg Manchuria which was also nicely made and we could get the nice asian flavors to it and as well the star of the dish - Egg.
Overall except for 1-2 dishes, most of them impressed with flavors and I do agree they get their food RIGHT :)
We then moved to the biggest surprise of the lunch, Spice Fried Idly which raised our eye brows like Idly in a bar?? But when we scooped one bit of it , it was perfectly fried in rich Indian masala and that ghee roast flavors was bang on. The coconut shavings and that lip-smacking coconut chutney made it one of the most heavenly dishes we had in a long time while but don't get fooled. Its a must try dish. Next came in my favorite Charmula Prawns which was visually appealing and on tasting it, was super yummy. This dish is another must-try dish and don't miss it. Last in the list was Florentine Sautee Mushrooms which looked nice but flavor wise I felt it was under seasoned mainly lack of salt led to it a very average dish which needs to be fixed for sure.
On Main course, we were amazed to see they served us some amazingly juicy and succulent looking Lamb Chops which was served on a bed of spice rice and sautéed vegetables. This was killer dish and the meat was perfectly cooked. The BBQ glaze was nicely done and the smokiness could be felt in every bite. The meat was also superbly cooked to perfect temperature. A must try dish again.
Then came in Chicken Primevera Pizza which looked nice but tasted OKish to me. Nothing WOW about it but that being said, the flavors were and crust was cooked but I have had better ones.
We wrapped up with desserts - Blueberry Cheese Cake and Choco Lava Cake. Blueberry Cheese Cake was a nice done dessert and the flavors were there. I personally felt the biscuit crust base was not that thick and crunchy as I expected cheese cake to be. But overall it was quite engaging. The other dessert with Choco Lava Cake + Vanilla Ice Cream was passable and nothing was impressing me be it the ice cream and the choco lava cake. It was an OKish affair.
Verdict :
TILT - Overall the bar is one welcome change to breweries but for a beer lover, over belgian and dutch beers on tap. The range , the price and drinks definitely impress me. Overall with nice good food complementing the beers there, I find this place to be apt for any IT worker or group around the area, this could be your pit stop for relaxing, sipping in your favorite beer and enjoy being yourself. If you are in this area, do not miss this place.
Note: This review is based on Food Tasting Invite but review and opinion stands unbiased in interest of readers.