Vapour Brewery - Neat New Brew
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Adaptive Ambiance
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Big TV Screen Viewing
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Lovely Terrace Setup
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Desi Chat Food Flavors
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Brews Quality
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Service Hiccups
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Bar Handling Expertise
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Missing WOW Appeal
Vapour Brewery is another brand that's steps into brewery landscape in Hyderabad which is now having plethora of options to try out brews and beers at different flavor levels. The brand already well established in Bangalore & Gurgaon, is now in the location of then 36 BBQ near Chit Chat Chai in Jubilee Hills. They also have their own brews (6 flavors to be precise) that they brew in-house with their brand Brew Master Pankaj Gupta from Gurgaon who is here to setup and run the brews to expected stabilization. Also with eminent Chef Upendar , they also boost a new varied menu from street Indian food to anything that anyone would want and places them to vouch something for everyone. Did my first impression work out in this debutant? Well lets find out. The menu and the price offering was part of event conducted by a foodie group and review stands unbiased based on that offerings.
On an outset, its like stepping into a typical plush bungalow but once you enter you are transported into this wood-ish tainted décor that spells funky everywhere. With 2 floors of seating in various moods and settings and one hell of an amazing terrace setup, I can say this is one of the best vibrant places you would want to sit back, relax and sip on some brews with your party pals. The ambiance is well though through definitely and to an extent nicely executed as well and the large TV screen in the 1st floor will be added attraction considering cricket seasons running for next few months. I even liked the way bar was setup to be viewable from everywhere in the floor. The funky paintings and wordings all across adds rigor to the vibrant décor. I would prefer to lay around in their terrace and sip around some brews and hang out. Its an apt place for the kind of crowd the area oozes with.
Note: This review experience is based on Foodie Event conducted by HOMP - Hyderabad Group and the menu and pricing was planned by them. Still review stays unbiased for benefit of fellow readers.
The fixed menu had a set of mocktails and food to be served but since I knew they are also serving brews, I couldn't resist to strike a conversation with their brew master Mr. Pankaj Gupta and know about the brew quality. They served me a sampler of all 6 brews and some of them definitely impressed me.
Regular Lager was your regular novice beer that anyone who is new to tasting beer can try. nothing fancy and nothing WOW for me. Mango Mint was something new for me to hear and it evoked my interest right away. On tasting I felt I loved it but I really couldn't much of the mango flavor still there was definite after kick from the mint. Overall its a decent beer if you are bored of regular flavors. Apple Cider lager was really nice and definitely impressed me. The strong cider flavor and the slight sourness coming from apple essence made it my favorite from the lot. Blonde (Stout) was impressive on its dark color and on knowing it has espresso base flavors infused, it caught me. Its not for any light lager beer lovers but its dark, extremely coffee flavored more on strong espresso type and it definitely needs a liking. The other brews didn't impress me as much. So I would definitely recommend Apple Cider & Blonde from the brews. (This was not served as part of the event food menu)
We were served with an array of starters one after the another like firing from rocket and all came in a steady phase for us to savor. Paneer Oriental Skewers which was served in typical satay style drizzled heavily with burnt garlic chilli sauce and salad dressing. the flavors were nice but I felt the sauce overpowered the hero of the dish. Never the less the taste delivered. Cocktail Tawa Samosa Chaat was next and it looked visually impressive. You can interpret it as a fine dining serving of typical street food samosas and on tasting it was bang on. The flavors were spot on and green & tamarind chutney definitely added flavor to it. Kadi Chawal Burst was again served in a very unique way and the kadi as such was nice and flavorful and this dish scored for me again. Quantity wise also it was OK for the pricing. Palak Patta Chaat was another unique way of serving a very interesting dish which was typical palak leaves made as crispy sheets by frying them and generously served with sweet and sour chutney along with mint air (mint foam) for garnish. the dish as such was very light on palate and nice one.
Continuing the veg starters, non-veg dishes came one by one. Chilli Garlic Tempura Prawns came with rich chilli garlic sauce and gari as garnish over it. The prawns were super crispy and for a prawn lover like me, this was YUMM. Teriyaki Chicken Supreme was served in similar way , though visually it looked with finesse, the chicken as such was little chewy and dry for my liking. If it was a tad soft for me, I would loved this dish over anything. BBQ Stuffed chicken had zucchini and bell pepper fillings stuffed inside chicken breast slices , grilled over tangy BBQ sauce and served nicely. Though visual appeal was lacking, the softness of the chicken surely made this dish go well with the crowd. Patra ni Machchi a popular dish served in parsi cuisine, where steamed fish is topped with chutney and steam cooked inside banana leaf. This dish was very small in quantity with just two slices of fish. Nevertheless the taste again was decent enough and had a mustard dominance in it as expected.
Overall, I should say looking at their very exhaustive starters menu and a wide array of options, I could enjoy most of the dishes I was served and definitely such kind of Indian Finger street food will go well with the crowd who mainly hit such places for brews and drinks. But I felt they are still pricy in spite of flavor deliverance.
Caesar Salad turned out to be a very decent affair and the cream foam didn't add much to the flavor but overall a decent one nothing fancy about it. Potato Hoi is your traditional oriental crispy potato friend and tossed in chilli Hunan sauce. This was served in a large bowl and justified its price in the menu. The fries were crispy and nicely flavored and still retained the crispiness expected. Cauliflower Bolognaise with Spagetti looked good enough and was served with crispy veg wafers. On tasting it, I felt a unexplainable bitterness coming from the spaghetti. I could feel that may be the cauliflower essence was not cooked through and the bitterness was coming from the rawness of cauliflower. The dish could have fared well but was a disappoint for the
Chef Upendar was particularly excited about serving this dish on live counter and on enquiry, we found out that this dessert will be served using cryogenic cooling technique (using liquid nitrogen for flash freezing). Garlic Kheer was indeed made in front of our eyes. Liquid nitrogen made all the magic and Garlic Kheer as such transformed into a chunked ice cream consistency and was served on martini glasses and generously drizzled with again flash frozen edible flowers and rose petals. The dessert definitely delivered in terms of the garlicy flavor all across the dish and the richness from the cream was evident. The crispy edible flowers definitely added the needed crunch to this soft dessert. Definitely one of the most interesting dish I have tasted in recent times.
Service & Hospitality:
I think where overall they did serve it a more efficient way I felt the clutter in terms of the way and the sequence dishes were served and the bar staff definitely couldn't keep up with the mocktails demand from the foodies. I get the number of drinks to be made but I felt instead of too many staff there, the drinks were coming very slowly. This could be one of their toothing issues in the start but I hope they sort this out faster as it could make or break their loyal customer base for repeat visits. But none to complain or lament about but definitely can improve a lot.
Verdict:
Vapour Brewery - The brand impact is definitely evident on the place and décor laid out to unwind yourselves with their drinks and some munchies. Ambiance can get you hooked up for sure and I'm already in love with it and I experienced a good and pleasant experience. I would definitely re-visit them to check if they provide consistency. This place is now my favourite to visit again and I hope they tweak these minor issues in service and food and prove they are more deserving. I wish them good luck and I hope they keep their service intact and deliver consistency and hope they work towards success.
Note: This review experience is based on Foodie Event conducted by HOMP - Hyderabad Group and the menu and pricing was planned by them. Still review stays unbiased for benefit of fellow readers.