Everyone loves to be pampered. And at Absolute Barbeques, pampering the customer is a way of life. Even though I put on a pseudo just-another-customer routine as I walk into the restaurant with a couple of friends, the reception and warmth we get is genuine. While the service treats us like royalty, the fantastic assortment of food that tingles every sense is a meal fit for a king. Never before have I being pampered so well and loved it.
‘Welcome to Absolute Barbecues’, reads a sign as I walk in, ‘India’s first Wish Grill Restaurant’. The first thing that hits me about the barbecue joint, also known as AB’s, is its sheer enormity. The restaurant resembles a food court and is spacious enough to seat 160 people at a time, according to the first waiter I catch and pop the question. Taking our seats, we are graciously attended by service – pleasant smiling-all-the-time mostly North Indian waiters who never leave our plates empty even for a second.
The tables are customised for a live grill with the starters. A torrent of unlimited barbecued starters arrive ranging from boneless chicken, mutton and diced fish to Texas prawns – each a tasteful delight as we dig in. while the waiters continue to keep the grill on our table stocked, we barely get time to down the meat when the next set arrives – barbecued stuffed sandwich mushroom and paneer that disappears within seconds. The service tops the starters with a slice of BBQ churrasco pineapple – a perfect start to an amazing meal and we feel already stuffed.
That doesn’t stop us from making our way to the favourite part of the restaurant – the wish grill. The chef helps us choose from over 16 varieties of exotic assorted veg and non-veg dishes, including rabbit meat, emu, quail, baby octopus, lady fish and a collection of English vegetables. Topped with a sauce that we pick from those on display – chilli garlic tango, tufani Indian masala, sambal olek, lemon curry among others – we watch as the chef spreads our bowls’ contents onto the massive grill and works on them.
We head back to our table and make our wish and viola! the bowls arrive and we dig in. What we experience is a taste bud-tingling, mind-blowing flood of appetising ecstasy (enough to make me run out of adjectives to describe it). The waiters constantly linger around to make sure every morsel is enjoyed. To add to the gourmet spread, our cocktails arrive -- blueberry, litchi mix and a coke. When they were served, it was my moment of envy and I had to regret I chose coke. An elaborate buffet follows with soups, a salad station, five non-vegetarian and nine vegetarian dishes which we mildly dabble in ‘cause we’re excited about what’s next.
We then make our way to the part of the restaurant that has been beckoning us ever since we stepped in – the dessert counter. Featuring over 10 varieties of Indian and international desserts, we dig into AB’s black forest cake, assorted soufflé, baklavas, flavoured phirni’s and ghewar rabdis – each a sensory treat. The live cold stone ice cream was next on our list. Choosing from a variety of four ice creams, 10 toppings and four sauces mixed live by the chef on a cold stone, we had our platter brimming with sweetness. By the time we were done, it felt like we had already become a part of the place with our interactive friendly banter with the waiters and chefs. The restaurant is located near Park Plaza Hotel on Marathalli outer ring road. Call 67683696. Enough said – let’s eat.
