Drink more and pay less. This is the premise of Bar Bar at Phoenix Marketcity in Whitefield. Happy hours was commonplace, so Bellona Hospitality applied the concept of wholesale pricing, uniquely to a bar. More people on a table with more drinks, lesser the bill.
And not just that, there is also the E-Savings calculator tab which would enable the customer to see his or her savings while ordering.
The drinks menu is divided into three slabs – popular, premium and luxury containing a selection of spirits like whisky, vodka, rum, gin and even liqueurs. If the entire group or table sticks to a category and orders at one go, they can hit MWP (Maximum Wholesale Price). MWP drinks are as low as ₹99.
But it isn’t that the restaurant has only experimented with the price factor. The reason you are paying for –drinks and food also come with quirky fun twists. Since we are talking about drinks, let's continue with that.
The most exciting is Bartender’s Bottles. Priced at ₹750, a bottle of cocktail (750 ml) comes accompanied with bar snack, garnish and three glasses. An interesting take on pitchers in different flavours like the fruitier fruit loops, lynchburg lemonade and others.
Other cocktails include watermelon coolishka, a vodka, watermelon, lemongrass and lime concoction, spiced pear mojito with pear, rum and cinnamon, The Hawaiin with vodka, pineapple, cardamom, and Red bull.
The bites are as interesting as their drinks menu. Take your pick from jalapeno cheese popcorn, baked cheesy masala crab, nuts and crunch bhel, double cooked pork belly and for the Bengaluru junta – Mangalorean mutton sukka where you bite into the succulent meat to meet a host of wonderful flavours. A section is dedicated to tandoor with kebab platters like paneer aachari, tandoori broccoli and tandoori potatoes.
Do try some of their thin crust pizzas and burgers for they are delightfully innovated by chef Paul Kinny. Choose from red curried shrimp, sundried tomatoes, meatball, baby arugula, pulled pork burger, Caribbean cottage cheese and oats burger. In mac and cheese burger, meet the worlds of pasta and burger.
There is also a live BBQ pit in the open air section which serves mixed barbecue platters, shoots and roots for vegetarians, oink oink with four kinds of pork delicacies and ranch and wharf offering shrimps and fish preparations.
For the main course, you can opt for laksa curry fried rice, fish & chips, pork Goan vindaloo and others. You can round off your meal with options like chocolate ganache fondue, sundae, baked New York cheesecake, salted caramel & espresso tart and tiramisu jar.
Space and design
Bar Bar is a spacious gastropub marrying elements of industrial design with retro. There is a live stage and DJ console, a mini library and a projector for live sport and film screenings. Some very thoughtful interventions include a storage wall for guests to keep aside their shopping bags, hooks on the table to hang purses also make it very different from the rest.
Bar Bar
@ Level 2, Phoenix Marketcity, Whitefield
Meal for two: ₹1,200 plus tax
