For a Saturday night, B Side seems fairly quiet from the outside. Ah, so finally a place where one can have a conversation. But our grand plans of catching up are thrown out of the window when we enter the new bar. ‘Despacito’ blares from the speakers as we make our way through an animated crowd of revellers. So engrossed are they that a couple accidentally elbows my arm thrice, and oblivious, continues with their bachata moves. Finding an empty corner we settle down.
B Side is located where Plan B earlier was. The interiors are the same, with the distressed industrial décor intact. The large square menus are still there too. So are the popular cocktails, such as the virulent-blue Smurf’s Revenge and the ever-delicious Whisky Marmalade, sweetened with their homemade orange marmalade. “We don’t want to change the cocktails, as they have a fan base. But we are introducing five new ones that’ll keep changing every week,” says Ramanan Rajamani, director, operations, B Side.
The drinks are as always potent, but even that doesn’t do much to fade out the loud music. My dinner companion and I feel like two old diners as we take turns to ask the waiters to turn down the volume. Luckily for them, we are distracted by a group participating in the ABS (A** Burning Sauce) challenge. They attempt to chomp down 12 pieces of chicken wings that are diabolically coated in a spicy red sauce. They have four minutes to finish it, and no, they aren’t allowed to drink anything in between. Winners get a free drink. Luckily for us, we are biting into comforting French fries that B Side generously stacks with most of their dishes. We get an idea of how spicy the chicken wings must be when we dig into the loaded potato skin with pulled chicken. The tangy spicy marinara that’s served with it is a blend of tomato and firecracker sauce made of chilli extract. The gooey cheese and potato skin, despite being overly greasy, come in handy to balance the heat, but the poor contestants have no such luxuries.
Next up is beef chilli cheese fries, which is a sizeable portion of what resembles keema with a blanket of cheese and pudgy but crispy fries. This one is addictive and filling. The mushroom stir-fry with spicy rice is a let down. The mushroom is undercooked and sticks out awkwardly in a watery base. The only flavour it has is that of red chilli powder.
In addition to these items from the old menu, there are 18 new dishes. Of which the crispy cauliflower florets in honey chilli sauce is something the vegetarians can relish. Golden brown, perfectly crunchy and minus an oily coating, these bite-sized poppers complement our cocktails perfectly. Mind the sauce though; this place really wants your mouth on fire. To end the meal, we have beef chilli cheese omelette, which definitely is the showstopper. It brings back memories of train journeys, where we snacked on omelettes and buttery slices of bread. These, of course, taste far superior — each fluffy mouthful is stuffed with beef chilli con carne and oozes cheese. It’s easy on the palette, unlike its earlier spicy counterparts. Unfortunately, they don’t have desserts as of now. But if you are lucky, you may just get to have a spoonful of their secret recipe homemade marmalade. You certainly won’t need a cake after that.
