As I run my eyes down the menu, I subconsciously make a list in my head that goes “Italian, Indian, Chinese, Lebanese, Mexican…” The menu at The Bread Bar is short, but packs a diversity that can make you ponder a few extra minutes as you choose what to dig into.
Tucked away along the quiet Barnaby Road at Kilpauk, in the midst of a row of restaurants and arching branches, The Bread Bar is nestled inside the Swaad Nation Food Court. Wooden board panelling and warm fairy lights combined with the toasty scent of freshly baked bread check off all the right boxes in the first impressions department. A basket on the counter displays a variety of breads — garlic, basil, oats and flax seed loaves sit in between orange and chocolate-swirl buns, and I learn that they are batches made to order. After I sufficiently graze the plump loaves in the basket and the menu with my eyes, I zero in on the focaccia and the bao.
The focaccia arrives as a six-inch sandwich, with a filling of sliced cucumber and cherry tomatoes in a generous drizzle of pesto sauce and cheese. The first bite into it is a gentle rush of flavours, and the sumptuously hydrated bread has me going in for the next bite within seconds. At odds with its hard appearance, the texture of the focaccia is so easy that I make record time devouring a sandwich. The bread clearly plays lead singer while the pesto quietly takes on the role of supporting chorus, striking the right balance.
Two compact baos on a plate come out next. Off-white and mustard coloured pockets, with a smattering of green, they present a pretty sight. The bread is supple, but the Sichuan sauce in the filling blatantly overpowers the cabbage, spring onion and Sichuan mayonnaise. Where the focaccia stands out in its fresh and authentic flavour, the bao fails to hold ground.
Determined to mask the lingering Sichuan flavour from the bao experiment, I opt for the vada pav and the pita. A palm-sized pocket, the falafel in the pita is a tad dry and could definitely do better with a bigger dollop of hummus. It leaves me wanting more, after just a cursory encounter with my taste buds.
- Swaad Nation, 13, Barnaby Road, Kilpauk
- Hits: Focaccia and bread box
- Misses: Bao and pita
- meal for two: ₹240
- 9884692997
I am glad I saved the vada pav for the end. The garlic chutney with the slightly crunchy vada creates a burst of flavours that few vada pavs on the East coast manage to do. With three pieces to a plate, this vada pav is best relished with company, unless you plan to make a meal of it. And if you are part of a group that cannot agree, the chef’s platter (an array of all their breads) on the weekend menu is the ideal pick.
Manisha Khumbat, one of the proprietors and the chef here, recommends the bread box before I leave. Though I am stuffed, the sight of warm gooey cheese coaxes me into one final indulgence. The bread box is a cheese fondue with croutons in a carved-out loaf of wheat bread. As I slowly polish off the cheese, the bread crumbles into it, making the dish a fulfilling experience in itself. Before I roll out of the doors, I make a mental note to nip in again for the cheese fondue.
