Breakfirst at Monkey Bar

I love breakfasts. They're my favourite meal of the day. The first thing on my mind when I get out of bed is food, and I can't wait to down a huge breakfast every morning that gets me through my day. And the best part about breakfast? You can eat it any time of the day! And it can be savoury, sweet, savoury and sweet, and it has no rules.

So it comes as no surprise that I'm doing yet another breakfast post, and this time, on one of my favourite bars in Bangalore, Monkey Bar in Indiranagar. Oh, my apologies, they call it Breakfirst.

Having tried out the Breakfirst menu in the Wood Street bar already, I was curious to check out the menu in the Indiranagar one and couldn't wait to dig in. We entered the bar around 10:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning, and despite it being early (anything before 12pm on a weekend is early for me), the bar had a decent crowd. And if you think Monkey Bar looks warm, rustic and lovely in the evenings,  a visit in the morning would greet you with rays of sunshine finding their way through the crannies and kissing the glass windows that create for a very magical ambience as well.

With no time to waste, we kickstarted our meal with ordering the Egg Kejriwal (there are signs all over about this dish), and our server couldn't stop talking about it either, so we had to give it a try . I was sincerely hoping the dish wouldn't quit on me in 15 minutes and then refuse to be served (#YepIJustWentThere). The Egg Kejriwal is a grilled pav laden with fried egg, onion, tomato, coriander, green chilli and cheese. All of those elements work very well together and the Egg Kejriwal elevates the classic bread and egg dish to the next level. It was moist and not overly gooey, the heat from the chilli gave it a nice kick, and combined with the onion, tomato and coriander, the dish overall runs a nostalgic memory in your head. Top it up with cheese and we have something you can't have enough of!

Egg Kejriwal

Next, for something a little more 'meaty', we decided to venture with the Scotch Eggs. The Scotch Egg was a soft-boiled egg enclosed in house-made sausage mixture, crumbed & fried, and served in a lettuce and straw potato nest. The egg was perfectly done, and as my knife sliced through it, the yellow goodness of the yolk oozed out in a delicate stream and coated the meat well. I found the meat to be a little underseasoned for my liking, but very tender and moist. The potatoes went well with the eggs, but the lettuce was a tad too bitter for me.

Scotch Eggs

A signature special that our server absolutely pushed us to try was the decadent Brekkie Burger Bang! This was truly a burger like no other, and is definitely not for the faint-hearted. It's an open faced 200 grams burger, topped with bacon, fried egg, mushrooms, cheese, avocado, grilled onions, lettuce, served with coleslaw and pickle. If this doesn't kickstart your morning, I don't know what will. The meat was perfectly done and that crisp bacon on top added a lovely crunchy texture to it. The yummy mushroom, gooey melted cheese, crunchy onions, all came together with the meat with a perfectly runny egg yolk coating all of this hunk of a burger. My only grouse was with the red kidney beans; I felt that it didn't add anything to the burger and it already had too much going on for itself, so they could have been avoided (neither was it mentioned in the menu).

We managed to polish our plates clean, and decided to settle for one helping of a dessert. Having already tried the absolutely sinful Red Velvet Waffles countless times before, we were intrigued by another special, the MoBar take on the traditional French Toast, aptly named Toast to France. In addition to the bread being soaked in milk, eggs and vanilla, this twist added dimensions of orange zest, wine and honey, which was then pan fried and served with house syrup. To click it up a notch, the bread was sandwiched with peanut butter and jelly. I can't tell you how good this dish tasted over a mere blog post. This is 100% pure indulgence. I'm not a big fan of jelly, but was curious to see how this would work in a French Toast, and work it did. All of the flavour profiles came together very well to make one helluva sandwich. You can also order the challah without the peanut butter and jelly, as this makes it quite heavy and you'll find yourself getting filled up rather quickly and slowly finding a place by the wall and table, nestled in a corner so that you can take a short and satisfied nap.

Toast to France with peanut butter and jelly

Overall, we had an amazing time. The service was excellent, the ambience cannot get any better, the music was fun and the food left us wanting for more. Consider your Sunday well spent here when you drop by to devour their breakfast, and also know that you're going to leave heavier with possibly a popped button from your jeans.

Rating:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 8/10
Ambience - 9/10
Verdict - Whether you want a cure for your hangover breakfast or looking to chill with friends and family on a weekend morning, MoBar will offer you the perfect pick-me-up. Must visit.
Cost for 2: Rs.1200

Monkey Bar is located at: 610, Diagonally Opposite SBI Bank, Near Apple of My I, 12th Main, Indiranagar, Bangalore
Phone: 080-4411-4455
Parking: Parking space available in the bylanes of Indiranagar

Monkey Bar - Break'first' Edition!

There has been so much hulabaloo since Monkey Bar launched its breakfast that I figured it's about time I visited the place (we Bangaloreans get more than a little happy when you club breakfast and bar in one sentence). So my sister, a friend and I decided to indulge in this Break'first' (as Monkey Bar calls it) on a Saturday morning, hoping we'd get a quiet table for our conversations and some good food.

The Break'first' Menu

The breakfast menu at Monkey Bar is only served on weekends and alcohol is served past 10:30 a.m.. Pretty cool, eh? My sis started off the meal by ordering the one egg dish she swears by pretty much everywhere - the Eggs Benedict - poached egg and ham on an English muffin topped with plenty of Hollandaise sauce. What's not to love? :)

I simply couldn't flaw the Eggs Benedict, honestly. The eggs were perfect and the Hollandaise sauce was just right - not too sour nor too 'eggy'. My sister found the bread a little harder than it should have, but it seemed just like the texture of that of the typical English muffin bread. Though there were only two poached eggs, they were quite filling.

My friend next ordered the Pandi Curry (which seemed so 'off' from the typical Monkey Bar-esque menu). The pork was really tender and well spiced, though there wasn't so much of a curry with it. The Pandi Curry was served with warm Pita pockets. While the pork tasted good, I couldn't have more than a few bites of it because it wasn't something as a 'breakfast' dish for me. It was not a 10 am thing for me (bacon is totally an all-day thing for me, btw). My sister and my friend seemed to share no such problem though.

Pandi Curry with Pita Bread

I didn't find the menu too extensive, so I decided to play it safe and order a sandwich instead. I was suggested the Croque Monkey by the server, which was a cheesy-gooey ham and Emmenthal cheese sandwich. My expectation of this signature sandwich was quite high, and I was mighty disappointed when the dish did arrive. I didn't find the punch of the Emmenthal or the moistness of the ham and it had zero seasoning. It was extremely vapid in flavour and was nothing more than a bland ham-and-cheese sandwich. This was served with Mustard Potatoes and fresh Baked Beans. I really liked the potatoes, they were flavourful and not too pungent. But that's the only thing I liked about this dish. To top it off, this sandwich is priced at Rs.295 which is ridiculously expensive for a simple sandwich.

The boring Croque Money

We were quite full by this time, but decided to try their much talked about signature Red Velvet Waffles with cream cheese and almond praline. These officially are the best waffles I've ever had in my life. I'm not kidding. The waffles were literally velvety soft and the cream cheese and almond praline added a brilliant dimension of sweet and sour flavours with soft and crunchy textures. We topped this generously with maple syrup, and it tasted orgasmic. It elevated us to such a happy high state that we just wanted to sit there and not move and savour every last bit of that taste.

YUM Red Velvet Waffles!

Overall, it was a very pleasant breakfast, service was highly courteous and the music was awesome as always. It's a great place to head to dig into a breakfast to cure that hangover. Our total bill (all of the above items + an orange juice and a side of bacon) came up to Rs.1860, which was quite expensive for 3 people. The endless breakfast buffet at Taj Vivanta costs Rs.700 per head, just saying.

Food - 8/10
Service - 9/10
Ambience - 8/10
VFM - 5/10
Final Verdict - Definitely go for the waffles, and ensure you're all Ka-chinged up! :)