JOIN USA true American diner experience
Ever watched those old Hollywood movies that had a diner scene and you hoped that you could also dine at a place like that one day? There’s some good news for you, Bengaluru has finally made that dream of yours come true.
Located on 12th Main Indiranagar, BabaYaga throws back to the 50s diner era and the 80s arcade game parlours. It’s almost like you are walking into one of those movies.
The checkerboard floors are complimented with the leather booths and marquee bar and a rooftop dining experience.
We were recommended to try their boozy shakes, apparently India’s first of its kind. Named ‘Pac Man’, the chocolate, black and white whiskey and vanilla ice cream had everything more than we expected. It was thick, juicy and boozy, just like it was promised. We enjoyed that the flavours were very well balanced and none of the other ingredients in the drink overpowered the other.
We started our meal with ‘Babayaga’s Prawn Tempura’ which was served with Thousand Island sauce. It was soft, moist and had the right amount of batter coated to it that gave it the crunch and bite for a tempura.
The house wings offered here are recommended. Unlike other chicken wings that you’ve had at various other places, the one served here isn’t the type that is coated with sauce. The ‘Piri Piri Chicken Wings’ that we tried was fried and dipped in piri piri powder which enhanced the flavour. If there are more chicken wings offered in the city like this, we can easily restore our faith in the classic appetiser. It’s a must-have.
For the mains, we were keen on trying ‘The Peppercorn Beef Steak’. Usually, I am sceptical about steaks as they might not be juicy enough or have enough moisture to make it go back for more. But this beef tenderloin was made in peppercorn sauce and topped with herb butter and served with grilled vegetables and potato Parmesan mash. And the mash needs a mention here. It was creamy, smooth and just what you needed to pair with the tenderloin. The beef, on the other hand,
was well cooked, juicy and moist that the plate was whipped clean!
As it is an American diner, pot pies were a must-try. The ‘Butter Chicken Pie’ was baked in a savoury pastry and it was luscious and creamy. However, the flavour didn’t seem consistent and felt dry after a point.
We ended the meal with dessert — Chef Tori’s grandma’s multi-layer dark chocolate cake called ‘Marty Rice’s Chocolate Cake’ is one of the biggest slices of cake we have seen in a long time. We were too excited to dig into the sinful piece but unfortunately, we found it too dry for our liking. While the ganache was absolutely delicious, the cake on its own didn’t match up to our expectation.
‘BabaYaga’ is located at 949, 12th Main, Indiranagar. For reservations, call 43756555.