Spicy Hot, and also....On Fire

There is a restaurant in Bangalore that I “absolutely” love to visit: Absolute Barbecue. I went tonight, on a Tuesday, and it was fully packed by 7PM, with people waiting. It is on the 3rd floor of a building with a small-ish elevator that takes you to the entrance, and most people want to take the elevator rather than the stairs. Being in crowded Bangalore, you can be the first person to reach an elevator and still somehow “miss getting on” if you hang back from the crowd. There are just so many people.

They have a musician, apparently almost every night of the week, and tonight it was “Henry”. If I had kept my back to him the entire time, after he announced his name, and heard his sound, I would never have thought “that is an Indian singer”. He sang Eagles songs like he was a member of the original band.

What it is so interesting and amazing to me about “AB” is that there is an actual charcoal grill built into every single table, where your food is placed and grilled. I could be wrong, but I do not think this was an electric set-up. The foyer/hallway which leads in is filled with neat colorful “Weber grills”, and grilling utensils. A whole Barbecuing motif. After your meal, when you leave, your clothes smell like you have been grilling in the backyard on a windy day; you smell like a charcoal briquette.

They bring so much delicious food, you simply cannot imagine: Veg or non-veg, whatever you like. From pineapple, to chicken, to big chunks of cheese, to mushroom caps. The wait staff are truly interested if you are enjoying the food, and want to bring you items you like. The place is semi-big, but the wait staff are really on top of things and offer more, more, more food……. You can get the spiciest of food here, which is very tasty after being grilled.

The 2 things that really keep your attention at this establishment, outside of the delicious food, and wondering about the carbon monoxide situation, are: The waiters are racing around with sharply pointed metal skewers. They are moving fast, tossing them around, and you get used to this situation quickly. A dinner could suddenly turn into a drama at a moment’s notice. And, the back kitchen, where chefs are doing the pre-grilling and other cooking, as seen through a glass, always appears to be completely “on fire”. Quite a mesmerizing view from your “grill table”. I took some pictures (all taken inside), which are not good, as there was so much movement in this busy restaurant, but it does illustrate the views from within this fun (absolutely exciting) restaurant.