The Brewhouse – Not just another microbrewery

Last year could just as well be dedicated to beer and to developing a taste for fermented barley. For most of our life, the insipid, piss-like taste of beer kept us from the drink, but our frequent trips with friends to the many microbreweries in Gurgaon left us with a more discerning palate.

And so, we took it a step ahead, trying out the many types of brews and brands that flood the great out-there, and we can happily say we’ve got our favourite brands in place. This made me (Mia) so ecstatic, it feels like I’ve arrived in life, ready to shout from the rooftops, ‘I love lager.’

Our go-to favourites – Dark beer and Indian pale ale

So, one of the breweries we landed up last year (and time and again after our visit) was The Brewhouse at the Fortune Select Excalibur on Sohna Road in Gurgaon. The Brewhouse offers a traditional sports bar ambience to boot, replete with faux leather couches and sports paraphernalia, large televisions screening a game, with a cool, low-light atmosphere.

The beer garden

The other more interesting section is a beer garden, set up in a glass paneled area that lets in ample skylight. The air-conditioned area looks lush with a lot of hanging plants, large shells that have potted plants and a breezy setup. However, what doesn’t work for us is the mixing of this semi-natural look muddled with industrial furniture and kitschy pop art. With cane chairs and tables, that give a rather lazy appeal, minimalist bar stools sit next to a table with a ‘desi’ truck design. Wut?

Funky potted plants

Kitschy decor

If it’s a pleasant day, sit outside. It has a charm of its own. The servers first get a sampling array of four brews that are made in-house – Weizen, Pilsner, IPA Indian pale ale and Dark beer. We took our time here, swirling the liquid around to better understand what our taste buds demand from us, and in due time, Myraa opted for the Indian pale ale (INR 495 for a lt), while, surprise, surprise, I opted for dark beer. The truth about dark beer or most well-made lager is that I love the depth in its flavours. Even if it is chilled, the ebony drink has a certain mystery and warmth associated with it. As a young adult, we would often hear very lofty words being attributed to alcohol and its many kinds, but the minute we started to taste them ourselves, through trial and error, we’ve begun to truly understand that these aren’t mere words. The fruity notes in some variants are indeed telling.

The house brewed beauties

While we sipped our beer,and yapped to our heart’s glory, the servers got us some munchies. And what’s best about The Brewhouse, there’s a variety of cuisines and dishes to choose from. With Gurgaon having quite the global appeal, pubs and restaurants take meticulous care to serve to every conceivable type of guest.

The table is set :)

We opted for Spicy masala peanuts (INR 199), Mexican Nacho with Salsa & Wasabi dip (INR 249) and Veggie crudités with lebnehdip (INR 249). Although, the latter is not a traditional choice for an accompaniment with a beer, crudités and dip is a lovely option to go for on a hot summer day. Cheese popcorn with peri peri (INR 249) and Nachos are delicious enough to even keep your kids engaged while you sip on your lager.

After enjoying our munchies, we indulged in Wasabi chicken rosti with garlic bread (INR 799) and Spicy glass noodles & paneer tikka (INR 699). Both, part of chef’s special ‘fusion meals’ on the menu, were happy surprises as the rosti was just enough crunchy, the paneer tikka ‘burnt’ just right and the chicken absolutely succulent.

Chicken rosti and paneer tikka

Beer battered fish

With me visiting Myraa in Gurgaon ever so often, we know The Brewhouse is one of our favourite hangout spots in town, be it with friends or family. And though we started our tipsy tales with vodka, once upon a time, now we prefer to nurse a beer after a hard day at work. We guess, this is what we call “adulting”.

Looking back at my ‘First Safari’

I’ve {Mia} always been an away-from-the-wild girl, brought up in the city and stayed pretty much there. Put me out in the jungle, or even the Hunger Games for that matter, and I’d be the first one shredded alive. I have zero survival skills, apart from knowing how to swim in standing water. So, when the prospect of “enjoying” my first safari came up, in March this year, I was beyond excited.

Our ride in the jungle

The safari started in the afternoon itself, since every jeep had to make its way to base by 6 in the evening. The timings get stretched by half an hour during summer, but it was still pretty cold in March. Myraa and I were kicking ourselves for not carrying any clothes that would qualify as warm.

The stunning landscape

No sooner did we enter the jungle, and our driver was explaining the terrain and relating stories, two baby elephants suddenly crossed our paths. This was not on plain ground, and on an incline, we braked hard. We let out a collective gasp. No sooner did they rumble on to the path, did they hurry on to the river bed. Who knew that elephants could really be so fast? Our driver said this was a lucky sign, getting to see something the minute we’re in the park, but I scoffed at him. Myraa had spotted a tiger on one of her safaris before, but I hadn’t (I did mention this was my first safari, didn’t I?). Though I secretly wished for a lucky sighting, the pessimist in me knew it would all come to nothing.

We reached a point where we came across a herd of elephants crossing the narrow path ahead of us, and the last one to cross was the male. Our driver, despite my protest, revved the engine and tried to goad the elephant to turn around. Well, let’s just say it turned around all right, but that was not all. No matter however much of Animal Planet and Discovery channel you watch, witnessing a fully grown Indian tusker charge at you while trumpeting can be ‘shit-in-your-pants’ scary. Not a wonderful sight. Yes, Myraa and the driver had a good laugh at my behest, but what could I do? I’m pretty much like (or worse than) Courage, the Cowardly Dog!

So much natural beauty; a visual treat!

After a while, post the excitement of the elephant charge, we ambled on, and I couldn’t help but admire the many shades of earthy green and subdued browns, the different types of plants and wildflowers (I love wildflowers), while the massive ant hills were quite interesting. One could only imagine the minuscule tunnels bored into them and the intricate architecture the ants/ termites had created.

A bumpy ride in the gypsy was quite incredible too, although the intense jostling did leave me sore in some places for a few days. As instructed by our driver, there are certain designated areas where we can leave the jeep, otherwise, not even one footprint must be left anywhere. We drove by monkeys and langurs, peacocks in their splendour and peahens running about, kingfishers and wild boar, pheasants and vultures, barking deer and the wonderfully vibrant jungle fowl.

Making our way through the Saal trees

The region was filled with Saal trees, and courtesy our chatty driver we now know that each tree is known to cost well over five lakh rupees, and are mostly used to make railway sleepers. Corbett National Park consists of largely different kinds of terrain, but for me, I loved the Savannah the best, the portion near what the drivers and guides call – the Tapu (island).

View from the Tapu :)

Whenever we drove through the savannah, I just had to get up in the jeep, looking over the vast expanse of golden yellow, long thin strips of grass that were perfect to shelter any big cat, stare at the large herd of deer and elephants, while wait impatiently to get near to the reservoir… all the while holding on to the rod for dear life.

Hundreds of deer, in the wild!

In the evening, almost fifteen minutes before the evening safari was to come to an end, our driver took us down a path that already had one gypsy parked to the side. Everyone in that car immediately told us to shush from a mile away. Our driver eased up beside them, and soon, almost ten heads were busy craning over to the side of the hill. The photographers in the other jeep, with their bombastic lenses, could pretty much see the tigress, and one even showed me the tip of her ear peeking above the stone. But sans the lens… nothing!

The majestic beauty :)

Soon a third gypsy came up behind us, loaded with more over-enthusiastic photographers, and within the next minute, the tigress cat-walked down the side of the hill, crossed our path (barely a jeep’s distance away), stopped across the other side for a moment (enough for the cameras) and soon vanished into the jungle.

It was a “proper sighting” on my very first safari, not one of those where one gets to see the tip of the tail or a bit of the ear. It was indeed beginner’s luck for me :)

Cinnamon Bey Beruwala, Sri Lanka

Well, if you have spent enough time with us, you’d know Myraa rang in the last New Year with family, and extended family in Sri Lanka – a week in the land of picture-perfect landscapes, pristine beaches and delicious local food. Looking at vacation pictures, she was too tempted to share her favourite stay experience from the trip – 2 nights/ 3 days at Cinnamon Bey Beruwala.

The view that welcomed us to the resort

After a blissful few days in Kandy, we headed to Beruwala (10-minute ride from Bentota) for some sun, sand and sea. We were welcomed by colourful summer mocktails and a cheerful staff who made the entire process of unloading and checking-in a breeze for us, even though we were a bunch of 16 (across age-groups, including kids from 5 to 12 years).

Little Saigon – A Slice of Vietnam

We are always on the lookout for crazy places to try out, we always have our tastebuds zinging to try new and different experiences. So when Mia stumbled upon a place called Little Saigon, she knew we had to get there.

Like all things confusing in Hauz Khas, we landed at the wrong address till we realized that Little Saigon was at E Block market and not at the village. A tiny establishment, our Uber overshot it, but we got there, albeit way past lunch time. Although we had our reservation made, the lovely lady on the phone assured us they were waiting. How nice!

Turns out, she’s Hana Ho, a master chef from Vietnam, who had been working in the top hotels in the country, Marriott and Taj. She was part of the team at Taj Palace, overseeing their restaurant Blue Ginger, that closed to give way to Spicy Duck, the newest Chinese restaurant at the property that we are yet to try. Hana decided to set up an eatery in Delhi, and introduce the city to the true flavours of her country.

Our travel escapades through 2016!

We know we are late on this one, and it only struck us during our recent Corbett trip {when we were enjoying our cup of Nescafe Cappuccino (new found love) sitting on a machan, the jungle ahead of us (as far as we would see) and discussing upcoming travel plans}. We are usually super excited (especially Myraa) when a new year begins, taking a stock of every place we’ve have been this year and the last, looking and re-looking at travel pictures and discussing travel tales, but this year was different.

We are guilty of missing in action for a few months now, because the latter half of 2016 was crazy – work-wise and otherwise. Between traveling, juggling between Delhi & Mumbai, new projects, training teams and changing jobs, we could barely keep pace. But like Myraa says, each day is a new beginning, a new chance, so we decided to give you a download on our travel escapes in 2016, because better late than never, right?

The stunning sunset at Juhu Beach, Mumbai

The year started with a trip to Jaipur for the Jaipur Literature Festival in January. Making use of the long Republic Day weekend, we decided to drive with a bunch of school friends. Our first time to the world’s largest free literary festival, we were in love with the pink city, all over again.

February was two consecutive trips to Goa and Chandigarh. Friends getting hitched was just another excuse for us to get away from the city. We fell in love with Cidade de resort in Goa (more on that in another post) and the Chandigarh trip was special because we discovered our all-new-fave Café Gusto.