Effingut Brewerkz, Baner, Pune, India – Restaurant Review

Restaurant Name: Effingut Brewerkz
Location: 4, Deron Heights, Next to Ranka Jewellers, Baner, Pune
Buzz: +91-2030162179

Effingut Brewerkz – Craft Beers and Much More

Effingut Brewerkz has been my favorite watering hole for few years now. They serve excellent Craft Beers and don’t stop at that, the food here has been given equal focus and the elaborate menu has good number of lip smacking food items. As a matter of fact, I have been here just for food at times.

Few months ago we heard of the new outlet coming up at the latest F&B destination – Baner. I was really excited and happy seeing the brand grow, and after my recent visit to the Baner I must admit, even though I stay much closer to the Effingut Brewerkz in Koregoan Park, I am biased towards Baner.

It’s a bigger place with very thoughtfully done interiors, lot of elements from growing up days that are seldom seen in today’s world.

I especially liked the higher floor section, as it didn’t have any music, had collection of classic comic books and board games available to have fun time, another great option given in this section is free coffee and WiFi all day long. So, a working day can start with coffee and end with Beer. The Baner menu does include all the favorites from the Koregoan Park branch and in addition focuses on more spicy food options, so you’ll get to eat something new here.

Food Prowl Team landed here on a sunny Saturday afternoon and a wonderful day unfolded with lots of good beers, food and company of people who love to do this all together.

We started with a tasting session of all the beers on the tap that day – Apple Cider, Strawberry Cider, Peach Ginger Melomel, Berliner Weisse, Hefeweizen, Marzen Lager, Extra Special Bitter and Citrus Burst IPA.

Now everyone has his own preference when it comes to beer from lighter fruity notes to more strong bitter ones. But the important thing when it comes to craft beer is the quality of ingredients – grains, hops and yeast, and the time given for natural fermentation without any accelerating agents.

As the proud Owner and Master Brewer at Effingut Brewerkz – Manu Gulati explained us the entire lifecycle of the beer, his passion for serving great beer and how he learns different brewing styles and regional beer nuances spending months one city at a time across Europe, was clearly visible. For instance, Peach Ginger Melomel he sources honey directly from Pilibhit to arrive on desired flavor and quality, same way all his beers are result of lot of effort put in and processes stringently followed. No doubt I cannot return to commercial bottled beer now.

Another good thing they have done at Effingut for people who don’t prefer beer as a drink, they have introduced Beer Cocktails. Beer is taken as base along with few or more alcohols/liquors and different juices and syrups to make the flavors more interesting. A pure beer lover might not appreciate these, but for cocktail lovers these are really nice addition to add variety to cocktail options.

Our Beers kept flowing pitcher after pitcher and we didn’t leave the food behind, as that’s not what one should do at Effingut.

We tried an array of appetizers and almost all tasted fabulous, yet a special mention to the hot favorites of the meal and new to the menu.

Murg Thecha Kebab: I have had appetizers that have a protein (chicken/prawn) done with thecha but none impressed me till I tried this one. A very apt balance of chilly factor in Thecha that doesn’t kill other flavors, succulent chicken and that zing, finally someone has got it right.

Kung Hom Pa: Prepared with prawns marinated in Thai herbs overnight, wrapped in thin wanton sheet and fried. The not so spicy yet flavor packed dish, served with a tangy Thai dip.

3 Cheese Quesadillas: Loaded with cheese inside out and packed with jalapenos, Simple yet tempting.

Italian Cottage Cheese Kebabs: Delicate Paneer Tikkas made in a mélange of an Italian herb paste made it taste very fresh and aromatic.

Maple BBQ Chicken Wings: Well with both maple sauce and BBQ combined this one tasted very sweet to me, but if you like some sweetness you can opt for these. These wings are also served in 4 other flavor options and they might work better – Sriracha Beer Honey, Italian, Teriyaki, Spicy

Bacon Wrapped Prawns & Sausages: It had all the elements of being a star appetizer, but cooking time variation for prawn and bacon makes this one very tricky and our bacon was not cooked crisp and that made it a less tempting option.

Gun Powder Onion Rings: Crisp rings in beer batter tasted delicious with the garlic curd dip, the gun powder could have been more generously used to make its taste prominent.

We also had appetizers that have been favorites for long Smoked Red Chilly Chicken, Nachos, Beer batter Chicken.

Chicken Lollipops and all time winner Buffalo Chicken Strips.

After so many appetizers, we kept mains limited to few options.

Effzza is a Pizza made Effingut way, a very thin layer of base wrapped around the cheese and preferred topping in the center. We had the Chicken Steak Effzza and Paneer Effzza. 

There is Pork Effzza option as well  with Bacon and Sausage, looks like a wheel that will take your taste buds for a spin.

Thai Chilli Rice: Freshly flavored rice preparation with dominance of lemon grass, kaffir lime and Thai herbs, very fragrant and light hearty option.

Cheese Makhni: We all have had Paneer Makhni / Makhanwala a lot but when Paneer is replaced with cheese cubes, it just kicks Paneer out of the park. Way better, this will be my choice when I am eating Veg here next.

Dhania Murg: A not so creamy green coriander curry, nice mild flavor of coriander went very well with succulent chicken.

Mutton Biryani: Perfectly cooked mutton has become a rarity these days, and to complete a meal on a perfect note thankfully, this was a very well done Biryani, not overtly spicy or greasy.

With all this food and beer flowing all the way, we spent hours having splendid time together. To complete the meal with a cherry on top we had the Sizzling Brownie that is flambéed on the table to add fun and flavor.

Staying true to its beer Beermisu is another dessert that contains beer as an ingredient along with coffee soaked sponge a variation of Tiramisu, a mighty dessert to end the fabulous meal.

Effingut Brewerkz, Baner, Pune, India | Food Prowl – The Hunger Stories