Independence Brewing Company, Mundhwa, Pune – New Menu Launch

Restaurant Name: Independence Brewing Company
Address: 79/1, Zero One Complex, Pingale Vasti, Near Passport Seva Kendra, Mundhwa, Pune, Maharashtra 411036, India.
Buzz: +91-88881-68886

New Menu Launch – It just keeps getting better and better each time!

“Independence Brewing Company” has always been a preferred brewery in Pune and their beers have been consistently good and have cover complete spectrum. On the food front they have come a long way from the initial menu that they opened with 4 years back, it has been revamped and updated to be at par with the beer offerings, over last few months Independence Brewing Company kept trying new dishes as Chef’s special menus, and the best ones have made the cut to the new bigger better menu. We recently tried the dishes from the new menu and it is pretty impressive.

The “Food Prowl” Team was invited for a food tasting of the new menu launched.

Let’s start with the most unusual bar snack you would hear of, or would never think of – Gunpowder Button Idlis, yes idlis as chakhna, and it turned out to be fantastic. Brilliant creamy texture, right amount of ghee and gunpowder and tempering made it perfect.

The array of new starters includes a profound version of Chicken and Prawn Dumplings in Sichuan Chilli Oil, big dumplings served in a bowl of spicy chilli oil, loads of flavors with nicely stuffed delicate dumplings.

For all those who are hesitant of ordering chicken liver, this is the place to let go of the inhibition, they make it so well, Stir Fried Chicken Liver in Green Masala, the masala balances the flavors and it is served with garlic bread having the liver with garlic bread takes care of the texture part, the liver doesn’t become overwhelming.

Bohri Style Smoked Mutton Kheema Samosas, every element of these samosas is perfect, a secret home recipe that has been shared with IBC and they have made into a star dish. The crust was crisp and not oozing any access oil, the kheema was very flavorful and there was no access juice flowing out of the samosa, all together the most perfect non-veg samosa.

Dry rub Cajun Spice Wings and Masala Fry Calamari that were made very well, the calamari had good spice level, and wings were different from the usual sauce tossed ones.

Pulled Pork Tacos, soft shell tacos with toothsome pork filling, only gripe was the taco was layered with salsa and pork that made the tacos wet, so if not consumed fast these might not retain the texture for long.

Quinoa Salad, it had lot of colors, textures and natural flavor elements like almonds, berries, pomegranate and bell peppers. This is recommended for calorie watchers.

Achari Paneer Sandwich, while the achari flavors were good, it needed less of it and a much thicker bread to absorb the masala, the slices while grilling got flattened completely.

Grilled Fish Burger that came along had 3 layers of fish fillets, they use Bhetki instead on Basa which is appreciable. It needed much more salsa and probably some mustard to have a saucier burger.

From the fusion fare we moved towards more traditional Italian fare, and in came a very thin crust pizza topped with four contrasting cheeses including blue cheese, this was a really good Four Cheese Pizza.

Spaghetti Carbonara Pasta was also yummy, with enough bacon put into it, it couldn’t have gone wrong.

For mains we had four dishes and there were two stars in them, the Independence Butter Chicken – a creamy not ‘oh damn so sweet’ curry with boneless medium sized chicken pieces. In Pune we have only a very few decent butter chicken options, this would be in top few for me, the consistency and texture of the curry was splendidly royal and the flavors not deviating from the standards much.

The second star was Soy Chilli Pork Chops, cooked so flawlessly the meat falling of the bone, good meat to fat ratio, you only got fat when you wanted, it was not there is every single bite, and the mouthful meat from ribs had a very mature flavor, it seemed it has been in that sauce for long hours, as the flavors had impregnated throughout the chops.

Lamb Stew served with mash and garlic bread, the warm stew also carried flavor depth from herbs.

Nasi Goreng, while there was nothing seriously lacking in the dish, it could have been a tad better. It would do well if it had the seafood aroma lacing the rice. We shared the feedback with chef and he has already made changes to the dish.

While we had all this food and the favorite Ixcacao beer that is the most mouthful full bodied stout that is on regular tap in Pune, we also tried new cocktails.

The Beetroot Project was the most unusual one with spicy sauces added to it along with kokum and served with torched Bacon.

Ouzo Effect made with Jim Beam bourbon and sambuca in addition to fruit flavors it had star anise in it that extended a beautiful after taste. Of the mocktails the Pino-Co was impressive, very tropical flavors and coconut adding to it.

Independence Brewing Company not only wins in the department of food and alcohol, but desserts are truly sinful. Be it the Chocolate Souffle that has always been there and should be, it looks like a lava cake, but it is not, light airy texture of the warm freshly baked dessert is heavenly.

Newly they have added Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Tart to the menu, a crumbly buttery tart with layers of salted caramel and not so sweet dark chocolate is magical, recommended to pair it with a dark beer and it will double the magic, chocolate and beer together feel like best pals.
Coffee Coconut Pudding is nostalgic, it has flavors of coffee and coconut contrasting each other in a way that it is sure to take you down the memory lane, pretty good one.

Independence Brewing Company with its impressive beers, menu catering to everyone’s preferences and these top notch desserts, checks all the boxes to be a foodie’s watering hole.

Special Thanks to Husein Upletawala for inviting and hosting us.