Absolute Barbeque -- Restuarant Review

After a long time, we were doing a team lunch and the venue chosen was Absolute Barbeque. Its quite popular and everyone knows about it , apparently, but I was clueless. I thought it would be similar to Barbeque Nation in concept and so was a willing recipient of the treat.

First, the location, it is near the Park Hotel near Innovative Multiplex, Marathahalli. Its on the 3rd

Absolute Barbeque

Floor. We were having our treat on Friday and so the place was packed. It took me a while to find our group (Yes, I was late). They had already started on the starters by the time I joined.

Image Courtesy: www.timescity.com 

When I joined I was asked if I was vegetarian or Non-vegetarian and when I said I was vegetarian, I was served a pineapple slice. The taste was a bit strong for me but I was unable to place it. A colleague mentioned that it was cinnamon. The pineapple, shorn of its external coverings, looked like 'Shawarma' - a non-vegetarian dish. (It took me the entire lunch to figure out the name of the non-vegetarian dish!) The other starters were the staples: Mushroom, Paneer, Corn etc. Then, I noticed water melon, some mixed vegetables including the big chilli (used for chilli bajjis). Apart from this, I was served crispy masala corn that I enjoyed quite a bit and a potato vada which was quite spicy. 

There was an option to choose an item and watch it being grilled - they called it the Wish Grill or Exotic grill. I was not in a mood to experiment - also, broccoli was one of the options and so I gave that a pass. I think the Non-Vegetarians had some very different options for the Exotic Grill - Rabbit, Quail, or Emu. I remembered to make a note to inform the Arien. 

The main course was a number of gravies, steamed rice, and a veg Dum Biriyani on the vegetarian side. I noticed that the staples were there in the non-vegetarian side. I had rotis and decided to get started on the desserts. The dessert section had a number of goodies: Phirni, Gulab Jamoon, Apple pudding, chocolate pastry, Italian pudding or mousse, and of course the Wish Ice-cream - the flavors chosen were bent, and beaten into submission and served as three scoops by the server. I did not try that either. I opted for the Gulab Jamoon, the chocolate pastry, and the Italian thingie.  

Whenever we have team lunches, we usually split up into two groups - the veg and the non veg groups. So, I do not have much of an idea on the non-veg starters.

Now, to the real question: How does this restaurant compare with BBN? Well, obviously they are quite similar but this place has certain exotic options for non-vegetarians. BBN has the Kulfi and they have the Wish Ice-cream. BBN has a decent number of different vegetarian starters and so has ABS2 though I liked the BBN's options better. Price-wise BBN is priced slightly less than ABS2, at least the one at Banaswadi. Ambience was good.

Rating: ***1/2