{TriedAndTasted} : Molecular drinks at Barcelos
I am pretty sure that you guys instantly thought of the Black Burger at the mere mention of the fairly new Barcelos outlet in Khan Market. The global South African food chain serves Portuguese cuisine with Peri Peri { a staple Portuguese mix of spices }. After the much talked about Black Burger, which I am yet to try, it recently introduced an array of refreshing and super-pretty molecular drinks that come with a whole lot of drama! I got a chance to try a bunch of them at the introductory tasting session for bloggers.
I would like to call the drinks partially-molecular as I did witness some physical change in the drinks but no textural or chemical change. The key player of the game is liquid nitrogen, that causes the drinks to smoke and bubble while you sip on them. If little things get you excited like me, go have a drink at Barcelos. But it is not just about the smokey shenanigans- the combination of flavours is bang on! You can choose between mocktails and cocktailswhich will cost you somewhere around Rs. 300 and 400 respectively.
For mocktails, I tried the Peach Iced Tea, Kiwi Cooler, and Hey Rosey- all three were thoroughly enjoyed. My favourite was the Kiwi Cooler that had a tangy chaat-masala taste that went wonderfully with the kiwi and sprite. I also tried a cocktail- Peachy Nutty that didn't just taste brilliant, but made me felt better after each sip. The drinks were accompanied by the Vegetarian Platter- an assortment of kebabs and vegetables marinated with peri peri sauces. Everything on the platter was dry and tasted quite similar- it lacked richness. However, I comparatively enjoyed cottage cheese and pineapple bits more.
It is good to see that the outlet chooses to stick by its roots and tries to give the city something new and innovative without Indianizing it too much. However, time will tell how well it is being taken by the Indian eaters. Even though the vegetarian platter was a disappointment for me, I'm keen on giving Barcelos another chance in the food department- but yes, I am swearing by the drinks. Do give them a try!
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