The iconic Mad House Grill not only boasts of being the oldest steak house in Pune dishing out delectable meats, it is equally popular amongst the vegetarians for the sheer variety of dishes.
Setup like a typical American grill and diner, Mad House Grill is bifurcated into two seating options – an alfresco area for large groups and a more homely AC seating inside for couples or families. Warm and welcoming ambiance with soft lighting instantly puts you at ease.
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| Mad House Grill |
Mad House Grill hosted a wonderful Christmas dinner in collaboration with Moonshine Meadery, India’s and Asia’s first Meadery, pairing some of their popular and experimental meads with classic dishes from Mad House.
Moonshine Meads
Meads are traditionally made by fermenting honey with various fruits and spices and is the world’s oldest alcoholic beverage.
The Traditional Mead is all about fermenting honey, honey and honey. Made using ajwain honey, orange blossom honey and wildflower honey, this mead is their signature mead.
The Apple Cyder, along with the Traditional Mead, is their best-selling bottled mead. Personally not its biggest fan, though.
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| Apple Cyder |
Apart from the staple bottled meads, we also were offered some of their experimental meads from the Moonshine Labs.
The Guava Chili had a lovely hit of the chili going down the throat while the flavor of the fruit was all-pervasive. The Smoked Mead was smoked in a traditional way with bacon flavor which lifted the drink to another level altogether. The Salted Kokum was another hit at the table. The tartness of kokum and the hint of ginger was just the right drink for the winters.
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| Guava Chili |
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| Salted Kokum |
And finally we laid our hands on the Christmas special mead – the Christmas Apple Pie Mead. Our first pour was from the tap and it wasn’t too impressive, to be honest. The temperature at which it was poured and served, did not let the flavors of the apple pie shine through so the cinnamon felt all-too overpowering. On suggestion from the Moonshine guy, Saneet – we tried the bottled version which was just perfect. Served at a slightly higher temperature, the drink allowed all the flavors to play on your tongue. An absolute winner, this.
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| Christmas Apple Pie Mead |
Mad House Grill
Coming to the food, we were served some of their classic dishes that paired well with the meads. It was, after all, a pairing dinner. 😊
The Hummus and Pita Bread is an extremely popular dish at MHG. The hummus was aptly creamy and the pita bread was soft enough to be used to wipe the plate clean. It was a perfect pair with the Moonshine Apple Cyder. The tartness of the Cyder complemented the creaminess of the hummus to attain a perfect balance.
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| Hummus and Pita Bread with Moonshine Apple Cyder |
The Veg Platter had a strong cheesy and earthy overtone to it and paired very well with the Traditional Mead, while the Non Veg Platter, full of seafood and meat, was complemented by the experimental Salted Kokum Mead as well as the season special Christmas Apple Pie Mead. The tartness of both meads helped cut through the richness of the meats.
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| Veg Platter with Traditional Mead |
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| Non Veg Platter with Salted Kokum Mead |
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| Non Veg Platter with Christmas Apple Pie Mead |
In mains, we tried the Steak in Wasabi and Kikkoman Soy. On personal request, the buff steak was served medium done instead of the typical medium-rare as I was not sure of my appetite for undercooked meats. 😊
The wasabi sauce used was as potent as possible so just a small squiggle was sufficient to experience explosions in your mouth [and nasal cavity too]. The pungent heat of the wasabi aided the succulent piece of steak cooked to perfection. A side of silken smooth mashed potatoes provided some much-needed relief. Paired with this was the Coffee Mead which was another winner in my opinion. The richness of the meat was supplemented by the acidic texture of the coffee in the mead.
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| Steak in Wasabi and Kikkoman Soy with Coffee Mead |
The food at the iconic Mad House Grill is nothing short of chaotic brilliance and the pairing with Moonshine Meads lends a wonderful order to the chaos.
Disclaimer:
I was invited for a complimentary event. This blog is a narrative of my experience at the event. These are my views that I have expressed in the blog. Others are most welcome to agree or disagree with the same.
The blog is not personally or commercially influenced. I have not lifted, copied or plagiarized it from any source either. However, I have done my due diligence via publicly available information on the internet and as shared by the client/PR agency.
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