Castle for Micro-Breweries – Windmills Craftworks, Whitefield, Bengaluru

December 19, 2014 Naveen Suresh

Windmills Craftworks is one of the unique pubs in the town. I knew about this place based on very positives in online food portals. It was not in my wish list because this pub is very far from a place where I stay. But foodie meetup made me to visit here. I was supposed to reach by 7pm but due to traffic conditions, I wasn’t able to reach on time.

Let me tell you about Windmill Craftworks, this is located in Whitefield next to KTPO (May be some 150 to 200 meters). I would recommend using Maps to locate this place if you are planning to visit. As I said before, this is unique among all the pubs and restaurants in Bangalore.

Pub is located in 5th floor and entrance of the building is very simple. When you get inside, there is one antique bicycle which was parked inside the entrance. This building has so many software companies except 5th floor. I reached here by 7.45pm to the pub reception. Staffs in the pub are so nice and they were redirected me to the table which was set for Foodies.

They have indoor and outdoor seating. Our table was in Outdoor to accommodate 15 people.
Brewery expert was giving some live demonstration about the beer preparation in the Brewery Unit which was behind the Bar Counter. This unit is visible to everyone because of the transparent glass between the units and counter. These units are imported from Germany and Brewing of beer in a standard process as same as they followed in other countries. They have not compromised on quality that’s an added advantage for the micro-brewery lovers. I couldn’t able to listen completely as I was not on time. This demonstration gave me some idea about brewing of Beer.

Ambiance is one of the greatest iconic factors for this place, once you get inside to the dining area. You could see a lot of tables and planned in such a way that to accommodate maximum crowd. They utilized the space properly without wasting. Its huge space surrounded by wooden racks with lot of International collection of Books. One end is bar counter and other side it was a jazz theater. This is absolutely a 5 Star pub.

Service is one of the things I did not impress up to some extent. We asked the person who served to suggest some signature cocktails; somehow he failed in suggesting and said “Everything is signature” in the menu. This factor needs to be corrected to maintain standards in all prospective. Apart from suggesting cocktails everything was good enough.
After a nice demonstration we were able to accommodate on our chairs in the nice chilling weather and could enjoy the panoramic view of EPIP zone (Part of Whitefield). As soon as we sat, the cocktail menu and samples of in-house beers was ready. I tried 5 types of beers and I feel all were good. Golden Ale and Hefeweizen were too good among all.
Coming to the cocktails, I tried some rum based ones which includes Zian Indus and Cigaro. Zian Indus was too good and I enjoyed the aroma and taste of lemon grass. But not sure what exactly was added to make it so tastier. Cigaro was just ok and I did not like much. Ordered Samurai which is vodka based as per one of my foodie friends suggestion, trust me it was so good and I still feel the flavor of it.

We got our menu which contained Starters, Main course and Desserts. It was a menu with signature dishes which includes both Non Veg and Veg.
Starters:
1. Onion Rings – They gave a sufficient quantity. Taste of this was a kind of sweet and salt with more of Bread crumbs. Could have done better.

2. Cocktail Samosas – One of the best starters and tastes great with the tamarind sauce and green chutney. Must try starter

3. Nachos – It’s become a signature dish in almost all the pubs now. This is also one of my favorite dishes. Dressing was perfect and garnished well. I could feel the combination taste of jack fruit and corn. Tastes good.

4. Soya Kheema and matar Seekh Kebabs – This is one of the starters where I felt lack of taste. I don’t recommend this dish.

Main Course:
1. Crispy Veg Cheese Burger with French Fries – One of the highly recommended dishes if you are a burger lover. Best place to have Burger in the town. Tastes heaven!!

2. Veg Lasagne – I just tried a bite and somehow I did not like it but few of my foodie friends were impressed with it.

3. Some Veg Rolls – Tasted a bite and tastes ok with the Salsa dip.

Desserts:
They served four different types of deserts to everyone that includes Vanila Crème Brulee, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Sitaphal cheese cake and Bakewell Tart. I am basically not a pastry or desserts lover, but felt Sitaphal cheese was best among others.