Firewater – Kitchen and Bar, is the newest restaurant to open up at Phoenix Towers in Hi-tech city. The same building already houses Starbucks, Cibo House, Hello Curry, and Habanero. Firewater is a multi-cuisine restaurant with a rather large and ambitious menu that includes disparate dishes like Ragi Sangati, Lal Mas, Fish n Chips, Steaks, and Noodles. I was invited for a tasting event last week.
The moment you walk into the restaurant it becomes amply clear that a lot of attention has been paid to the décor of the restaurant. There are many interesting elements spread around the floor for you to soak in – like the guitar that can double up as a bottle holder, or the display with animation of burning logs. There are multiple private dining areas of varying capacity, which offer a view of the city beneath you.
We sampled a large number of starters, but the one that really stood out was the Tawa fish, which had a crispy coating with a hint of heat and loads of flavour. Mirch Jhinga was the other dish from the Indian kitchen that I relished. Among the continental starters, Pesto Grilled Fish and Mustard Grill Chicken were the ones deserving a mention. The first couple of vegetarian starters – Corn Kernel and a Paneer preparation – were disappointing. However, the Mushroom Moti Kebab – a preparation of cheese stuffed mushrooms with a light crust. The final veg starter – Jalapeno Poppers – lacked any punch and could have easily been passed off as simple Cheese Poppers.
We started off our main course with Murgh Kandahari, Nizami Handi, Daal Tadka, and Naans. I’m not a big fan of Nizami Handi, and Firewater didn’t do much to change my opinion. I’m also not a big fan of Palak Paneer and similar dishes, so unsurprisingly the Methi Mutton wasn’t very appealing to my palate. Murgh Kandahari – a preparation with soft, shredded chicken in a white gravy with brown onions – was the only gravy that I really enjoyed. I also sampled a little bit of the Chicken Pulao, but the rice was too dry for my liking. There were also a couple of continental dishes on offer – Penne Alfredo and Chicken Risotto. Neither of them were up to the mark.
To finish off a grand meal I had Panacotta, Apple Pie and No Bake Mango Cheese Cake. The flavour of the Mango was a bit intense, but the Cheese Cake was perfectly serviceable. The Apple Pie was inconsistently cooked. Panacotta was the real star among the desserts. Soft, and creamy with a hint of tanginess coming from the blueberry topping.
The bar license is yet to come through, but Firewater had obtained a one day permit for our tasting session. I ordered a number of drinks through the night, including Long Island Iced Tea and Sangria. The inexperience of the bar tender was apparent as both the connotations left me a bit disappointed. The Long Island Iced had a bit too much of liquor due to which the flavour of the tea got submerged, while Sangria hadn’t been steeped for more than a few minutes.
The food served through the night varied from brilliant to average. There were some dishes which were fabulous, but there were a few which were entirely underwhelming. However, once thing that was consistently good through the night was the service. Firewater offers good ambiance, and potentially great good, at a reasonable price, in a prime location. I’m sure it’s going to do great business. I just hope to see it work on making sure that every dish that’s served to the customer is brilliant. It might be a good idea to trim the menu to weed out the weak spots.
