Beer hug!

Manika Ahuja

The Great Bear today made a spirited entry into City Beautiful when it opened its first outlet at Chandigarh, Sector 26. The latest outlet offers various brands of beer — the Golden Ale, Weiss (wheat), German Bock and brewer’s special, with each having a distinct taste of its own to cater to personal preferences.

Tasty treat

Who would mind some sumptuous appetisers to go with the beer? Vegetarian snacks include tacos, falafel, cheddar bites, spinach and cheese fatayer. While Charmoula tikka, lamb, chicken kibbeh, panko chicken tenders and mustard prawns are the options for non-vegetarians.

Main course

One has the option of gorging on a variety of cuisines. Continental, Mediterranean, Italian and Indian are some of the cuisines offered here. The food items in the menu range from Gnocchi, Chicken veracruz, Okra pepper fry and Allepey fish curry.

Nice ambience

Architect Arun Loomba has designed the place to give it the appearance of a large-scale beer production warehouse. The table tops are fitted over old style sewing machine tops. Outdoors a green wall on both the sides lights up the whole space. Amritanshu, managing director, says, “We wanted the city to have a place where one could relax. Good food and great beer make for an interesting combination.”

Sweet nothings

In the dessert section, on offer are baked cheese cake, choco chip cookie with vanilla ice-cream and of course, our very own gulab jamun. So, what is the story behind the quirky name? General manager Deb Dip Chatterjee replies, “The name The Great Bear makes one picture a giant jolly fellow who loves to have fun and holds his beer close to his heart.” Amritanshu adds, “The name gels with my belief that life is to be lived and enjoyed with good food and great beer.”

(The price for meals for two is Rs 1,600 with a round of beer)