The aroma of Middle-East in India: This is why Independence Brewing Company in Versova is more than their beverages!

Favoured for their drinks, Independence Brewing Company, which has two outlets in Mumbai; Powai and Versova extends a much delectable and near-to-authentic Middle-Eastern cuisines.

The scarce secluded lanes of Versova like Off JP Road have some remarkable eating options that have been sketched out specifically keeping in mind the preferences for some contemporary dining spaces and the perfect example here is the Independence Brewing Company, a Brasserie and Craftbar serving one of the best Middle Eastern cuisines, with a special focus on Lebanese, Italian and even Mexican delights.

Dipped in the hue of typical English bars, IBC houses modern-styled long wooden chairs for elevated tables that fall right after the entrance to the indoor seating area and a few modishly designed sofas on the left attached to the wall where we loved finding our safe space. A mix of blue, green and yellow in chairs' seats with the wooden theme, a craft bar made for our out-and-out place to dine but what also seized our eyes were the outdoor seating area with a wooden-seating swing, a long row of seating areas and adequate amount of light one requires for the evening.

East or West, the food here is the best!

As pull-back as the above sentence might have sounded to you, the more majestic and worth having is the food at IBC. To begin with, the Harissa Chicken Skewer was not just with the perfect spices but also the texture making it chewy to the minimum and tender to the maximum. The right amount of tzatziki dip over the skewers fell well to have it in one go. Another major ecstasy for us was the Scallion Quesadilla, a Mexican breakfast dish that came dressed in Monterey Jack to appeal to our taste buds. But what also turned out great were the complimentary add-ons; the Mexican salsa and citrus sour cream.

Much to our content, the pleasant offerings did not stop here as we ordered Harissa Spiced Cottage Cheese-Pide; which came as Cheese pide in Harissa sauce with the precise amount of spice we needed. However, moving on from the cuisine, we wondered how would it be to also endeavour the Indian essence at this eatery and ordered the Turkish-origin delicacy, Zhoug Chicken Kabab. To our surprise, IBC did not let us down even in this Zhoug-sauce Kababs that were much tender yet hard for the Kababs - making it of an ideal taste. If you think why gulping these was easy; the answer will lie in their drinks but for us, those were simple mocktails - Virgin Grapefruit Cobbler and Virgin Mojito with watermelon essence!

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Aiming to get the essence of Middle-Eastern taste again, we, then, called for Harissa Chicken Breast for which two breasts served in the Harissa sauce came our way. No doubt, the legitimacy of the sauce was maintained with the right amount of thickness to devour the large two. Being specific to Italian, we tried to grasp the taste of thin-crust and thick-filling toppings pizza, a.k.a. Pizza Primavera or the traditional Pizza from Italy, which is short-baked with mushrooms, broccoli, baby corn, oregano and bell peppers in pesto sauce and soothed our vegetarian pizza cravings. Thirdly, it was the Mujaddara & Moussk A Pilaf which awestruck us with its unique appearance of Pilaf or the rice dish served in the shape of a bowl mixed with Mujaddara or the Lebanese lentil with the Mousska or eggplants dish attached to it. Much like its traditional Lebanese appearance, it tasted close to authentic and the little spice with the amalgamation of the flavours turned out to be gratifying for us.

All this while, the support system, as I would like to call it, was the Caeser Chicken Salad, a flawless combination of romaine lettuce, croutons, and thin-cut chicken pieces. This green salad was one of the marvellous treats in our meal for sure and we loved every bit of it. We called it our day at IBC with their popular Baklava and Hazelnut Mousse. Contrary to our expectations, both the desserts did not please us by their appearance but surely turned out to be much more fulfilling to the depth of our souls.

Along with ensuring that the food meets their customers rights, IBC at their Versova outlet makes certain a good discussion with the companions amid the little beaming lights indoors while having restful and private time amid the mild darkness in the outdoor area. Even though assembled in a small space, IBC surely pays off the calming evenings, as it did for us while also maintaining the space quite well. In a nutshell, IBC stands as one of the best food escapes amid the otherwise cluttered restaurants in the lanes of Versova.

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