Veda Pt 2 - Nothing Gold Can Stay
Last week my friend and I met up to catch-up and decided to re-visit Veda for their amazing happy hour. We snagged two seats at the bar, where the very friendly bartender promptly handed us the happy hour menu. Glancing through it, it became apparent that Veda had revamped their happy hour menu. I can't say I was too surprised. If you recall from my first post on Veda, I was pretty shocked at the quality and quantity of food we received for the money we paid. I honestly had no idea how they were making money.
Well it turns out they probably weren't, because more than a few of the bigger items were cut in this new iteration and it seems like portion size took a hit across the board. That being said, Veda happy hour is still a great deal with stellar drink specials and a delicious and varied menu.
My friend let me take lead on ordering, so I decided to sample some of the new additions to their menu.
Cheese is a weakness of mine, and paneer is no exception to that so we had to try the Tandoori Grilled Salad. I was also intrigued by the addition of pineapple. The combination of all the ingredients was tasty, however it was literally 2 bites of food. Would probably not re-order this one, though glad to have tried it.
We also sampled the Calcutta Pork Ribs and the Samosa Chaat. The Calcutta Pork Ribs come three to an order and are covered with a sweet and tangy glaze. The ribs are cooked well, aren't overly sweet, and are definitely a solid order. The clear winner for me this time was the Samosa Chaat. I couldn't tell you everything that was in it, but the crunchy pieces plus all the other spices and textures were super great together and very addicting to eat. I definitely wished I either had a bigger portion or didn't have to share this one.
For our second drink, we switched from beer to their happy hour cocktails. The cocktail list is very fun here; it appears that they're all riffs on classics with Indian themed names. My friend got the Old Fashioned Gabbar and I got the Laila.
Overall, the cocktails are extremely well constructed and intricate for happy hour. Definitely worth their full price and an absolute steal at happy hour prices. My friend's old fashioned came with the most adorable tiny clothespin I had ever seen. I really wanted to steal it, but felt bad, and also am trying to cut down on my useless trinket collection. My own cocktail was on the sweeter side, but still relatively well balanced. There was a cool ombre effect with some sort of float, and the dried lime was also a great touch.
TL;DR - RIP Chicken Murimuri Rolls; hello Samosa Chaat. Come for a wallet and stomach friendly happy hour.
