Modern-day banquets come alive at Gladia

Gladia, one of the newest breweries to line up on Sarjapur Road, has a refreshing menu that adds to the glamour of its interiors

By now, most of us would have oohed and aahed at the drone shots of Gladia in all its Romanesque glory, and up close, it is quite stunning with its wide double doors that open into a cavernous interior while statues in flowing robes loom overhead.

Stone pillars and lit arches, silken pennants and mottos inscribed on the walls set the stage for an epicurean feast. An indoor fountain and majestic stone lion are the cynosure of this space, and the clever lighting sets the scene for a modern day banquet, which with a capacity to seat 700, it pretty much does.

Purists could argue the decor and design conflict at some points, but honestly, a couple of drinks down and everyone is more Don Quixote than Sir Galahad.

At Gladia, one almost expects the drinks to arrive in bronze goblets, but thankfully they do not or you would miss the visual delight they present. On the bar menu, it is not just word play that wins with offerings such as Festum, Octavia and of course, Romulus. The Maximus Elixer, for instance, is a concoction of lime, watermelon and peanut butter in a base of white rum, while the Augustus is a whiskey-based winner with bergamot honey, plum ratafia and cucumber tea.

Gladia offers six in-house brews with amusing names such as Levendrix and Hopus Maximus that bring to mind warring Gauls and their tribe.

The food menu is a straight forward listing of their dishes because truth be told, titling each serving from different corners of the globe would have rendered it tiresome. As befits any Roman bill of fare, there is a range of pizzas, pastas and sourdough bruschettas to choose from, and much like every watering hole in the city, one can indulge in pub grub, sushi, Continental, Indian (North and South), and Chinese cuisines.