A huge lower lip covering the upper lip with an even huger chin. Eyes pressed down by the heavy forehead. Stubble. And to top it all, of course, the Cowboy Hat and a neckerchief. A life-size caricature of John Wayne(an Oscar winning American film actor who was famous for his individualistic masculinity and is considered as an enduring American icon) that greets you as you climb half way up to the “Miller’s 46” on Miller’s Road, Vasanthanagar (just off Cunningham Road).
Miller’s 46 is a specialty restaurant for American food with an all wooden “wild – wild – west” ambience with low lightings that will surely flash scenes from ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ at the back of your head. The waiters also dress like the cowboys but are without hats (or probably they would have just taken off their hats inside the premises. J). The menu lists a good variety of pastas, steaks, breads, sandwiches, burgers, desserts, beverages and liquors. The menu card itself is a piece of commendable art that looks like half swing door mounted on a sheet of wood. The one easily noticeable thing there is the showcase for displaying the few interesting items for sale like a beer barrel shaped ash tray, mugs and some other wooden showpieces.
I took an extra moment to return the menu card even after placing my order for a Chicken Stroganoff to read the writings about the theme of the restaurant and some history about Miller (the person after whom the name is kept) and how he made beef steak famous all over America. The accuracy of the information might be debatable but it surely did make an interesting piece of reading.
The service was fast enough and soon the table was full of all sorts of smoking shades of dark brown hot meats. A choice could be made on how much the steak should be done - rare, medium or overdone. And if that’s also not enough, then there might be another question waiting as to which sauce the steak should be done in - wine, barbeque sauce, pepper sauce, ginger-garlic sauce, etc. My stroganoff and all other steaks got served on a hot metal plate that was cast out in the shape of a cow. Nothing to be amazed of… but, sure feels good to see the details are taken care of to maintain the theme of the place. Fully cooked, soft chicken pieces with a right combination of mashed potatoes, boiled vegetables and pepper sauce made the obvious taste special. Such tastes must be enjoyed with a pint of beer or a bottle of bitter lemon juice (for non drinkers), so I chose my preferences to enjoy the moment. Extra sauce can also be asked for at no extra charges as they don’t put a lot of sauce in their servings. It won’t be wrong if I call the pepper sauce to be one of the memorable tastes I have tasted till date.
My friend who ordered a T-bone steak was surely looking happy with his red meat and specially mentioned that such T-bones are hard to find in Bangalore. I can’t confirm this one because I’m not much of a beef lover.
The burger was just ordinary to look at and tasted like one too, may be because the good old Zinger of KFC has conquered my taste buds for the burgers. I was too full to look at the desserts but it of course would be on the same standard as the rest of the food at the restaurant.
The carpet area is somewhere around 1500 – 1700 square feet making it a good option for a small and cozy place to dine-in on any kind of occasion. The lighting could have been better and the place could have been equally lit up to avoid some of the tables to become small dark islands. Most of the dishes offered are priced around Rs.250 – Rs.275 and an average expense per person might come to around Rs.350 (without liquor, of course). The prices don’t seem to be all that hurting (this, being a highly personal view is intentionally not discussed any further in this review…J).
Not to forget, the herbivorous crowd, there is an appealing list of Veg. dishes too, though none of us ordered any Veg. dishes. And yes, if you miss the horse’s saddle while entering, don’t worry, it won’t escape from your attention as you step out of the door. Miller’s 46 is one place in Bangalore that every steak lover must check out but do watch out for the expected weekend rush.