Jamming Goat 3.0 in Bengaluru plays to the Goan vibe with deconstructed cocktails and a creative menu

On the busy 100 Feet Road in Indiranagar, Jamming Goat 3.0 ensures it stands apart from the rest of the establishments in Bengaluru. The suave goat head branding donning cool shades, a spread collar, and a cocktail glass for the nose give you a hint of what to expect inside.

The Goan restaurant is part of a chain that celebrates the state’s food and contemporary vibes, but the menu is crafted to serve palettes across the country and the world. The chain entered Bengaluru earlier in 2023 with a restaurant in JP Nagar.

The seating at the restaurant is a mix of both round booths and tables, dazed in lamp lights and lanterns. There are plants everywhere, some hanging from the ceiling lifted to resemble a frame tent. The bar has an art deco design and reminds one of Roxie in HSR Layout. With clever mirror work, the restaurant gives an illusion of space and makes the best use of the floor space to keep things wide.

Jamming Goat 3.0’s menu isn’t set in stone; it’s versatile. It keeps changing according to the seasons, tastes, and creativity.

“The idea behind the menu, which we have followed this time, is that we want to have a seasonal influence as well in the menu… So far, we’ve followed the same thing in all our branches. Even in JP Nagar, we change our menu every 3-4 months,” Kapil Bhatt, Head Chef at Jamming Goat, tells YS Life.

The menu shouts ‘Goa’ right from the get-go with Charred Sweet Potato served with Chimichurri sauce. The comfort food is elevated by the sauce—ground by hand—retaining its earthy flavours.

It is the restaurant’s best-selling dish, which took Bhatt by surprise. “On weekends, we do 30-40 portions of the dish. Nowadays, I have to order 10 kg of sweet potato every day,” he quips.

Innovation in the menu is best shown through the Passion Fruit Golgappa topped with sweet yoghurt. It may seem like an odd combination at first, but the golgappas retain their street-food tanginess even with the punch of passion fruit.

Crispy Broccoli Poppers—served with avocado and wasabi mousse—is another example of how the restaurant breaks the mould. The bestseller dish puts the bitterness of the broccoli stems in the spotlight and pairs it quite intelligently with a hint of wasabi—ready to attack—but is blunted by the avocado.

Next came Pan Seared Fish Steak served with Smoky Balchao Chutney, presented beautifully with potato slices as fish scales. While the chutney stood apart—charged with spices—the combination of potato on Rawas fish was heavy on the palette—even if one took only a bite.

The fish stands in stark contrast to Grilled Australian Lamb Chops with Mint Sauce and Green Pea Mashm teasing the palette with its rich complexity. The slightly charred meat pairs well with the earthy jus, stacking flavours on top of each other as if it were a savoury cake.

“Working with Australian Lamb Chops was a bit challenging because you’re looking for New Zealand lamb chops, which are smaller and easy to cook. You can cook it like a steak; it’s medium rare, and you’re good to go. The Australian Lamb Meat is very different from what you get in India, but it takes a longer time to cook,” Bhatt explains.

The menu also gives way to many regional Indian dishes. Naga Pork is one such dish that enters the palette with a tang but stuns it with its heat. The bamboo shoot, though offers a good pairing, can’t save you from the fire of Naga Chilli, which burns good and fast.

Daab Chingri, a Bengali delicacy, is all about the mustard. The dish is cooked perfectly in coconut cream and served in a ceramic coconut that keeps its moist prawns warm.

The pièce de resistance, however, is the Goan OG Fish Curry. It lets you marinate in its heat, which embers at the back of your mouth long after you’ve had the morsel. It strikes at the root of Jamming Goat 3.0, taking you back to the beaches of south Goa, where the fish is savoured with hands and curry is king.

The brand has crafted the menu to serve young professionals and college students, who usually throng Indiranagar. Also, for the first time, the chain has introduced Asian cuisine on its menu and is serving pizzas.

The Chicken Picante pizza is loaded with mozzarella and is yet not too heavy. It’s simple yet tasteful and perfect after a hangover. However, it can do well without the pickled onion rings that tend to overpower.

The sushi bar is where all the drama happens. It’s active, busy, and dishing out colourful sushi, sashimi, and nigiri. The bite-sized Kappa Nigiri with avocado on flaming salmon remains the bestseller, while the Kakiage Uramaki Roll is the best-selling veg sushi.

However, the chefs find the most complicated to be the Folded Gimbap—a Korean dish made like a sandwich that comes with fillings options like ham, cheese, and egg or vegan avocado and lettuce.

With a cocktail donning the nose of its logo, Jamming Goat 3.0 goes above and beyond to bring craft and finesse to its mix of alcoholic beverages.

Whether it is 1986—a sweet, sour, pungent, and spicy flavoured vodka cocktail served in a teacup, or tequila-based Goat in Goa, served in a tall glass and crowned with plum leather—the presentation is top-notch. However, when it comes to flavour, there are a few hits and misses.

While 1986 crowns the jalapeno queen, it is muddled with sugar syrup and lime juice, which doesn’t pair well enough. Goat in Goa doesn’t feel like it contains alcohol at all. While plum is at the core of the drink, it is suffocated, and one has to constantly stir to even get a whiff of it. All the plum is absorbed in the leather.

Next is Awkward Puppet—a watermelon-infused tequila drink that sheds the colour of a watermelon and is clear as the sky because it’s clarified. The green tea base is balanced by Rooh Afza, and it all makes it a very tropical drink to have.

Problem Dog is a coffee-based gin drink that looks more like whisky and gin. It pairs very well with bananas—a pretty ingenious combination of flavours. The banana is a rightful element in the drink—smooth on the palate—topped with a coffee Biscafe.

The restaurant also gives classic cocktails a spin with its ‘Not A’ statement—like Not A Pinacolada is transparent instead of creamy and is served with coconut soda. Not A G&T is made with elderflowers and ginger soda—a good attempt at innovation but isn’t memorable, and you long for a G&T.

There are lots of modern classics on the bar menu as well with gems like Green Beast—one of the very few cocktails with absinthe in it—infused with refreshing cucumber, and reminds one of day drinking by the beach.

Gin Gin Mule, too, is a very summer drink and placates you with leftover ginger followed by a fizz. While ginger beer cools you down, the gin warms you up.

There’s quite a selection of desserts on the menu, but Reconstructed Serradura—a Portuguese dessert—takes you back to the streets of Old Delhi in winter. Akin to Daulat Ki Chaat, eating Serradura is like biting a cloud. Made with condensed milk and sprinkled with biscuit crumbs, the fluffy dessert gives way to a nutty surprise on a blueberry compote that jolts you from your dream.

Jamming Goat 3.0 believes in being innovative but also relies on simplicity to sell. It’s a place where you can vibe to the music, lose yourself in conversation, and get startled by the craft in its drinks and food.

“So what I would try to tell people is that you won't find anything earth-shattering or anything… We’ve innovated, but kept things simple as well,” Bhatt sums up.

Timings: Noon to midnight

Cost for two: Rs 1,500 (without alcohol)