With Bengaluru holding on to its status as pub capital of the country, almost every type of bar bite has made an appearance on the culinary landscape here. From the humble Congress peanuts and papad to the once-exotic tapas, charcuterie boards and sushi, the city’s residents have raised a toast to it all.

Sitting somewhere in the middle of this spectrum is Jango. This recently-opened pub in Sahakar Nagar, has a menu that should please the palates of the desi-bound, conti-leaning or perennially peckish. This is courtesy the efforts of chef Vedant Rao who dishes out his take on fusion food.

Hence, one finds gunpowder cashews and chaat nachos alongside wasabi peanut and sour cream curry leaf fries. As bar bites, they set the tone for the rest of the menu in a good way; you know what to expect and are pleasantly surprised all the same.

Though designed to be tongue-in-cheek, the note on Jango’s menu states the appetisers are “small plates that quietly turn into a full table” and it is easy to understand why. The crunchy corn and kale bullets or the picchu pota koli (shredded chicken) sliders can be rather filling. The succulent miso butter garlic prawns are a signature here and one can be forgiven for overindulging.

While the lotus stem in coriander sauce was an interesting take on another bar staple that is usually served with a heavy dusting of the all-too common peri peri powder, the crispy corn with kaffir lime was just so-so.

Starters and sides abound at Jango so when it came to the mains, we decided to opt for one of their specials — the betel leaf rice. For a person who does not enjoy an after-meal paan, I thought this rice dish was a pleasant surprise. Since the aroma is not over-powering and neither is the flavour, it pairs well with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. I would go so far as to suggest it can even be enjoyed on its own.

The creamy artichoke pizza seemed out of place among their other, more Indianised offerings, but it came highly recommended by the staff, so it made its way to our plates. While it was not disappointing, unless one is familiar with the slightly bitter taste of this vegetable (or flower, if you wish to be precise) it could be a letdown.

All these offerings were paired with interesting concoctions such as kaccha business, a desi affair of tequila and aam panna, and the Jango fandango which had white rum, orange liqueur and kaffir lime.

Dessert was a toss-up between the black rice risotto kheer and filter coffee cheesecake and we went with the kheer as we only had space to sample one. Almond slivers decorated this velvety dish and our only regret was it came at the fag end of our meal when we were already quite full. Still, that did not stop us from enjoying its creamy, nutty texture, especially since it was not very sweet.