Under-rated Under Deck

"Heck, it's Under Deck!" - was my first reaction, when Rajeshwari, the editor of 040 - the local magazine I was freelancing for - laddled me my next restaurant. It would be my first pub review for their magazine and scuttling over the Ahalas and Poisons of the city, she found me Under Deck? Heck! What if it's at Taj Banjara - it's quaint and so not brag-worthy! To make the best of it, I asked Don to tag along. IMHO it's disrespecting alcohol if you let go of opportunities to have it for free. 

The PR person from Vaishnavi, who took me around, turned out to be an Assamese, and so did the bartender. While that was a sure seller - as other than food we had a world of exchanges that kept me riveted throughout - I believe I could do justice to the review I was expected to do of Taj Banjara's past-card sized, but amazing...as it turned out...watering hole.

Quick low-down:
1) No cover charge.
2)If you find it too crammed, you can walk right out into the extension and lounge by the Taj Banjara's artificial lake.
3) The bartenders are an award winning lot and can churn you the most delicious blends (beyond the menu) as per your taste. I absolutely loved Sam's betel and mint leaf cocktail served in a glass rimmed with sugar.
4) With the likes of Touch and Poison swooping away Hyderabad's crème de nocturnals, Under Deck is left with the Taj Banjara residents and some old loyalists - not a reason enough to head if flash that smile at Page 3, Hyd Times, you must!
2) Being a Taj thingie, it's a tad tooooo expensive.

Here's the official review for 040:
Have you known of evenings when the thought of unwinding over your favourite spirit by a serene lakeside, with great music for company, can drive you even to the other end of the globe? Or those, when you are in a mood to pub-hop till you land at a place where you can party till you drop and crawl up to a hearty meal – just in case you’re still hungry? Well, you should head for Under Deck, then! And in case these cravings sound unfamiliar, you will still like this cozy ship-themed pub, strategically positioned by the lakeside at Taj Banjara, for its beyond-the-menu cocktails, warm hearted bartenders and familiar faces.
The city woke up to pub-culture some nine years back with Under Deck – an exhilarating change from the insipid house-parties. The pub warms up with DJ Lucky spinning anything from Retro, House and Hip-hop to the ones you can go “balle balle”, as per the flavour of the crowd. Its bevy of award winning bartenders keep their guests well entertained with their usual juggling bit, the not-so-usual magic tricks with cards, matchsticks, and of course with your pick of concoctions. The must-try is their flagship Long Island Iced Tea, while those with experimenting taste-buds can go for Spike’s (head bartender) Jack Daniel and Crème de Banana based cocktail “Sexy Baby”, or Sam’s vodka based, mint and betel leaf drink “Magic Lips”. Teetotallers would relish their Apple Mojitos and Power Punches. Team your drink with some scrumptious starters from Kebab-e-Bahar (Indian) or Strings (Oriental). For a late night hearty feast, drop by at the 24-hour Waterside Cafe.Thursdays are Bollywood Nights and Fridays’ Lipstick Nights. And since there is no cover charge, all you pay is an average of some Rs. 4000 per couple. So what if the lake is artificial and the ship doesn’t sway, Under Deck is for those you’d never hear saying “let’s call it a day”!
### For "040" - Hyderabad's popular local mag by the Explocity group - go grab your copy for more news of use...

Mood for some Bleu?

(Pic: How many dishes have you known that look just as great even after you're done eating them)

Who: Blue - Lounge Bar at Cinemax, Hyderabad (Opp. LV Prasad Eye Hospital, Hyderabad)

WoWs:

Ambience: The interior is bathed in blue. Eerie, eh? On the contrary, you get used to it pretty fast and carry the 'mood' with you away. The Lounge is sliced into orbs and the lighting scheme is even more dramatic here – one hue melts into another – which means, in the midst of your conversation you suddenly realise that the blue environ you were sitting in has taken on a red hue. You barely attune yourself and try to arrest the next transition that you are already sitting all yellowed. Don't know whether it sounds common/weird/fantastic to you, but I was left quite amused and though I otherwise hate such tainted ambiences, the light effects at Bleu seemed quite soothing and romantic. And then you've those glassy beaded string curtains encircling the orbs that creates an anticipation that some belly dancer might slither in anytime, like they used to at Hookah (PVR Priya Complex, South Delhi) every Fri-eve.

Food: Since it was the review thingie again, I was served the best of the lot. Take the Blue berry cheese cake here for example – the only dessert that looked as scrumptious even after it was no more on the plate.

Service: New-ones-in-the-block usually exhibit impeccable service!
Rates: Pretty moderate; Rs. 500-800 for a decent meal for two
Burps:
1) The interior is a tad too dark for informal parties;
2) Bleu's “blue” might leave you a little blue

Rather not Rio

Who: Rio
What: Lounge Bar
Where: Sandwiched between Shikaar/Senor Pepe on bottom and Coco’s on top, Road No. 2, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad
WoWs:
1) Impeccable service
2) Reasonable priced + you can also dig at the Cococ’s grilled delicacies and Senor Pepe's Tex Mex menu, along with Rio’s Indian, Conti, Chinese
3) Geographical Advantage: If you feel done with it, you can walk up to Coco’s for some fresh air and live music, or walk down to dig at the cheesy Tex-Mex cuisine, or treat to Shikaar’s truly delectable Indian menu (with must-try’s like the fried ice-cream). Likewise, if you want to shake a leg before/after Cococ’s/Shikaar/Senor Pepe, you can head straight to Rio.
Burp:
1) Maybe because of two TV screens in that postcard sized lounge, it feels too vibrant to make space for that cosy feeling lounges typically emanate. Pubbers in early 20s might like it exactly for what I did not, though!
2) Cigarette butts splattered all over, unclean seat covers, rip it of all sophistication its brother (pubs got to be makes) concerns just a floor above and below seamlessly sport in spite of their laidback atmosphere.

Retaurant Review: Rosang - Delhi's slice of NE!!

(NOTE: The previous review was what I wrote for my India Syndicate test, here's the honest, no-frills-attached one)

To be a pork-infatuate Delhiite with a North-East (NE) connection and not to have discovered "Rosang" means you’re incredibly uninformed and need to do something about your General Knowledge. And before you are discovered and muted, read what follows. Those who lack patience with words, may rush to the end, check the address and sniff it down this weekend – now, that I have already mentioned "pork" and “Restaurant”! However, shoved in the basement of the oh-so-cramped Munirka market of South Delhi, you have to be dog-trained to do that. The address should help and if it doesn’t, stop any passerby with an Oriental look (Munirka is studded with them) and you know what to ask!

Run by a humble Manipuri couple, Rosang (named after their son) is a post-card sized eating hole whose menu reads some of the most-loved culinary delights from the kitchens of North East India – with Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachali cuisine as the menu dominants. Not just that, you also have the choice of teaming your platter with the regular Oriental darlings like Momos, Thukpas and Chowmein. The NE section on the menu might leave you stuttering, so I suggest you consult with the waiter or buy my recommendations (please remember I have a ‘tongue’ for exotic food). NE cuisine has a lot of fermented, odorous stuff that might make you see “mustard flowers” (translation of an Assamese expression, meaning “faint”). For example, I ordered for a fermented Mizo Pork dish called Bai and in two gulps I felt I would pass out. Please don’t be repulsed, consider it a reminder - ‘exotic’ need not necessarily mean ‘tasty’.

The not-too-daring ones (like me) can safely try – Sohchiar (Mizo khichdee with shredded, crisp pork/beef), Shay Pally (North Indian gujjia-like, fried maida dumplings stuffed with pork/beef), Ironba (dry fish chutney/had with rice), Akhuni (fermented beans served with raja mircha/had with rice), Tibetan Tea (now, do not expect Yak milk at Munirka) or order for an authentic Pork/Beef Thali with the menu basics.

After you have belched and rubbed your belly, wind up with the traditional Shillong kwai (betel nut) with the desi paan. It might leave your ears red and throbbing, but that is exactly the kick to expect! And you’d love it!

During my stay in those quarters of the city, I became a Sochiar and Tibetan tea infatuate – great taste, less-oily and that small meal for just Rs.20 was a bet I couldn’t have had elsewhere. But hygiene-freaks might want to shoot me for tempting you with North-East cuisine at Rosang. Not that I’m a total hygiene-dunce just that I have set my priorities a little differently – culinary pleasure come before all hygiene of the world. And since I do not remember puking or rushing home to ‘unload’ after hogging at Rosang, and have been promoting it sans qualms for all these years (this one has gone to the I.S. test, my Tribune Column and of course it'd sit here in my blog).

So, what if the A/C is a little people-shy and non-Airtel users go network-less during their brief repasts (Rosang being in the basement) – the taste, the rates (dirt cheap) and the fact that you will get this food nowhere else in Delhi – makes it worthwhile! If that matters............

Address:- 138 A/5, Rama Market, Behind MCD Park, Munirka Village, Delhi - 67. Ph. No: 9811423552, 9811501052

Please Note:

1) Did you know: Paan-tamul (betel nut) is a traditional mouth-freshener in the North East region, served post meals and to welcome guests. They make your tongue slothful, just like the Assamese khar, and is totally discouraged for regular use or you might have problems pronouncing words like “Chacha”...if you know what I mean.

2) The owner also has a pork/beef (fine quality) shop and a beauty parlour in the same complex.

After thought:

I shifted base and am settled in Hyderabad for almost a year now and every time I look back, Rosang appears amongst the things I miss most about Delhi. During my last visit to Delhi (in August)the owner (ah! I don't remember his name) accorded me a hearty welcome and carefully extracted a piece of newspaper from his drawer with his restaurant's review and my name on it (the Tribune publication). He said at least three visitors came searching for his restaurant with such copies....I was so touched!!! So was he and this time he didn't accept a penny...instead packed some fine Manipuri dry fish chutney (hot and delicious) and Pork for me!

Mexican munches at Senor Pepe

Yesterday, I unabashedly confessed to Don - "I have never tasted Mexican food". He assured - "Knowing your taste - you'll love it"! Yes, I loved Mexican!

It was the Valentine's Day eve and we had no table booked. Hyderabad, in case you aren't aware, is quite a turn down when it comes to restaurants - nah, the food will make you lips go smack be it the traditional biryani or non-Hyderabadi inclusions, but all those places where you 'smack' remains so crowded and the waiting stretches so long (usually) that by the time you're seated, you have already yawned 3 times and considered trying another eatery 8 times. And to decide to eat out on a Valentine's Day without booking your tables was lethal, almost! We realised it only half way, stuck at the chocked roads to Banjara Hills - Valentines' Day traffic - again!

The 1 hr waiting at Yokko Sizzler made the rats in my stomach delare mutiny and we literally sniffed through Banjara Hills for a restaurant where we can sit and hog without much ado! Blue-lit "Coco's" got us midway, when we almost decided to boomerang to our good old kitchen. It read Tex-Mex and I was thrilled. The one-smoke-long waiting was bearable. The items on the menu were tongue-twisters, if you ask me, and even after reading the descriptions I looked as blank and kept looking all around, drooling outrageously at the sight of those around me hogging at amazingly appetizing "somethings". Don suggested we start with a pint of Kingfisher Lager Beer with Chicken Tacos - crisp tortillas with fried onion and chicken filling. How I longed to nibble at seafood, but Don hates the smell of it, leave taste and on a Valentine's Day I didn't quite wan't us to have our own different platters (the Squids' experience fresh in my mind). The stuff inside the Tacos tasted very Indian and if not for the crisp tortilla, it could have easily passed off as an Indian dish.

Next came lamb Fajitas (faheetas) - its (in my lingo) a thin-crust, amazingly soft roti, served with lamb sizzler that had shredded lamb, potato wedges and a little amount of fried rice. I was full. But Don, as usual, wanted more. Not 'cause he was hungry - that's his primordial hog instinct (hahaha)! Impromptu came Chicken Enchiladas - softened tortilla, stuffed with fried chicken and onions and layered with lots and lots of cheese. I was too full already to listen to my tastebuds react to it. And Don (happens always, I tell you) realised he was done after two bites (barely). I wanted to wind up wiht the Shikaar Fried Ice Cream (never tasted fried ice cream), but 11pm was too late for it, they said, and we had to settle for our regular choc-brownie-with-vanilla ice cream :( .

How I hate to leave food-paid-for at restautants - an entire plate of Enchiladas (minus 2 bites)and an almost spilling mug of beer - and remember it the next day when I am back to dal-bhat-koni (egg).

Highs: Ambience is lively and service fast. Non-veg, serve drinks, has home-delivery. Food is decent (considering its my first tryst with Tex-Mex food).

Lows: The place feels a little cluttered - how I resisted picking one of the "somethings" from the table next. Food, a friend said, is better at the pub at the top floor - Coco's. Live music, cool breeze - would have been perfect for our V-Day dinner.

ADDRESS: 217, Road No 2., Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500033
Phone: +91-40-23541493 / 23542835

Next time...and that need not be V-Day 2009...with Don it can be a V-day everyday!!

[Hope it makes up for the 'hog' thing ;) ]

Squids at Fusion 9, Hyderabad

Call me gross if you want to, but I wanted to have them live. Sometime back I saw this video where I saw some Japanese gourmets hogging on live squids. It seemed gruesome then, but today, at Fusion 9, when the waiter suggested "squids" - that video was all I remembered and live octopusiac squids are all I wanted to have.

Don hates seafood. He would have eaten it otherwise, but for the smell. So I had to devour one whole plate of "Calamari" (thats what they seem to call squids out there) alone. The first few chomps felt ambrosial (every exotic thing tastes thus, except for totally infernal flavours), but by the end of it - I felt I would throw it all up. I actually wondered if it is medically incorrect to hog on squids.

Squids are no-fibre soft meat. The taste was reminiscient of prawns. The one I tried at Fusion 9 was an appetizer, that seemingly teamed well with the sula. Love it, you will, if you nibble a little and savour the delicacy!

I am planning to do the Restaurant Review for Fusion 9 tomorrow (all for my job)!

Restaurant Review: Le Bros (Munirka, Delhi)

Go there for: Chinese (once again), Momos (especially pork momos)
Location: Near Munirka Market, ask anybody for Anupam Restaurant. Take the lane next to it and turn right. A little further (1min) you will see the Sign-board on the left.

For the Pork-Momo Starved South Delhi'ites

Those living in South Delhi will know what I mean. I personally do not like the pork momos at Chanakya Puri and Dilli Haat and 'Le Bros' was a pleasant discovery (rather Ashmita's discovery).

My North-East bretherns will know what I mean when I say - 'I love Momos..Pork Momos'. And if you don't get the punch, its not worth reading further. The only momo's I ever loved are those in North-Campus - Momo's Point (the legendary) and Noodles - are my favorites still. And migrating to South Delhi, this momo-craving (good one's) was one of the many things that troubled my SOUL (the foodie that I am!). One day, it felt too compelling and Ashmita suggested a remedy - Le Bros.

USP: Excellent Pork Momo (needless to mention), Pork / Chicken Chowmein/Fried Rice and the othe regular Pork Preparations. No, I am not sure whether they serve the bamboo-shoot Naga-style thing. For that, I still head to Dilli Haat and am quiet happy (still) with the food (Nagaland Stall).

Pork Bytes -- Did you know?: Buddha died of eating pork! Not don't get ready to boomerang, I just read it. The scholar Nagasena (2nd century BC) claims that Buddha's favorite food was - "tender boar's flesh and rice porridge boiled in milk". And a literal reading of the scriptures would seem to indicate that he actually died of eating rotten pork. --- Outlook Traveller - Heritage Holidays (North & Central India).

-- By Needarshana