Palate Full

Offering a mixed media of food, drinks and art, The Art Bar in Hauz Khas Village strikes just the right balance.

Spread over an indoor and terraced dining area, The Art Bar, at first glance, doesn’t resemble your typical HKV hangout. Accoutered with paintings and other objet d’ art, striated with variegated lighting strips, the interiors and exteriors are a riot of colours. Only the runway-long bar counter, the table-seat arrangements and the commercial music pulsating out of the speakers (they switch to live music by up-and-coming bands in the evening) remind you that you’re in the Capital’s hipster haven. The space acts as a curator of the local arts scene, from where you can purchase works by fresh talent. The main draw, however, remains the food and drinks.

Given the profusion of starters on the menu (not to mention the play on their names, the document is more littered with puns than an 18th Century comic novel), we decide to make a meal out of them, and also because we want to say the names out loud. Accordingly we order the Akbar Ki Maa Ki Sheekh Kabab Chaat, the Kukkad Fingers with Jaegermeister Sauce and, for the feel of the familiar, the Bang Bang Chicken. Like the climax of a coming-of-age novel, the last comes first.

The Bang Bang, for the sake of brevity, comes in an unusual format, that of a pakoda. Crispy on the outside, pliant on the inside, it comes served in a circular wrought iron stand, attended to by tamarind and lime chutneys. The juicy chicken when combined with the ubiquitous flavour of besan spells out pure comfort food. Right on its heels, like any good mother is Akbar’s; the seekh kebabs comes sliced, sequestered in diced onions, tomatoes, peanuts and pineapple, dusted with a piquant chaat masala, and is easily the hottest thing on the table, all due respect to the Bang Bang (see, we can be pun-ny too).

The Kukkad fingers come last. Texturally similar to the pakoda, sans the semolina or circular shape, the fingers are accompanied by what seems to be a simple tartare sauce but on further inspection turns out to be spiked with the characteristic herbaceous flavourings of the German digestif. When the mild-mannered chicken combines with the sauce with a kick, it becomes the hero of the hour.

We make one last foray: The Spiced Lamb Chops with Korma Sauce and Toasted Almond Bits. Resplendent on a bed of rice, the succulent chop comes garbed in a creamy sauce, French in texture but completely desi in flavor, the crunch of the shattered almonds adding additional play to the whole dish. The excessive saltiness aside, it’s addressed with the complete silence of good eating and soon the plate is picked clean We’ll get our just desserts next time.

Meal for two: Rs 1,500 (including taxes, excluding alcohol)
Address: TB 6 & 1A, First Floor, Hauz Khas Village. 41551445

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