Sunday 4 October 2015

Ek-bar ... The story begins with " Once upon a time" at this Funky and Glamorous Pub,






There is a "Jumbo" in the wall with mirrored sunglass and attitude in the beautiful atmosphere of A D Singh’s  newly launched  funky bar “Ek bar” .

With a concept of story telling “Once upon a time” ,  A D Singh has teamed up with Chef Sujan Sarkar and Mixologist Nitin Tewari  , and has created this funky, glamorous and stylish Pub.
Ambiance is  young yet matured , spacious, and upscale vintage , where you can actually sit at and get warm feel with bright coloured wooden furniture .  Each mural and art pieces are eye catching .  To elaborate more , there is a pink jali  with spiral stairs leading to terrace .  A  huge bar with leather aproned bartenders dominates the area .  Their bar stools and duck egg ceiling is to be glued on . 





Serene is the word .
Photo courtesy: Ek bar 



Chef Sujan Sarkar with Mixologist Nitin Tewari with their team .
Photo courtesy : Ek bar . 




The curious pair of Chef Sujan Sarkar and Mixologist  Nitin Tewari have kept  both the food and drinks homestyle with dominating Indian ingredients . If Sujan has tried to cover all the Indian states in his artistic food thalis , Nitin has tried to create magic in his concoctions with an  interesting story concept  with each drink.  While you sip your drinks with Indian flavours , Nitin Tewari will make sure to narrate the tale behind the drink.  Their cocktail menu has been printed in four large playing cards – Ekka, Badshah, Begum and Gulam.  Among their six beautifully created concoctions with Indian flavours -  City of Nizams, Mogito-6, The Royal Indian Punch, Queen Victoria , Platform@CST and Murabba Mule , I would like to go again for the Royal Punch which was introduced to United Kingdom in the early 17th century and it was enjoyed by the Royals .  It is a mix of Whiskey, fermented Kahwa tea , Pink grapefruit  and spices .  Much not so known ingredient ‘ Aam Ada” ( from Bengal which is a kind of ginger with a flavour of mango) , has been paired with other ingredients in their food and drinks . Queen Victoria is a beautiful drink with this adaa mixed along with whiskey , Lemon and Honey water .  Inspired by the coolies of Mumbai CST , Nitin Tewari has come up with a mix of Tequilla, Mosambi juice and Kokam sherbet .  He has dedicated this drink to them and their hard work with giving a look of their colour of their uniforms .  I was amazed to know that Mixologist has even used his age old home recipe of Aam ka Murabba into his drink  “ Murabba Mule” .   I was served this mix of Vodka, Aam ka Murabba and inhouse Ginger beer in a rustic Copper mug.  I must not forget to mention here , how the pungent Turmeric has been added to make a royal drink “ City of Nizam” , with a mix of tender turmeric , Gin, Tonic water and Orange juice . 







The Royal Punch 

Talking about food , I feel Chef Sujan creates art in  any dish which  he curates  .  According to Sujan – He wanted  to add all the flavours of all the states on India into his dishes , which I could see in his fusion food .  Bengal’s Jhal muri has been beautifully infused in Ek Bar- Granulla bar .  Then there is Amritsari Kekra-O-Boy sandwich , which is deep fried crispy  whole crab fried in a batter of Amritsari  batter with Carom seeds .  I dnt think anybody will get this idea to create a sandwich with whole crab stuffed with two buns  .  Chef has picked up the Pandy curry from southern part of India and kept it as authentic as it is . The tender Belgium Pork belly was served with Kadambuttu  ( rice dumpling)  with pear chutney.   Their nonveg thali is something to die for .   Served in beautiful  Brass thali , consists of Squid Rawa fry, Mud Crab, Bombay  Duck Cakes , Prawns sausges  and  Achali Sole Tikka with inhouse tangy chutney.   Prawns sausage  is chef’s killer innovation .
My vegetarian readers should not get disappointed as they have lots of options of vegetarian dishes . Their Vegetarian thali is much a lavish spread of Mushroom Ghalautti, Hot dog, Beetroot and Peanut coins , Ricotto stuffed Bhavnagri Chillies , Rawa fried Paneer , served with Charred Roti and Rajma hummu





Kekra-O-Boy Photo courtesy : Ek bar




Ek Bar - Granula Bar -
Photo courtesy: Ek bar 




Dessert section


My sweet tooth couldn’t resist to take two servings of their Orange Murabba Icecream  .  Chef has not forgotten our famous Gajar ka Halwa and he has created a cake with gajar ka halwa flavour .  


Banana Tarte Tatin 






To sum up ,  Ekka at Ek bar is well played .  It is a perfect  blend of  serene atmosphere with artistic creativity in food plates and cock- tale opps cocktail glasses .

 To reach at “A must visit place”
D-17,  First Floor ,Defence Colony.
New Delhi .