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 .
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| Serene is the word . Photo courtesy: Ek bar |
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| 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 .
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| 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 hummus
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| Kekra-O-Boy Photo courtesy : Ek bar |
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| 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 .
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| 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 .
