What’s in a name?’ William Shakespeare has been quoted countless times, and here, we mention it once again. But, sometimes a name does give away everything. The newly opened restaurant, which is a hop, skip and jump from Hinjewadi, is called ‘The Barkhana.’ One needs no further introduction about what the place would have to offer.
We chose a Sunday evening to visit the restaurant and we felt a vibrant, lively vibe from the moment we stepped in. The place was rocking as soon as the dance floor opened.
Lip-smacking cocktails
For drinks, rather than going the traditional way, we opted for ‘Barkhana House special’ menu, where we could choose from only a handful of drinks.
The classic Whiskey Sour had a little twist and had become Hazelnut Sour. It combined whiskey, hazelnut syrup, apple juice, pineapple juice and was garnished with a cherry and green apple.
The glass was laced with salt and red chilli powder, reminiscent of old school days. The potent portion of whiskey was felt on sipping the drink and the fruit juices and hazelnut left a sweet aftertaste, giving it a nice balance of flavours.
The second drink we chose, Peach Lager, was also on a sweeter note. The components were vodka, peach syrup, orange juice and beer topped with fresh oranges. We could easily feel the presence of vodka through the sweetness brought by the peach syrup and orange juice. When the drink was allowed to settle, fresh oranges dominated the taste and the slight bitterness of beer was felt only when the glass was near empty.
For the third and final drink, we opted for gin-based ‘Best of Me’, comprising gin, cucumber, coriander leaf, black salt and lime garnished with a slice of cucumber served in a martini glass. We felt the taste was inclined towards ‘khatta-meetha’ with an undercurrent of zest. It’s a real smooth drink and one we would definitely recommend.
From the ‘Khana’ menu
We again opted for ‘Barkhana special’ food menu preferring finger food rather than full-fledged dinner, and we observed that the menu had a ‘desi twist’ to the culinary dishes from around the world.
It can be easily said that Nachos is the first pick of starters to go with the drinks these days and we made no exception. The name was intriguing — Dal Makhani Nachos. If you are a fan of this North Indian staple, we would definitely recommend this. Crisp homemade chips, olives, jalapenos, loaded with cheese and of course Dal Makhani made up for the dip as well. In a few words, it was ‘on point’.
Meanwhile, we also asked for Kheema Bomb. The twist we got wasn’t just eye-pleasing, it indeed tasted delicious. Kheema was stuffed inside a small pav, making it easy to have it. Someone, who is a fan of kheema, can have the kheema on offer almost every day. Our only concern was the ‘pav’, it reminded us of ‘Jira Butter’, which some people might find a little hard to bite into.
The third speciality we asked was Stuffed Mushrooms — wrapped in bread crumb, cottage cheese, bell pepper and spices. Surprisingly, it was served with Salsa dip on the side. It isn’t particularly a match made in heaven, but one can simply enjoy the mushrooms, with or without the dip.
We must admit that we didn’t do full justice to our final order — Stuffed Dhabboo Mirchi because we hit the dance floor after placing the order. That said, the paneer/ cottage cheese stuffed inside Dhabboo Mirchi and coated with Bikaneri Shev certainly made for something we had not tried before.
Although we indulged only in the specialities offered by the restaurant, after having a look at their food and bar menu, we were certainly impressed by the spread they had on offer, and everything is priced moderately. They say Sunday night isn’t the best time to hit the pub, but seeing the lively ambience, we felt otherwise.
Overlooking the NH4 and the Hinjewadi bridge, ‘The Barkhana’ is another cool place to hang out for people in the vicinity, whether it’s a Friday, Sunday or, even for that matter, a Monday!
