Bike & Barrel - Stags on the upper deck!

Where: The Residency Towers, T Nagar

What: Pub

It'd been almost a month in Chennai and I still haven't had an opportunity to go to a pub, get sloshed and come home post midnight. You need a friend, an accomplice to do crazy things after all that alcohol does to your body. So luckily I found out that a guy who I'd met through a common friend at a pub in Mumbai is here in this city. Got connected and after a week, we decided to exchange business and not-so business ideas over drinks and this night became one of those fabulous nights when I returned home only at 6 AM.

Don't worry the bike doesn't fall unless there's an earthquake

This place is one of the in-house property of hotel - The Residency Towers. We arrived here around 9 PM. The pub has two levels. The ground level is for residents and couples while the upper level is for stags. The upper level area has a balcony which gives a glimpse of the atrium below. The decor is of any English pub, full of badges, signs, stickers, graffiti art and wooden floor-furniture. Though my friends tells me that this is the only pub in Chennai which plays Bollywood songs; that night the house was thumping with pulsating hits of the current year and kept the crowd rocking for the night. 

Food

The menu is in the shape of gramophone record and has lots to offer for your taste-buds. We started with Aztec platter (squid, prawns, chicken). Did not care much about the food as the primary craving that day was for beer. But what I could remember is that the squid rings were fried in tempura batter and were so thin that you could not make out if it's onion rings or something fishy! 3 pieces of prawns for 2 guys didn't go very well... I had my friend take the third one. There were little tacos shaped like nachos which had some chinese chicken stuffings and some chicken kebabs. 

The platter was ordered with the first lot of drinks and arrived on our table about 30 minutes later. But the staff was polite and kind enough to offer us complimentary french fries which we accepted with bright smiles - as I said anything that compliments our drinks would do. Then there were regular wafers that came on our table from somewhere (two 660 ml down!). 

 Then after some good ol' fish balls we were too high that I somehow managed to book a cab to my home. It was around 11:45 that we asked the cab to come. With three beers(me) and three large whiskey(Rahul) down, the last treat was the usual Cherry, Cheese and Pineapple. They didn't have cherry so we had to just be content with pale yellows. Some ice cubes thrown in on the plate made it look fantastic and we were off-to board the cab only to cancel our home-trip midway and drink some more at a bar at the airport. That would be in the next post.

Bike and barrel is recommended for its ambience, music and service. Sorry could not quote the price as I did not pay the bill but Zomato says 330 for a pint of beer. If you are a couple, you may want to dance and some guys do try some moves after 11 PM, which is why I guess is the divide. Saw a group of guys doing push-ups with their feet on the balcony railings and the staff were all smiles. So in a group of friends, this place is sure to be in your memories. :)

P.S. They also have a large smoking area with one pool table.

Dario's: An Italian Affair

What: Italian... literally!

Where: Alwarpet

It was a Rainy Sunday afternoon when my colleague and friend Astha and I had just finished watching a horror drama at the nearby Russian Culture Centre. Just 2 minutes from this place is Dario's.

This place is in a quiet corner on Kasturi Estate 2nd St, about 3 mins walk from Cathedral Road. It looks like a bungalow converted into a garden restaurant. At 6 o'clock it was almost vacant. We had two options - either we sit in the garden area or in the AC comfort. We'd almost settled on a table in the garden area when Astha realized her phobia for bugs :p

Obsession la Mona Lisa?

The decor inside has about 2-3 rooms. We were suggested to sit in one particular room where Da Vinci's Mona Lisa had been replicated into 6 frames of different mix of hues. Music played throughout were mostly blues and soft rock, which goes well with the decor and the ambience.

I had a massive craving for Pasta that hour which was dumped by the waiter saying only Pizzas and Salads are available - Pasta's for dinner time, Sir! So we ordered a Siciliano (Spicy tomato sauce, mozzarella, sun-dried tomato, garlic, bell peppers). In twenty minutes, we were gorging on one of the yummiest pizza we ever had. F**k Domino's, Pizza Corner, Pizza Hut et al. Makes me wonder if the Pizzerias in Sicily make such awesome pizzas. :p

Why it was heavenly?

Not Siciliano. But look at the thin crispy crust mahn!

When the base of your pizza is good, half the battle is won! A thin crust pizza - In addition to it being light and crispy, the side of the crust was like papad which cracks if you press a bit harder. If you are a cheese lover and always had complains about it not being enough, you won't be doing that here. Just the right amount of mozzarella to leave your taste buds high on cheese. The veggie toppings were briefly cooked unlike to the liking of the Indian palette that likes it cooked till the edges char. Few long slices of red-yellow bell peppers with sun-dried tomato were enough to make it look and taste delicious. Black olive rings were a surprise and we liked it! The diameter of the pizza is slightly more than the usual large pizzas that you might've had at American chains. Sprinkle your usual oregano and chilli flakes and you would be satisfied paying 500 bucks for this delicious treat.

Definitely recommended and would love to plan next trip for their dinner menu - looks amazing in photos.

Zomato Link