It’s time for great food, great service and a cool ambience at Unplugged Courtyard, Connaught Place and yes who can forget the great minds at work and play – Dinesh Arora & Swaraj Singhi along with the coolest host of the evening Nitin Kapoor who went the extra mile to tell us every little detail which goes into excellent food making and great service & hospitality.
Amidst the cold showers of the mist fans in the verandah area, wooden tables and stone ground under the big neem tree, we sat perched on a green sofa gazing at the menu and the upbeat crowd which made me more comfortable with the place and got me in the mood to chill & relax. It’s a lovely, comfortable & colourful place with the buzzing people pouring to get an experience worth cherishing in the one of a kind ambience.
It’s a place which can be visited by everyone- colleagues, friends or family all under one lucky & lovely ambience. I loved the calmness of the peaceful area that was created under the spreading neem tree making it a cool, fun, lovely, happening & yes a very spacious set-up. It’s a nice pleasant place to relax, forget, laugh, party & have lots of fun plus energize & refresh.
We started with the mocktail My Sweet Babe (fresh orange with lemon & peach) which was sweet, fresh with a nice mild flavour of peach along with lemon & orange blast. It was lovely to sip and made a great start leaving a great after taste on the tongue. The Parfait Amour (pomegranate, rose, green cardamom & lime) was spicy, little strong & aromatic. The Cranberry Virgin Mojito was sweet & sour and great to taste.
First up was Lal Dora Di Manjee Platter which had Paneer Tikka, Veg Seekh Kebab, Afghani Broccoli Tikka & Susst Soya Kebab. The Paneer Tikka was soft & well made. The Veg. Seekh Kebab were very nice, soft & just melted in the mouth. The Afghani Brocolli Tikka was a tandoori delicacy- roasted cheesy broccoli which was delicious & healthy at the same time. The Susst Soya Kebab was basically sleeping soya chaap marinated with onions & shudh malai. It had a soft & velvety texture and tasted absolutely delicious.
Next was Ganna Chicken (BBQ fired, muddled chili sauce & cane). What an innovation! You are supposed to have the chicken first and then chew the ganna. It was lip smacking good. A sweet chilli & rosemary dip is provided along with a brush to spread on the chicken. It’s a new concept & a lovely blend of both the flavours. Must try & most recommended dish out here.
Talli & Nalli had a sleeping caricature with roti blanket and the face had black olives as eyes. It was basically dark rum lamb shanks overdosed with passion and love. An excellent marination, very interesting & appealing dish I must say.
The Red Gull Shakahari Vegetarian Croquettes were served with red bull sauce (white mayo infused with red bull). It was interesting to note that if you have the sauce alone, you can feel the taste of red bull whereas it can’t be felt if had along with the croquettes. The croquettes were crunchy, crispy & soft with a mushy cheesy filling inside and the sauce on the other hand was very refreshing & different. They have 3 sauces which came in a fire bucket-
- First Degree {Normal- Plain mayo + black pepper}
- Second Degree {Spicy- Green Chilli}
- Third Degree {Spiciest- Tabasco + Paprika}
Next was CP’s Rajma Chawal Galouti with a chip of nacho & onion rings. It was low of flavours though a little spicy, soft & just melted in the mouth but I believe the taste can be improved a bit.
The Chilli Paneer Ghosla (West World fusion) had a nest in the indo-cheeni flavours, farm cheese chilly paneer with lettuce base in a tokri of crispy fried noodles. Loved it!
The Indiana mocktail consisted of green chilly, coriander, mint, sprite and jalapenos. It was a chilli masala beverage with a tangy twist. Very different. The Oriental Bloom had litchi, kaffir lime & star anise with nice flavours brought together.
Next was time for Lebanese Mezze Platter which had lavaash, pita, falafel, tabula, baba ganoush, hummus & bocconcini cheese. Classic dish at it’s best!
Then came the Aam Aadmi Chicken with a man with potli (like a Santa) ringing a bell with a desi dabba in hand and when we opened the tiffin, what we say was very desi, spicy & masaledaar punjabi chunks of chicken marinated with desi spices. According to Nikhil, the name Aam Aadmi Chicken is because it is eaten with chawal, roti & bread and is most ordered dish here. They sell about 100 portions of it everyday. A must try again!
This is the first restaurant in Delhi under a tree and has a natural, cool, chic & spacious set up of a ranch bar with tables & wooden look given with a neem tree ofcourse. It looks beautiful in any light, nicely lit up with a live band playing. Swarn Bhoomi was the band playing when we visited. They have the concept of people/bands who are not really famous come play here. It gives you a completely college days feel taking you back to the golden days. There is a scooty parked at the side with people clicking selfies on it.
The Cheese & Onion Momos had a filling of cheese & onions and were appetizing while the Chilli Chicken Momos were soft and tenderly done. Two dips were served along with it- Schzewan dip (with olive oil) and black pepper (with 5 spice mix). I was disappointed with the fact they have discontinued Maggi momos here!
We also tried some cocktails- Rosey had litchi juice, kaffir lime, star anise with Absolut Vodka. Giardino had white rum, fresh pomegranate seeds, basil leaf and pomegranate syrup but what I would recommend is Nutty Jack which had Jack Daniels, coffee, vanilla ice-cream & peanut butter. All the cocktails were absolutely amazing… but I loved the blend of Nutty Jack!
Coming to the main course, we tried the Veg. Biryani which was flavourful, spicy and good to taste. The Chicken Biryani was even better. The biryanis had tulsi & dry fruits (cashews) adding a Punjabi spicy tadka and blending along very well.
The Kuaa Dhuan is their hot selling mutton dish. It was mild & sweet. With Chicken Traphalgarh Curry (London version), they have taken chicken tikka masala to a different level with an English flavour keeping the Indian authentic taste.
The Tapta Tawa Tarkari had veggies likelady finger, egg plant with soft paneer in a takatak gravy. A spicy medley mix! The Butter Naan was layered with lots of love & hints of butter.
Coming to my favourite part- the desserts. First was Lollies antigrill– a live nitro lolly set up (-190 degree temperature) with flavours available like orange, kiwi, chocolate & strawberry. I tried the chocolate flavour lollipop which just melted & vanished on my tongue. I really enjoying the making and tasting of it. One can even write creative messages using it and surprise their loved ones. They are also introducing fresh fruit pulp & Hershey flavours soon.
The Spanish Churros were adulterated with pure valrhona and fortified with Bailey’s Irish cream. Cinnamon, sugar dust & flour sticks all combined together to form this great dish.
Last was the UCB Cake– The Unplugged Courtyard signature cake which was made live in front of our eyes using whipped cream, frozen cream, sponge cake & cherries. It was a de-constructed form of cake made live in front of us. The base tasted like biscuit crunch. It was an interesting mix & match and tasted great.
We also caught up with Chef Atul Sharma who hails from Ambala, Haryana and has been a part of the food Industry for over a decade. Though, we were absolutely impressed with the food made by him but what he personally loves is Rajma Chawal cooked by his wife. He is soon introducing cold soups, salads, appetizers & seasonal mango desserts. He has been at Unplugged Courtyard for just a few months but enjoying every bit here.
The restaurant has a terrace where there is a Bry grill barbeque (live) for preparation of chicken peri-peri, chicken chingari & dippy dogs which customers buy by weight- 150g, 250g or 1 kg and relax & enjoy in the playful atmosphere.
Our adventure didn’t end here… as we made our exit, we saw a really cool pan counter. The pan was absolutely sizzling…served in a glass, packed with Gulkand, Clove, Dates, strawberry, kiwi, and liquid nitrogen…A big thumbs up!!
I must say it’s a must visit place as the food is awesome, superb and some dishes are worth remembering and out of the box with dollops of love & happiness and my luck to meet the gurus behind all this- Dinesh Arora & Swaraj Singhi with this amazingly good hospitality, super quick service, tempting fulfilling and wholesome delicacies and yes an ambience to enjoy, relax, forgive, forget & chill and have loads of fun. I was impressed & certainly coming back for more without second thoughts.
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