We recently happened to attend the first Media event at Smoke on Water, the first tap-your-beer Gastro-pub, in Connaught Place in Delhi. This is the most recent addition to the culinary and pub scenario of Delhi.
All the three – Stuti Dixit, Mayur Mathur and their unique concept of Tap your Beer have debuted in the hospitality industry in the first week of July and have already created a buzz with their unique Pawwa drinks and their 16 unique flavours of Chicken wings.
The interiors of the gastro pub have a rustic feel with light-colored brick walls, shades of grey and exposed ducts. The gastro pub is filled with screens almost everywhere, a beer tap on every table, and a great food menu. The restaurant is an 88 seater with approx. 2000 sq ft of carpet area.
Mayur informed us that the idea behind such a setup was to give it an American pub as well as a family outing place look, where one can come and spend some quality time. He boasted of being the only place in Delhi which serves 16 unique flavours of Chicken wings. He further added that they wanted to create the traditional American experience with its cuisine, and hence in addition to chicken wings, they serve a range of big sized burgers, cracker crust pizzas and other bites.
He very proudly demonstrated the state-of-the-art beer dispensing system that they have at the pub. He briefed us a little about the draft beer and the bottled beer. A draught beer is fresher, brewed and packaged in a traditional manner in a barrel. It is not exposed to light and is kept cold all the time. Also, it matures naturally in contrast to a bottled beer which is pasteurized to keep it safe for a longer period of time.
Now on to the taps on every table. He says that a client has to buy a drink card initially. Each table has a card reader and respective taps for draught beer. You have to place your card on the card reader and choose the amount and then the tap is enabled for you to pour the beer yourself. You place your glass at a 45 degree inclination to the tap and you are ready to pour and enjoy your beer.
Mayur further added that “Unlike other cafes, we want to charge the guests only for the amount he or she pours in. If you order a draft beer at any other place, you will be served nothing less than a mug or a pitcher and even if you wish to have lesser than that, you have to pay for the entire thing. Here, there is no such limitation”.
Well, enough of beer on tap talks now. We initially were thinking of having a hard time here – as we are teetotalers and also vegetarians. But we were pleasantly surprised to find a lot of choices in the drinks as well as food menu for us.
We tried almost five mock-tails from their drinks menu and a lot of veggies from the event menu. On seeing me sit quietly without any food or drink in front of me made the waiters as well as Mayur uncomfortable, and I was also served a special plate of Onion Rings (not on the event menu).
We had Crispy baby Corn, Grilled Polenta with Fetta Cheese, Nachos, Potato Nuggets and a great Farmhouse Pizza. The Pizza was the best of all and I had to go in for a repeat order. Other than the pizza, I loved the Grilled Polenta too, which made a great munchie with my mock-tails.
Rock n Roll refresher (Lime and orange based), Chatpata, Pomme-Basil Cooler, and Peach Iced Tea were the few mock-tails that we tried. I also tried a special preparation with a mix of berries and sweet lime. The Pomme-basil based cooler was the best among all the mock-tails served.
Besides this my other friends present at Smoke On Water were seen enjoying various drinks from the pretty cool cocktail menu. Sangrias in various versions, desi pawwas containing different flavoured drinks, e.g, Kaala Jaamun, Paan Pasand, etc. were a few names that I got to learn from my colleague who was feasting on alcohol and the chicken wing munchies.
Overall a great pub to be at after a busy day in office.
exatraveller 