It’s Saturday night and you’re excitedly making plans for a night out. Your outfit is ready, pre-gaming is in session and the designated driver for the night chosen. While you’re almost ready to head out, there’s a seemingly major glitch — it’s going to take you over an hour to reach that swanky watering hole on the other side of the city. The fate of the entire evening is now in question, with your responsible friend ready to throw their hands up in the air and abandon their duties.
More often than not, this happens to unassuming folks living away from the centre of the city, where traffic and long distances play spoilsport. Not all is lost, though, since this latest spot in East Hyderabad is set to save all those weekend plans that face the danger of falling through.
Located in Nagole, Meld Haus blends into the rugged locale seamlessly. The ambience is industrial chic, with a splash of red splattered across exposed brick walls, abstract flags hanging from the double heighted ceiling, and plush seating overlooking a bar across the floor.
Further, the space opens up into a humongous outdoor area, complete with low couches, water fountains and live cooking stations. The vibe is pretty clearly demarcated in both the spaces, step indoors for low-key Afro house sessions, and outdoors for endless banter.
We kick-started the weekend with the Evergreen— a vodka, spiced honey, basil and lime concoction that was bold with its flavours. For those skipping their weekend drinking binge, we’d recommend the Aam-licious, a raw mango based mocktail that was a delicious sweet-sour choice.
From the extensive menu offering everything from Dim sum to Arrabiatta, we called for the Cantonese style chicken dim sum first. With the rainy weather outside, the warm steamed umami-filled parcels brought comfort in every bite. The sides of chilli oil and a spicy mint sauce are unmissable.
The Chicken mozambique came in a delicious cheese sauce, with a side of salad in an edible chip bowl. While the panko-fried meat held its own, the chip-and-dip made this dish a winner.
The menu offers a host of spicy, regionalised favourites that go perfectly with drinks. The flaky Paneer vepudu puff pizza topped with spicy chunks of marinated paneer was polished off within minutes. The aptly named Guntur karam 65 fried rice was reminiscent of bandi (food cart) style preparations full of chilli. To calm the spice down, we called for the Swan in the lake, a mocha tres leches with subtly sweetened elements of milk that did its job efficiently.
INR 2,500 for two. At Nagole.
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