What is Kolkata without the steadfast luxury of street food? A round of phuchka after school or mid-morning momos at Tirreti? The global health crisis may have taken away the simplest of joys but turns out some Tier-1 properties are ready to help us out. Hard Rock Cafe’s limited edition menu is here to make sure we don’t miss out on the street food festivals that dominate this season in the city. The Streat Up menu is available across select Hard Rock Cafe outlets across India such as Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Curated by Chef Cyrus Irani the menu which will be available at HRC for the next few days, has a really smart, fuss-free curation and a focus on shareable plates.
Street binging is not without its anxieties amid the Covid crisis and since the people in the city are prioritising hygiene and distancing over everything else, Hard Rock Cafe has essentially assembled the most widely loved street food picks. Moreover, the menu is really diverse, ranging from authentic kebabs from the bylanes of Lucknow, to North Indian numbers from Delhi’s beloved Khau gully and even some North Eastern staples. “This year has been different in many ways, and we believe that the one thing that Indians have missed dearly is the street food culture of the country. The joy of eating out now gets hygienic while remaining authentic as we bring Streat Up to various cities,” Irani shares.
There’s nothing too experimental or unfamiliar on the menu, and one can expect an array of comfort food, albeit with a really impeccable finish, the kind that is often lacking in street-side grub. The steamed momos, for instance, were delicate, fleshy dumplings with a hearty medley of mixed veggies. Definitely team the dumplings with the restaurant’s superb in-house Schezwan sauce, it’s sharp, fresh and low in salt. Hard Rock has one of the best bars in town, and all the picks from the street food menu are pairable with cocktails or beer.
We paired the Crispy Fried Chicken Lollipop with the Hurricane, one of the joint’s signature mixes and a New Orleans classic, made with Bacardi Superior rum, orange, mango, pineapple juice, finished with Grenadine, Captain Morgan and the velvety amaretto syrup. The American Corn Salt and Pepper is a splendid western take on desi chakna and features crunchy, tempered American corn; it’s ideal for binging over some craft or draught beer. The Chicken Tikka really surprised us with its breathy tandoor finish and features tender, well-seared chunks of chicken. It went surprisingly well with the Pineapple Lemonade (hand-muddled pineapple shaken with bubbly lemonade).
Hard Rock Cafe is also set to resume live gigs at the venue and will host a Bollywood night on Friday night where city-based band The ARC Project will perform live. Plus, you can also round up your squad and drop in at HRC this weekend as the venue is set to stream the live performances from the all-digital 11th edition of Bacardi NH7 Weekender on December 5-6, including gigs by Raja Kumari, Duckwrth, Prateek Kuhad and more.