With the second wave of the pandemic engulfing large parts of the nation, everyone is looking for some respite from the confines of their four walls. Most are too worried to venture and for these folks, Unplugged Courtyard is perhaps the safest option to explore with its open-air sitting arrangement and all precautions in place. You can happily spend a few hours gazing at the stars or at the majestic Victoria Memorial right across the street.
This 180-seater sprawling restobar spread across a whopping 7,500 sq ft offers interesting food and refreshing cocktail options with a view like none other. “We’re passionate about this venture and want to introduce a remarkable combination of food, drinks, music, and atmosphere to the city. We are looking to host a lot of special nights as well, catering to the diverse crowd of this multifaceted city,” shares Priti and Amit Modi, franchise owners of Unplugged.
Located within the premises of the Golden Park Hotel at Ho Chi Minh Sarani, this capacious restobar is segregated into several well-spaced-out zones, which is a great source of relief for a guest apprehensive about catching the contagion in a cloistered space. In congruence with its name, the lounge-diner hosts a variety of live music gigs highlighting the city’s indigenous soundscape apart from the regular DJ nights.
As for the menu, we had a great start with a delectable platter of Thai Basil Chicken Dimsum that had mildly spiced minced chicken with notes of galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and chillies. The exotic softballs were delicious and followed by the equally tempting Prawn Hargao. The prawns delicately tossed with fresh herbs were a delight to bite into. The Water Chestnut and Asparagus Corn Tempura (a concoction of tempura fried, harissa chilli aioli, togarashi and mint dust) that followed the dimsums did not disappoint either.
You can also try their Unplugged Platters among which the Turkish Platter, a non-veg assortment of Turkish items including baba ganoush, Adana kebab, lamb shish and hummus is worth every penny. Unplugged also boasts of a king-size Sushi Platter comprising generous portions of salmon and tuna.
For the main course, we stuffed ourselves with dishes from the Indian section and drooled over their Dal Makhan Wala and Butter Chicken with Indian bread. It turned out to be one of the very few places in the city that could cook both the delicacies to perfection. But we also couldn’t resist having a taste of their much-recommended Gnocchi Pesto Cream and we have to say, it was outstanding.
With belching bellies notwithstanding, we happily surrendered to the sweet temptations of the crunchy, cinnamon and sugar dust-coated Churros. They were served with three variants of delectable dips made with hazelnut, coffee and chocolate.
Price for two: Rs 2,800 (with alcohol)
sharmishtha.g@newindian express.com
@sharmidas