Enjoy scrumptious dishes & extravagant cocktails at The Cycle Gap restobar in RA Puram

As you climb down the stairs and enter The Cycle Gap in RA Puram, you will be treated to an ambience that is cosy and warm and one can't help but look at the vast bar that dominates the whole space. It is a restobar after all.

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Once you take a seat at a table that is set high and take a look at the surroundings again, where you'll find frames full of amusing pictures hanging on the walls and wire-spoked wheels, you get treated to a menu that is rather concise. The restobar caters to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians, but the theme is the same for both - Glocal.

Rosy s'tart'

We began with a mocktail named Rosapoo that was very sweet, for it was made with watermelon, lychee, coconut water and rose syrup. While we were sipping on it, the Tawa Masala Tart landed on our table. It was a tart that was filled with minced chicken and was crunchy and very tasty at the same time.

That dish also awoke our palate and was the best example of the 'Glocal' theme. But the best dish it was not, for that is reserved for the Salt & Pepper Prawn Skewers. Boy were they a blast to eat and the flavours simply explode in your mouth. Definitely a must try. The very tasty Honey Mustard Chicken Wings followed suit, as did the picture-perfect Kofte Mutton and the juicy and yummy House Marinated Quater Chicken.

For those avid parotta fans, there was Butter Chicken with Coin Parotta and for people who do not feel satisfied without having rice with a meal, there is the Chicken Chelo Kebab with Cardamom Scented Rice.

Kutty twist

While the dishes kept impressing us, the cocktails that we tried were a mixed bag. Sollunga Manga Kutty (Bacardi Rum, Mango Juice, Pineapple Juice, Passion Fruit Syrup, Lime Juice) was one of a kind, while Rootu Thalaive (Vettiver Vodka, Blood Orange, Lime, Sea Salt Air Foam) was eye candy. But, the rather bitter Murunga Kaye Martini (Vodka, Dry Vermouth, Pineapple Chunks, Murraya Koenigii, Citrus Spray) was not to our liking.

Of course one could also try the Whisky Sarbat among several other cocktails and when it comes to food, there are scrumptious dishes like Paneer Pollichathu and Kozhi Mundthiri to try as well. Most ingredients used to make the global food in Chennai style are sourced locally, barring a few items like cheese, which are imported.

Attention to detail

Chef Bhagyaraj who takes care of the consultancy and chef Siva who works at The Cycle Gap RA Puram have put great effort in making the dishes look properly global. The Kofte Mutton, for example, was made using a mould that was developed by the chefs so as to get that smooth, round surface. The chefs had to resort to creating a mould themselves since the different moulds they tried, including those sourced from overseas, did not provide a satisfactory outcome.

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Meal for two: INR 800-1000, meal for two with alcohol: INR 1,800-2,000. 12 pm to 12 am. At Twinstar Hotel, RA Puram.