Love Rock music? Hard Rock Cafe is the place you need to check out

Hard Rock Cafe does not need any introduction, be it in India or anywhere in the world. However, Chennai was grossly missing the café, and people had to travel to Bengaluru to get the unique experience. That, though, is history now, for the city has its very own and first outlet, the café, and we were there to get immersed in the experience.

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The moment one enters the café, the first thing that they notice is the merchandise. One can find anything from T-shirts to keychains there. Then, the displays placed on the walls, which range from bikinis to picture frames, are attention-grabbing as well.

As one walks through the rock and roll restaurant, the strong smell of food and drinks, accompanied by the most soulful music that is played by a DJ, welcomes them, and the furniture too is welcoming, as in, one can spend hours and hours sitting on the couches and chairs and there won’t be cause for complaints.

The first dish that we tried was the One Night in Bangkok Spicy Shrimp, which instantly blew us away. The crispy shrimps were tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce, topped with green onions, and served on a bed of coleslaw. It is a must-have in our books.

Then came the Southern Spice Cottage Cheese Slider, which made us rather pleased. The grilled cottage cheese was flavourful, thanks to it having been marinated with spicy chipotle and layered with refried beans and chilli cilantro sauce. It had the right amount of spiciness and tanginess and was a fantastic starter.

By this time, we noticed that the Classic Nachos were simply flying off the shelves, and not wanting to eat the same dish that every other table had ordered, we asked for the Messi Burger. However, the dish was not served the day we had gone.

Not letting that bog us down, we went big with the next order and got the Jumbo Combo Veg, which is a combination of several vegetable starters such as onion rings, potato skins, tomato bruschetta, southwest spring rolls, and Huli-Huli Veg Skewers (served with house-made barbecue, sour cream, and chipotle aioli).

This dish is for those who are strictly vegetarian, and it would, for all intents and purposes, fill one’s tummy to the brim. So, order this if you have the capacity to eat a sizeable amount of food.

We also tried the Southwest Chicken Flatbread and the Big Cheeseburger, which were good in their own right. We preferred the burger more in comparison with the flatbread, though.

Amongst the drinks, we started with the Long Island Iced Tea, which is basically a combination of white spirits. This one had vodka, gin, Bacardi white, triple sec, and a splash of Coke. What we liked was the fact that there was not too much coke overpowering the rest of the spirits—a refreshing, if slightly extra-alcoholic drink, this one is sure to make your spirits soar.

The next one that we had was The Hurricane, a 1940s New Orleans classic. This typically had Bacardi white, orange, mango, and pineapple juice topped up with grenadine, with a dash of dark rum and amaretto. The tanginess of the Grenadine was more than offset by the sweetness of Amaretto, and the addition of Bacardi with orange and mango juices really gave this cocktail a fruity flavour, making it a lovely summer drink to be enjoyed in the evenings.

Of course, wherever we see a smoky whisky cocktail, we cannot control ourselves, so the next one we just had to sample was the smoked old-fashioned. Typically made with bourbon, this lovely vintage cocktail had some house-made brown sugar, simple syrup, and cherry bitters. What caught the glass's attention was the cherry garnish on top. The smoke infusion added a bit of peat to the whole cocktail, and We relished this one immensely.

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The last one for the evening was a Rhythm & Rose Mule; this one had vodka combined with refreshing passion fruit, green tea, and lime, with a hint of ginger, topped with a rose wine. A very nice summery drink, this one went down quite smoothly, again giving a breezy sensation down the throat. We would highly recommend this one.

Price: Food from INR 399. Beverages from INR 175. 11 am to 11 pm. At Sterling Road, Nungambakkam.