This new everyday bar in Hyderabad sets trends with a menu full of quarter portioned eats

Sharing a meal with a group of friends or acquaintances is no short of a delicate dance. From sorting out differences about a certain type of fish or chicken preparation to intently taking the waiter’s recommendations from an extensive menu. If someone swears by their Chicken 65, someone else would like a Sushi platter on their evening out. And while this is being figured out, a paneer or mushroom option is requested for the vegetarian kin.

If too little is ordered, one is sure to hear signs of subtle hunger in the middle of a conversation. Order too much, and you’re staring at a table full of food, while everyone has had their fill already. And then there are the infamous Joeys of the group who dislike sharing food, however humungous the portions may be. Getting the order right in this scenario seems like a utopian dream.

This week, we stepped into Pawwa Everyday Bar + Bites which promises city dwellers a solution to the confusing ordeal. With sparse yet luxurious seating, 2000s pop hits subtly playing in the background, a not-too-loud screening of cricket matches in a corner, the space played the perfect setting for chatty groups of friends out to get a drink.

We perused through the menu to find options to order quarter, half or full portions from an extensive menu of appetisers. Wasting no time, we called for the Jubilee peanut masala and Maddur vada dipsticks to go with our drinks. The dishes arrived in brass platters shaped in quarters of a circle to further emphasise the portion size which wasn’t skimpy, but just enough to share.

An appetiser that stood out was the Highway mutton seekh with its melt-in-your-mouth buttery meat, inspired from eats at local bars around Hyderabad. The chicken keema kulchette, served in a takeaway-style pizza box was interesting as well.

Aside from the delicious shareables, the Butter chicken from the mains left us craving for more.

INR 1,400 for two. At Jubilee Hills.