This neighbourhood bar in Secunderabad serves exciting fusion dishes alongside live music

A new place in town is always an exciting idea for folks on the lookout to try someplace new. Be it the spanking new contemporary interiors or innovative cocktails, a new neighbourhood bar always piques the interest of local diners eager to check out what the place has to offer.

This week, we waltzed into Night Owl — Club | Cocktails | Cuisine, a new rooftop space on the bustling streets of Karkhana, a lively addition to the neighbourhood. The club was cosy and inviting from the word go. The indoor space was done up with plush, comfortable chesterfield sofas. swanky, minimal bar in the corner looked like an art installation by itself.

Outdoors, the vibe was light, airy, with a canopy of greens cordoning the space off from the noisy road downstairs. Weekdays are reserved for DJ nights and weekends are for live performances by budding local artistes. We started with the Twist of Night Owl, a creamy mocktail with dried figs and pistachios blended with rich whipped cream and caramel sauce. We reached out for the deliciously creamy drink throughout the meal.

We recommend going the Mediterranean route with the Sheesh tauk featured on the small plates section. Incredibly juicy chicken, marinated in a host of spices served alongside a mango salsa and mint chutney was the ideal way for us to start our meal. The Chicken crackers — crumb fried chicken served with both sweet and spicy sauces went well with our cocktails.

From Dirty nachos to Thecha prawns, the menu had some innovative, fusion dishes of which, the Avakaya arancini stood out to us. Morsels of short grain rice mixed with avakaya (mango pickle), stuffed with cheese, and crumb fried. The bar snack also snuck in local flavours deftly. or the hungry, we recommend ending your night out with the Makhani Masala pizza, with makhani sauce, mint chutney drizzle and veggies. Blending Indian flavours with the Italian staple, the dish was a hit.

INR 1,000 for two. At Karkhana.