By Reenu Bahl
I am a mother of a super active toddler and sometimes it becomes really annoying to dine out with this brat. He tends to break into every conversation, imagines soup to be a finger bowl, or insist upon using his own knife and spoon with an intention (I believe!) of spilling the food. Duh! Therefore, whenever I go out to dine, my first question is “do you have a high chair for kids ?” For parents like me, the solution is dine-out places with an exclusive ‘kids-zone’. At the newly opened Uncultured Cafe & Bar in Kailash Colony, Delhi, this was the first thing that got me excited.
Our recent visit to this fairly new outlet was a big surprise my little one got his own space and we got ours! Apart from this, what made this place stand out was the big space and the way food was served on our table.
Here’s my top five high points why you must visit this place.
Lots of open space, like lots!
It is very difficult to image a lounge and bar spread over the total area of 7000sq feet. Guys, it is a lot of space. Spread over three floors, out of which two are approachable by elevator, Uncultured Cafe & Bar offers a great mix of indoor and outdoor space. Indoor are kept neat with comfortable sitting, subtle lighting and greatly curated interior; outdoors get a thumbs up with simplistic furniture, lots of green, open bar and periodic sprays of cool mist. The rooftop sitting gives you a lot of private space. I guess the owners gave a lot of prominence to outdoor sitting as it is a preferable choice when you want to enjoy your sheesha pipe without making others feel suffocated and live the ‘sometimes great’ Delhi weather while overlooking the greens.
Kids’ area for the little ones
Since this eatery came into business mid-February, everything is state of art. Kids zone can be the highlight of this place as it is not limited to just a ball pool or castle of blocks, it has video games, rides, puzzles and age-apt games to keep children in every age bracket busy. And has rules – you need to enter the zone after removing your shoes. The plush carpet and rides looked comfortable and safe for my brat. I left him alone without a second thought.
The delish food, of course!
Here too, Uncultured surprised me. The welcome dish came packed in egg-shell replicas sitting on dry ice and were meant to be gulped at once. Even before I could fathom what it is, the cold thing was down my throat leaving behind a fruity flavour. I loved it! Next, the menu boasts of multiple cuisines – local chats, continental, Mughlai, Chinese and Italian. I was definitely confused. Here the manager’s recommendation helped me and I enjoyed a mix of all. He suggested that we should start with gol gappas, and to our surprise, we did. Besides the regulars, what attracted us most was their Harissa Broccoli cheese. The cardamom flavoured baked broccoli florets came loaded with cheese – a must try.
Food art and presentation
When you serve the food and the presentation attracts the diner, it is half the battle one. In this aspect, Uncultured wins hands down. The gol gappas came with syringes filled with sweet and sour chutney and flavoured water in test tubes sitting on dry ice. It felt like a funny chemistry lab class but the concoctions tasted great. Cheesy broccoli was served on a frying pan. Paneer tikka cubes came sitting on a ladder styled tower with mint chutney tucked in a small hollow at the base. Best was this mocktail – This Weekend Uncultured – served in a beaker flask. There are twists in the way food is served.
So many flavours of Sheesha
Uncultured Cafe & Bar serves liquor when informed in advance. Meanwhile, they keep the guests busy with sheesha pipes. I didn’t try it, but I kept guessing what a chocolate, mint and ice cream based sheesha will taste like. And this is not it, there are a lot of unusual flavours. Guess, that is the only thing I left for my next visit.
(The writer is an ex-journalist, a self-confessed food lover and a doting mother)
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