‘Smoke on Water’ is the new hangout for the young in Connaught Place, Delhi. Located amidst a hub of other modern day restaurants in Connaught Place’s inner circle, ‘Smoke on Water’, the first tap-your-beer gastro pub in the city is easy to locate and is accessible by metro. Sports by the day! Rock by the Night! is the quintessential theme around which this gastro pub has been conceptualized. Stuti Dixit, the owner and partner of Smoke on Water is an ardent music and sports lover with an unbridled passion for food and this new venture is a beautiful amalgamation of all the three. Her love for music made her coin the name ‘Smoke on Water’ after the famous song by the rock band Deep Purple. This two-storeyed, 88 seater gastro pub has an overall rustic set up.
The interiors are made up of light yellowish grey coloured bricks and exposed ducts lighted by hanging lantern type lamps all over. The pub has 20 odd flat screen monitors which keep playing the concerts and solo album videos of famous rock musicians at night and is essentially a sports bar during the daytime. Sports fanatics can come in groups to watch their favourite sport and root for their favourite teams during different sports events.
This gastro pub promises to offer a unique eat-n-drink experience and it does not fail to deliver indeed. Being the first tap-your-beer pub in the city, it has beer taps neatly placed on all the table-tops for dispensing beer at one’s will. The concept of a top-up beer card is unique in the sense that it allows drinkers to top up the card and then use it for dispensing beer in smaller quantities as per requirement rather than pints.
Apart from beer, this place has a good collection of a variety of drinks and cocktails. What caught my attention on the drinking menu was the ‘desi pahua’ section since it was slightly different from the usual cocktails available on the drink menus in other restaurants. Desi Pahua brought in a desi flavor to the drinks. There were primarily three drinks in the section – ‘masala marke’, ‘pan pasanda’ and ‘kala jamun’; all served in a bucket with liquid nitrogen. Masala marke was my personal favourite as it was a unique combination of golgappa pani and vodka. The tangy after taste of both masala marke and kala jamun left me wanting for more.
I had a variety of snacks to compliment my drinks. The fried prawn crackers served with Thai sweet chilli sauce set my taste buds on fire. The crispiness of the prawn crackers was rightly balanced with the sweetness of the Thai sauce. Then, there were fish tenders with tartar sauce, Thai fish cakes and chicken skewers all of which were perfect accompaniments to the drinks. The chicken meatballs served with a tangy tomato sauce were delightful and I could not resist myself from eating a handful. The pizzas they served were all thin crust. The crispiness of the crust and the generosity of the pizza toppings made them a real hit among the diners. This gastro pub stands out for its unbeatable collection of fiery chicken wings. The sixteen different varieties of chicken wings that they offer range from Indian to American flavours and is a must try when you are visiting this place.
There is more than one reason why you should give ‘Smoke on Water’ a go when you are in Connaught Place, Delhi. This unique food-n-drink experience is budget friendly and does not pinch one’s pocket much. Though the capital boasts of housing several pubs or beer cafes and gastro pubs separately, a visit to this place gives an all in one experience. One can tap one’s own beer with their personal top-up beer cards and enjoy the delightful pub food all at the same time. The subtly lighted interiors and the rock music playing in the background set the right mood for a weekend catching up session with friends. The only flip side of this otherwise fabulous venture is the space crunch. It might feel slightly claustrophobic at times. Visit this gastro pub and enjoy the unique food-n-drink-n-music experience that it offers. It is surely set to rock your spirits and give you a high!
