With a friendly staff, a zealous cook and innovative dishes that don't bore into your pocket, Cooper's Grill and Bar in Gurgaon is that perfect place to unwind after a rough day at work, discovers Prerna Sharma
Fine dining in Delhi can often set you back by a month’s EMI for a home loan! But for those who don’t want to shell out a small fortune, the answer is a quiet place where one can relax with friends. In DlF Star Tower, Gurgaon, a flashy light that read Cooper’s Grill and Bar caught our attention. A lawn and a flight of steps later we reach the restaurant — a subtle cosy space with large glass windows and dim lights. Chesterfield stools at the bar, a live kitchen and comfortable patio seating overlooking the greens seemed ideal.
While most of the restaurants focus on being “posh”, Cooper’s Grill and Bar believes in serving “pocket-friendly” food with a generous helping of love. They call it “food and drinks made with love and served with love” and their logo is an animated badger. “It’s a symbol of fearlessness,” says Sidharth Aggarwal, the man behind the restaurant. “In fact, the name Cooper’ is modelled on the name of a very dear friend and co-partner of the restaurant.”
Aggarwal hails from the hospitality industry, with more than a decade’s experience in the field. He has worked with the best five-star hotels across the globe and German chef Thomas Ciszak. “There were initially plans to open a pizzeria with no alcohol served but eventually we settled for a proper restaurant. We have other restaurants but this is the only one in Gurgaon. I find this place really swanky and thought would give us good business. We will keep changing the menu every three months, though. It will essentially be American cuisine but there will be variations from time to time. It will primarily depend on what the customers want. The menu is an amalgamation of Tex-Mex, Italian, continental and lebanese, mainly. That way, we have something for everyone,”Aggarwal said.
The Cooper’s menu offers a variety of starters, salads, pizzas, burgers, grills and desserts. Aggarwal explained the history behind every dish as we relished the food. We started with onion rings and grilled fish sticks. The onions rings were OK but the twist was great — white onion instead of red, and dipped in tempura flour and fried just right, it was a treat! The fish sticks were prepared with basil, parsley, pesto sauce and a strong seasoning of garlic, coated with a thick yummy layer of chermoula sauce. This, with chilled beer, was the perfect combination for a relaxing evening.
We were introduced to chef Ramesh Koirala, who is a self-taught culinary expert for the past 12 years. “I can cook the best continental and lebanese dishes,” he proudly tells us. “I’ve learnt through websites, cookery shows and my experiences. I keep experimenting with food and often take Sidharth’s help, as he is great with flavours and has a nose for the right blends. My never-say-die attitude is why I have tasted success in the field’
For the main course we settled for ratatouille bocconcini pizza. Ratatouille is an amalgamation of vegetables with freshly made pizza sauce, complete with bocconcini cheese. The BBQ chicken was also a hit —it was neither too hot nor too bland. The chicken was fresh and juicy and the flavour were strong with oregano and garlic seasoning.
Cooper’s Taco vs Basa, served with white and black rice, has become a very popular dish. Fibre-rich wild rice gives it an extra punch.
The restaurant also maintains a blackboard with the chef’s innovative dishes listed out. If they score with the guests, Aggarwal says, they will be added to the set menu.
“We make sure our customers are happy. We have badger buddy cards which are given to special customers. The table which enjoys its food the most, no matter how much the bill, gets this card through which they get a 20 per cent discount every time they visit,” he said.
Cooper’s is just the place to head to after a rough day at work! A comfortable ambience, great food, zero pretensions, some of the most amazing cocktails and just the right price-what else does one needIJ