It’s a sprawling bar with a Parisian brand name that sells like hotcakes all around the world. It has platters to die for and cocktails that are uniformly unique. It also has the music that is regularly cut into albums worldwide. MEENAKSHI RAO visited the facility and came out a convert — with sushi in her palate and a spring in her step
There is something unique about the B Bar. For one, the space overwhelms you — it is like a giant sized ball dance floor rounding up on all sides with seating arrangements right in the heart of the sprawl. Add to that the yellow lit red and gold decor which is quite oriental with all the lanterns etc hanging in the corners conspicuously guarded by huge statues shaping up the walls. And yet it is alluringly retro if, that is, you can take in the richness of the decor, hoping secretly that the upcoming food is not in competition with all this heaviness.
Surprisingly, B Bar’s snack platter, mains and even the desserts are not. They are health conscious, well cooked, light, not greasy and look good too. For an oversized pub with high ambitions of catering to 1,000 people gyrating to their in house music every evening — at a high price — it’s the passion in their food that goes a long way in making them stand apart and tall at that.
As we all know, Buddha Bars started as a novel concept in Paris and it garners a huge draw from the swish and young gentry of that romantic city, including its huge tourist population which often includes a night at B Bar as a must in their Parisian adventure. The queues are long and unrelenting but once in, it is another world of music, dance, cocktails and foods out there.
India has two of this chain, one in Delhi and another one in Mumbai, which the attentive marketing manager proudly tells you, are a rage. Perhaps, that’s the reason why the new team of three franchisees thought of refurbishing the entire expanse in their Delhi facility which is conveniently stacked in a standalone floor of the very popular Select City Walk Mall.
As locations go, this one is the most happening. As food goes, this one again is the most happening, thanks to the lively company of Tepinyaki Counter Shot and Chef Vadim Shin. A young South Korean, trained to perfection in Japanese cuisine, with a Russian background but a very Indian wife, not to mention, with talent in the music field too Vadim is treat to be with and talk about the journey of the sushi and Tepinyaki cuisine in India.
For those who are shy of having sushi, Vadim is the man to go to because not only does he assemble the most delicately decorated sushis you may have never seen elsewhere but also makes sure that vegetarians are not neglected. His avocado sushi are a revelation in flavour, texture and looks. For beginners, there’s no better place to be but B Bar for a sushi entry into their platter.
B Bar, the energetic Vadim tells you, has the biggest and the most correct selection of sushi and the counter, sitting in one corner of the rounded hall has been done up with some amount of thought. Rubbing shoulders with it is the high-stool Tepinyaki counter where after a few of B Bar’s select cocktails and some sushi, you can shift for a main meal. Here too chef Vasan is a delight to be with. He cooks on this live counter in amazing style of, say, a cocktail mixer and serves you his best (which was amazing Kiwi lamb chops and spicy rice for me with a side of softly grazed greens for me. Amid all this, there was a lot a engaging talk which Vadim keeps you engaged in through the time he takes for well done chops.
You get distracted by the soulful music in between only to learn that this is self conceived music which has been making huge sales as albums around the world. However, it is the chicken salad that the chef insists and you concede is the showstopper starter here. Now there are chicken salads and chicken salads all over the restaurants — this one is not among the many but the only one to go for. The rice crisps that the chef added to them, makes it the most amazing chicken salad I have had.
Though the international B Bar management keeps a stranglehold on the quality and variety of its blended cocktails for the sake of uniformity, it gives prudent leeway to its food platter in accordance to local taste. So, you have a makki platter rubbing shoulders with the more benchmark cuisine of B Bar which has outlets in Africa, South Asia and Europe, despite closures in the US.
Back in India it all hots up post 10 in the night and that’s the time to be with B Bar and its fare. But for those preferring quiet pub (a misnomer in Delhi where music yells as much as the guests) a daytime visit will be worth the price.