Drink the way the Irish do at the city’s first ever gastro pub. Its general manager Swadeep Popli spoke to Iknoor Kaur about his capers through Europe to get the look right
You may think of this one as a typical “public house” in Ireland — green leather upholstery, freshly varnished wood, floorboards, a neatly decorated vintage bar, round tables with elevated chairs, 80s rock music and a pool and foosball tables. The Chatterhouse at Nehru Place is one-of-its-kind gastro pubs set to make the population ‘drink like the Irish do.’ For those who have been to Irish House in Mumbai, we would call this one a classier and a reasonable version.
General Manager, Swadeep Popli says that he travelled all over Europe to get the Irish look right.
“I knew I wanted to open an authentic ‘pub’ in the city. We have many so-called pubs here, but if we go by the original Irish pub, there is none. So I travelled all over Europe, experienced the pub culture and came back here and modified it a bit. So we have slightly bigger tables because Indians like to have a big table full of things,” he says.
The food is something they don’t compromise on. Swadeep feels that the only thing people like to have more than the alcohol while drinking is food.
“Everyone loves to eat while drinking and if the food is not good then there’s no point. So, I incorporated very convenient grub which is actually called pub grub in Europe. Additionally, Indian is a very popular demand while drinking. So we added that,” he explains.
‘Beer+Burger’ is the concept here. Swadeep says, “People in India usually drink at night. I wanted to break that. Why can’t they buy a beer instead of a coke for lunch with their burger.” There is a column in a menu that reads, “Add a beer to the burger for an additional Rs 50.”
The good part about the place is that it is light on pocket. Swadeep’s idea behind keeping everything in the menu below Rs 400 including liquor was, “If someone drinks Red label at home, he comes to the bar and has 100 Pipers only because Red label is too expensive. I didn’t want that to happen here. So, even the luxury brands are priced reasonably.” An example of that is a shot of Absinthe available for only Rs 365.
In the menu, the best of the lot is the Chatterhouse special bacon wrapped in mac and cheese. It was a traditional mac and cheese wrapped in pork bacon, deep fried and served with French mustard.
The cocktail concoctions are extremely innovative. As their liquor license is still awaited, the mocktails are enough to satiate the palate. Amrood chaat is a mocktail made with fresh guava, guava juice and Sprite. All their cocktails are served in maisin jars.
A unique feature of the eating experience here is the involvement of the chef in serving the customers. Chef Honey Abrol says that a clause in the rule book of the restaurant states that if a customer wishes to eat something out of the menu, he will try his best to make the dish by putting together all available resources.
The other thing that makes the pub a fantastic pick for your next outdoor visit is their concept of platters. The Chatterhouse doesn’t provide any dish individually. It clubs a combination of the right bread with a dish. This means you will always have garlic bread with pasta and butter naan with butter chicken. “We believe in sharing. The idea of sharing is what gives us our name, Chatterhouse,” says Swadeep.
Whether you are a 20-year-old or a 60-year-old, The Chatterhouse is the place for you.