Another one from the stable of Priyank Sukhija, Teddy Boy screams pizzazz and is tailor made for the archetypal Delhi crowd. D Singh reports
The speak of the town is fusion and some people know it well than others and then there are some who know it way too well. Sukhija and gang at their latest offering, Teddy Boy have done exactly that. The place is a riot in itself. It’s everything Delhi wants, be it the deafening music, a fusion menu, booze bantas, terrace, hookahs and even e-hookahs. Very Punjabi, very Dilli. The place is inspired and themed on the British popular culture of 50s and the lads who used to mosey down the streets of london in their drain-pipe trousers and Edwardian styled wavy puffed-gelled hair. The concept is akin to and seems to have gone down pretty well with badass attitude of Delhi dudes and dudettes considering the place was jam-packed even on a weeknight.
With heavy influences from retro British pub scene the apparent gastro pub has been done keeping the Brit quotient high. Spread across two levels, the place is pretty huge with a capacity of around 80. The vintage red bricked walls, leather couches, the Union Jack, the drums and faux deer heads on walls, and a nostalgic old school playlist including West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys, they have gone the whole hog on their attempts to get on their Brit-punjabi combo right which Delhi just loves.
Although the menu has been done in 50s style indie Brit magazines, it has got all the desi flavours going in. With executive chef as ebullient as Doyel Sarkar of Master Chef India Fame, the food was bound to get a spunky twist of her own. The effervescence of the place is pretty palpable and parts of it can be found in chef Sarkar as well who was busy suggesting and tending to multiple tables when we arrived. Speaking about the inspiration for the menu she said, “I’ve incorporated a lot of Bengali flavours to the food here. The menu is filled with fusion of western popular dishes with an Indian touch as that’s something which comes naturally to me and I’ve always wanted to do.” She recommended some of her signatures, we started with Bubblegum vodka banta which was bursting with bubblegum. With this we had Nacho bruschetta which was a nice mix up of nachos being turned into bruschettas with strawberry and red wine sauce and chocolate shavings. Then we had mushroom stuffed with what elseIJ Paneer of course.
This was very basic, mild and soft but with a slight glitch of mushroom leaving its trail of moisture which made it soggy. Next came some more paneer, this time with skewers marinated in kasundi mayonnaise which was very pungent and overwhelmed the palate with nothing but mustard. Next we tried Kulcha tacos a cheeky variant of our very own desi chole kulche, again very Dilli. This came in a glamorised miniature cutesy looking rickshaw, the kulchas were nicely crisped in butter. We were served this with Burnt pleasures, a heady mix of smoked Bourbon, orange, Mace with cinmaon bitters. This baby came in with a molecular smoke of cinnamon making it way too spicy. To neutralise the palate we ordered something mild this time which was, Camembert cheese lollies and sprouts salad sangria, a nice mash up of pomegranate, chopped green apples and chana sprouts. “I chose chana over moong dal sprouts as moong dal will make it a bit bitter,” we were told by chef Sarkar.
We went for some molecular pinacolada shot with rum spheres, pineapple caviar and coco foam. This was paired with Thai veg biryani with coconut salan. This one got us so confused as to should we call it the Indian version of a popular Thai dish or vice versa. The coconut gravy was mild, balanced and lacked strong flavours. To bring back the spice we had Chennai tang which was a nice spiced drink of vodka, orange and curry powder. We ended with yet another interesting fusion of dessert which was Forero rocher golgappa, with white chocolate sauce and chocalote boondi which we paired with vanilla martini, very creamy indeed. Overall the food needs a tad more flavours and spices. Strong is the word.
The place leaves you with no time to think, it’s so chaotic you have no option but to go with the flow. Maybe that’s when the terrace comes as a peaceful option and maybe that’s why we need them too. Nonetheless Teddy Boy is good to go till the time it continues to hold the attention of its young patrons with its boisterous personality.