With its quirky cocktails, The Tipsy Elephant is just the place to catch some football action, says Shambhavi Suri
Walking up the narrow flight of stairs, you will find yourself getting transported to a small Irish bar with exposed brick walls. The Tipsy Elephant, located in the heart of Connaught Place, is the quirkiest resto-bar in town. Although the décor derives much of its inspiration from a freestyle Irish bar, it stays true to its name. From the colourful elephant caricatures and graffiti on the walls to elephant-shaped table mats and Edison bulbs hanging down the ceiling, the ambience is truly millennial.
“We named this place The Tipsy Elephant because happy and high are how we want the people and the environment to be. And the significance of an elephant is that it is the only mammal with the highest retention capacity of liquid. Hence the name”, says Ishant, the manager of the resto-bar. He further adds that, “the 14 signature drinks that the bar offers among other drinks, are guaranteed to transport you to another plane.”
Among the signature cocktails, we like Thandai Colada, which as the name suggests, is a combination of thandai with Pina Colada. It may sound bizarre but it’s a match made in heaven. As the FIFA World Cup season reigns supreme, the bar offers a special cocktail menu featuring three cocktails — Don’t MESSI with me, Vodka NEYMAR dala and just RONAlDO it. Don’t MESSI with me is served in a big bowl and is basically made of a Jamaican vanilla syrup with vodka. It undeniably tastes like a boozy fruit custard.
The resto-bar deals in a variety of cuisines — Oriental, Thai, Mediterranean, Italian, American — served with a desi twist, catering to the Indian palate. As tempting as the food sounds on the menu, it looks like a work of art presented on a platter. From the variety of mouth-watering starters, they lay out dim sums and finger foods. The Prawn Hargow is sumptuous but the three dipping sauces — a tangy soy sauce, a fried garlic sauce and a chilli garlic sauce — do the trick. Next up are the Tipsy Chicken Wings. They might sound like any other chicken wings in the world but they come with a surprise element, topped with dollops of aam-panna mayonnaise. You will be transported straight from Texas to northern India but won’t feel mismatched.
The main course offers a sumptuous variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes like the tri-colour pizza, cottage cheese skewers with smoky hot sauce and the chicken steak with brown/teriyaki sauce. The last we like because the chicken is succulent, not dry, and rests on a classic brown sauce made with chicken broth. The buttery basil and rosemary mashed potatoes and boiled vegetables give the veggie cushion that you do spoon into rather than tossing it aside. We sign off with a decadent hot chocolate brownie served on a hot sizzler plate topped with vanilla ice cream. A timeless classic.
The Tipsy Elephant very much promises to keep one engaged, enveloping the whole place with euphoric music, sumptuous plates of food and vibrant interiors. One for familiar indulgences on a game night.