What to expect from Chennai’s latest pubs post-lockdown

Chennai Star Club

Sapphire’s Wild Garden Café has always been popular for its relaxing oasis of greenery where customers can eat crepes amidst hidden lotus ponds. Now, it is busier than ever as you can add a glass of wine to your meal, courtesy of the recently established Chennai Star Club in an enclosed section of the main building.

The newly acquired, limited liquor license means that parts of the property now have the means to serve up some of the quintessentially Chennai concoctions dreamed up by bartender Shakti Dassan. Consider a drink of white rum, sugarcane juice, and freshly ground ginger, which is balanced so well that cane rum refreshes you just before it hits. ya cool minty Nannari Mojitos, watermelon martinis, or Earl Gray tea-based vodkas.

Inside the club, those with membership cards can lean back on 40-year-old wooden furniture and view an impressive reprint of the centuries-old Bourne & Shepherd photograph of Calcutta Harbor. Or, while you enjoy a cool glass of whiskey sour, the then Maharaja of Bobbili looms over your shoulder.

purple chameleon

Purple Chameleon in Velachery, Phoenix MarketCity, meanwhile, is all about bells and whistles. An innocuous door on a regular corridor of the mall leads inside to a sudden riot of lights and colours. Inside, neon flamingos jostle for space with equally bright pop culture signage; Cocktails come with billows of smoke trapped in bubbles; And DJs focus on enhancing your buzz with their beats. It’s a place of upbeat conversation and raucous laughter—if you want to chime in and reap the finer flavors of a savory dish, then the purple chameleon isn’t for you.

And yet, a lot of thought has gone into the menu: There are 13 signature cocktails. These include the namesake Purple Chameleon: a heady concoction that uses gin with blue peafowl, popular for its ability to change color from blue to purple. It comes in a clear round pot that is smoky, delicately balanced over a white disc, whose rim is lit with colors.

Glitz aside, the idea is to bring flavor notes from different parts of the country, “which is why each of these cocktails has an ingredient representing a different state. For example, our black buckwheat cocktail filled with mustard There is tequila,” explains mixologist Nitin Tiwari.

Chakli Chaat in Purple Chameleon

With a twist in everything from regional street food to Japanese Fried Chicken, Karage, Chef Naveen Prasad’s food is spicy in a different way. Chakli chaat consists of sev, curd and boondi, which is served on thick, crunchy chakli or murukku instead of papdi. The base is uncompromisingly strong, the taste matches, it all just fits. a bit dry will doThere is more batter-crust than chicken, however, and it should be defended by an excellent onion sauce. pleasantly surprised Mole Wali Machi: Tiny pieces of oh-so-soft fish, wrapped in sesame seeds and baked in a tandoor. The mild flavors are punctuated by the sudden kick of mustard. Desserts like rum-soaked gulab jamuns served in creamy rabri ke kund are sure to delight wine enthusiasts. Balance isn’t the strong suit here, but who cares? Anyway it’s all good fun.

A cotton candy-topped cocktail at The Void, Anna Nagar in Chennai | photo credit: R Ravindran

Zero

The void, meanwhile, is the quiet rest of the mind. There is a DJ console, but a sound system is planned to enable easy interaction. Especially on weekdays, the three-story space is all about sitting back and kicking back.

With a sports bar on the first floor, a live music lounge on the second floor (which hopes to host classic rock, retro and original indie acts), and yet open terrace, The Void is one of the latest efforts. Is. Nightlife of Anna Nagar.

Old-school rock music hits the right spot, the cocktails are well balanced (if a tad heavy), and the dinner menu shines with their oh-so-soft pâtés and kebabs. Try the Brain Scramble, Mast with Curry Leaves and Chili, and the comforting Mild Japanese Bowl with Rice that’s just this side of sticky.

Food at the Void, in Anna Nagar, Chennai | photo credit: R Ravindran

“Anna Nagar does not have a separate venue dedicated for the screening of Formula One races, tennis matches and the like. All we want is our sports bar, while the upper floors are for long communal tables and regular mingling with music,” says co-founder Varun Shreyas.

middle of nowhere

Near Mogappair, there is a second floor lounge called Middle Of NoWhere just for enjoying your meal. Sleek Space has been quietly, building up its own stable customer base for the past three months, though it’s been around a year since it started operations. Run by the city’s chef Saravanan, Middle of Nowhere divides its menu into three categories – everywhere, somewhere, and nowhere (except here), where you’re likely to find the dish.

“For example, you might find pulled pork in some restaurants, but only here you’ll find a dish that combines baby potatoes and baby pork—each cooked separately, but with a hollandaise sauce. It is one of our most popular items,” says the chef. “We have guests who come to Chennai regularly, and dine on this dish before checking in. To come here directly from the airport.”

The food and cocktails are both frills-free and delicious, made by a team that clearly knows what they’re doing. To its credit, Middle of Nowhere also has a budget-friendly starter menu featuring dishes that are well made, for ₹79. You can’t order street-style anywhere else, totally soft black And pair it with an insanely sweet peanut-based cocktail.

Bar in Sekhmet, Chemiers Road, Chennai

Sekhmato

At the other end of the spectrum is Sekhmet, a three-storey prime property on Chemiers Road. With a luxurious bar, murals of the Egyptian goddess of war, and 25-foot screens screening games, movies, and DJ sets seating on multiple levels for up to 700 guests, the space screams “rich and loud” – conversation an option. Not there.

Sekhmet has found its flock within six days of opening. Owner Ashok Kumar says weekends are buzzing and weekends packed, not least because of Chef Amit Kumar’s handling of seafood. Their Oyster Thermidor and Chimichurri Prawns serve unusual fare, but what they are most proud of is their Beetroot Silbatta Tikka: A beetroot-based dish with a ‘pate’-like consistency. “And my tres leche has a nice sweet note to end,” he says with a smile.