For a jolly good time

If you’re confused about where to head out for a meal with friends, you can always depend on Church Street with an extensive choice of eateries. Making its way into the busy locality is another newbie ‘Russh Gastropub’, that has been around for only about a month now. It has been started by Devanshu and Shashank, two friends who decided to bring together their love for good food and drinks.

The place has a laid back, relaxed ambience with simple, neat and classy interiors and designated areas for smokers. They generally play rock, retro and hip-hop and the music is different for each day of the week. “We wanted to create something which was like a next door neighbourhood pub where people can feel comfortable at all times,” say the duo.

The bar is quite elaborate with a selection of cocktails, mocktails, wines and liquors. While the food has a fusion menu and is aptly categorised into light bites and mid bites to begin with. They have a variety of dips prepared in-house like the cream cheese, garlic aioli, chilli mayo, mint mango chutney and house ketchup that have been paired with most of the items.

In the light bites, one can snack on things like ‘chilli cheese pao’, ‘bruschetta’ and ‘mezze platter’. However, it is the mid bites that are an impressive lot. The ‘spinach corn croquette’ is nice and crisp while paneer preparations like the crunchy ‘paneer kurkure’, ‘paneer tikka’ and ‘chilli paneer’ are quite tasty.

The ‘mushroom brie arancinis’ (minced rice, cheese, mushrooms and herbs coated with bread crumbs and deep fried) is a unique preparation with a velvety texture and is recommended here. Even the ‘vegetable seekh kebab’ is perfectly done and melts in the mouth. Non-vegetarians are spoilt for choice with favourites like ‘murgh tikka achaari’, ‘mutton seekh kebab’, ‘chilli chicken’ and ‘pan fried garlic prawns’. Remember to go easy on the garlic aioli dip for its strong flavour may mask the taste of the dish.

Hungrier souls can graduate to the large bites as well as burgers and wraps. Options like the ‘tandoor roasted paneer tikka wrap’, ‘cheesy curried vegetable burger’ and the juicy ‘RUSSH burger’ (non-veg) do well to satisfy them. “One of our specialities is the spicy ‘dhaba mutton curry’ (with rice), just like the authentic homemade one. Vegetarians can go for ‘paneer tawa masala’,” they add. If you’re game for something different, try the ‘khow suey’. The ‘oreo cookie mousse’ and ‘tiramisu’ can be shared after a good meal. All in all, the food is a highlight along with the drinks.

They have ‘Russh hours’ everyday from 12 pm to 4 pm wherein one can get a mug of draft beer for Rs 59, ‘buy one, get one pitcher free’ and a three-course veg meal for Rs 275 and non-veg meal for Rs 325. Russh Gastropub is located at 29, Church Street. For details, call 41524441.