From the Wild Wild West

Comfort food

Just a skip and hop away from the glitzy Saket. Citywalk Mall is 3 Pegs Down, a recently-opened restobar cum lounge in the city’s tony neighbourhood. Inspired by the concept of Texas saloon, the place made us feel like we had walked into the grand set of a Western classic film. Replete with saloon doors, tungsten bulbs, cowboy hats, boots, guns and a big bull as decor elements, nailed the theme down to a T.

While surveying the place for a suitable table to sit, we were informed that most of the place was reserved for a party and were led to an extreme corner, behind the bar. Our server, an effervescent staff, greeted us with the drinks and food menu — which was all about global food.

We requested him to suggest their signature cocktails, and he recommended Texas Basilica, a mix of vodka, honey, lemon, basil and blackberries topped with club soda; and Texas Margarita a tequila-based drink with candied orange, jalapeno, lemon juice served with candied orange sugar rim. The Basilica was sweet with a mild, yet lingering taste of blackberries – which overpowered the other elements of the drink. But the Margarita had a strong lemony punch to it, with each flavour standing out. We preferred the latter.

For food, we opted for vegetarian and non-vegetarian platters to sample the best from both worlds. And soon we were served with a tray of vegetarian dishes that comprised Cheese Sambousek, Satay Phak, Hara Bhara Tikka and Safed Til Paneer Tikka.

The deep-fried sambousek, a Mediterranean take on the Indian samosa had a hearty filling of feta cheese, and was finger licking good. The Chef’s Special white sesame marinated cottage cheese dish was chargrilled and served with roasted tomato and mustard chutney which was tender and mild-flavoured, and so was the perfectly crisp pan seared mixed vegetable tikka served with green chutney. However, the Satay Phak, in which Metrolife were served grilled mushrooms and broccoli, failed to impress us. But, the accompanying peanut sauce added a different flavour to the dish altogether.

After a good vegetarian start, we looked forward to the meats, which were served to us in the form of Shish Taouk, Classic Chicken Tikka, Lamb Seekh Kabab and Negima Teriyaki.  While the tikka (comprising boneless chicken marinated in yogurt and spices and finished in the tandoor) and the Shish Taouk (chicken skewers  marinated in garlic and paprika) were not as seasoned and were a little dry, the lamb kabab and the teriyaki sauce chicken were succulent and flavoursome. Verdict: a no-frills, balanced platter.

Before moving on with the main course, we thought of trying another drink and opted for the Texpesto Lemonade (another one of their signature Texas cocktails). The drink, which was a concoction of vodka and white rum with basil, splash of ginger ale, lemon juice topped with lemonade had the citrus punch and left our taste buds tantalised.

We ordered for a Pork Pepperoni pizza which had a hearty topping of pepperoni and cheese. We could think of no better way to end the meal. But what we definitely missed, was a dessert section on their menu, which would have been the cherry on the cake.

FAQs:
 Address: Unit No. 12, Ground Floor, Southern Park Mall, Saket.
 Meal for two: Rs 1,000 (plus taxes)
 Timing: 12 pm to 12 am
 Contact number: 8010699999