It's so propah

Walking into a pub originally meant asking for your favourite brew, ordering some substantial ‘pub food’ and walking out happy. Hors d’eouvres and finger food aren’t really what make a menu.

Dublin at ITC Windsor gives one that authentic experience, much like what one would find in Ireland or England. You get the Irish Stew, Shepherd’s Pie, Fish and Chips and other ‘propah’ meals in their kitchen. With this popular city hotspot reinventing its menu, I decided to make an outing there.

 I began my evening with a cocktail called The Last Cocktail. My companion, who prefers whiskey, chose to have another house original called the Mauryan Sour, since it promised a generous helping of scotch. Both of these were very Indian in nature, with whole spices going in. If mine had cinnamon in it, the Mauryan Sour came with crushed whole cardamom in it. My other companion chose to go with the traditional Whiskey Sour, which was nice.

We had Barbecued Sausages, which were basically tiny bits of chicken sausages in barbecue sauce. Spicy, sweet and in between, it seemed like the perfect accompaniment to heady mixes. Along with this, we had the Mozzarella Melts, fried mozzarella served with garlic aioli. These are sinfully scrumptious and are a must try for all cheese eaters. Mozzarella Melts couldn’t get cheesier than this.

For our second round of alcohol we ordered a Mojito, a Pomegranate Martini and a Caiprioshka. The Mojito here is arguably one of the best I’ve had in the city. Served in a taller glass, with loads of crushed ice, the alcohol mixes just right with the mint. It wasn’t too sweet either, like the way many amateur bartenders end up making around the city.

The martini wasn’t too sweet either, instead it just had the natural sweetness of the pomegranate. Again, I found this quite impressive. The Caiprioshka looked straight out of the textbook, leaving us no room for complaints either.
We decided to have some main course, since the impressive food menu, which offered everything right from grills to pizzas, burgers, pastas and the traditional English pub meals, was in front of us. So on our table was the Curry Club Chicken, which was herbed rice with chicken curry, and a Shepherd’s Pie.

After what was a befitting meal that even the Queen of England would have approved of, we decided to call it a night. What was impressive was the fact that the pub was quite full even on a mundane Monday night. Should you visit this place too? Of course you should.