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DECADENT AND DISHY The mature connoisseur would revel in the selection

In its new avatar, the bar is luxury and decadence combined. It still holds onto its electric energy, but puts the focus on connecting and conversing. Thus, the music volume is turned down a few notches, and the dance floor is done away with.And the food and beverage actually excite your palate, rather than simply act as an alcohol delivery mechanism.

The connoisseur would revel in the selection of whiskies on offer, from aged single malts to fine scotches to premiere Indian, American and Irish whiskies. Then there’s the wide range of red, white and sparkling wines. Particularly interesting about the bar menu is the emphasis on integrating local flavours. Thus, the highlight of the menu is the curry flavour, an energising blend of citrus vodka, lemon chunks and demerara sugar that opens up at the very last instant to flood one’s palate with the strong flavour of curry leaves. In the same vein are golden glow, with its home infused saffron vodka and green fire with crushed green chillies and coriander-infused vodka. Then there’s the dual jewel which combines whisky, grenadine, guava juice, mint and chilli.There is also a range of coffee-based cocktails that really hit the spot with their warm, frothy richness.

What really takes the cake at I-Bar 2.01, though, is the food menu, which Chef Mandaar Sukhtankar says, has been specially designed to stand out among snack menus that drown out flavours and act as second fiddles to the cocktails. “Every item on the menu has been created with a care to provide complex, challenging flavours without making the dish cumbersome to eat,”he says.

There are some interesting combinations offered here. Take the twin mackerel roll mops: pairs of mackerel fillets that alternate between Mangalorean pickled bangude and Greek herb and lemon kolios. The former is sharp and tangy, a knockout of a snack. The latter fillet offers a sweeter, more rounded flavour and helps to settle one’s palate after the hard-edged flavours of the bangude. Or try the European salumi platter, which transitions from the characteristic taste of the Dijon on the pan-roasted wurstel or sausage to the straightforward flavour of chorizo with potato and chilli and finally finishes off on a wonderfully mellow note with the pancetta wrapped sausage in honey.

South Indian recipes appear with incredible regularity. There’s the up-beat Coondapur-style potato and mushroom skewers jostling with the batter-fried bajji chillies. The Mysore chicken sukka holds its own as does the coconut-oil flavoured Kerala style prawn konju masala. There’s even a dosa platter, offering mini “cocktail-dosas” with fillings like coconut, potato palya, fenugreek and cheese.

A regional recipe from up north, the red-hot Kashmiri lamb with pickled onions and cilantro chutney is perfect for anyone who likes snacks with a punch. Even the paneer tikka undergoes a change here with the addition of pomegranate seeds and or green chillies.

And then there are the desserts, which continue in the bar theme and are all laced with some alcohol. Thus, the three warm chocolate shots serve up the flavours of cognac, absolute pepper and cointreau. Then there is the fingerlick’s platter, with prune chutney and almond cake, pistachio cigarillos and fragrant lime cheesecake. What makes the I-Bar menu worth the slightly hefty price tag it comes with, is the variety. I-Bar at The Park on M.G. Road can be contacted on 25594666.

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