NEW DELHI: Oh dear God, what is this! We hollered at the square white plate on which rested a little puppy, fast asleep. After the initial shock, we took a closer look. It was an illusion created by Chef Bhupendra Dayal. Called the Chocochips Pranked Puppy, this delicious whipped cream, dark chocolate, egg yolk, and gelatin concoction, is something you’ll spot on every table at the recently opened restaurant, Inferno.
“We want to excite and entice you. It’s about what we call light-heartedly prank food but also about all the much-loved restaurant food,” says Khushboo Dabas, co-owner of Inferno, located in Sector 29, Gurugram. The layout of Inferno has been smartly created. It looks larger than it is because of high ceilings, circular accessorisation, and linear seating.
Fresh beer in flavours such as Rose, Wheat and Premium is served here, apart from regular brands. At Inferno, botanicals from around the world are brewed and concocted in-house. Upon the server’s recommendation, we try Inferno Basilic tea. This is tea infused with cinnamon, clove sugar and muddled basil leaves paired with gin and topped with more basil to bring out its minty sweet scent.
The food menu is comprehensive with North Indian, Chinese, and Continental. We order some interesting sounding dishes like Devil Pav Bhaji, Money Bank, and Tex Max Papdi Chaat. The showmanship of each one of these dishes, sadly, fares better than the flavours.
The Devil Pav Bhaji came with skull-shaped buns, and a spicy pot of mashed potatoes. Money Banks were little fried parcels with mushroom and cheese. They had crunch but lacked punch. The cheese had begun to coagulate and the wrapper of the parcels had residual oil from the frying process. The Tex Max Papdi Chaat turned out better than we had expected. Nachos and desi papad had been built up vertically with each tier layered with mint sauce and spices. The top of the tower had a delicious sour cream serving with pomegranates and mint leaves.
We also tried Dhaba style Murg Masala for the main course. Unlike dhabas that have watery gravy with minimal ingredients, at Inferno, it was a rich tomato gravy doused with lots of spices, chilli and a thin layer of oil floating over it. Tasty but not dhaba style at all. Hariyali Kabab and Wok Tossed Prawns were well executed and highly suggested if you love your food hot. Inferno’s effort came through its attractive plating and smarty conceived ambience. There isn’t anything extraordinary about the place but go there for good service and a big list of food and bar choices.