Avocado Pani Puri, Pork Belly Chettinad And Boozy Goli Soda At This Quirky Restaurant

The Open Box packs in a central location, a generous and well-designed space, and plenty of adventurous starters and cocktails.

The Open Box is worth being featured in an interior design magazine because of its lovely open air plan {after all it is located on a breezy terrace with great views}, its very modern decor: think wooden swings masquerading as tables and Chevron-patterned tables and chairs with a bit of whimsy. Plus, an old fashion public telephone as decor and a real Goli Soda making machine.

We started off with a chilled and delicious avocado soup served in pani puri puffs. The Kolkata By Trawler, Jhal Muri tossed up with chicken or prawn was quite the hit as was the Tengda Bao, a bao stuffed with Kolkata Chinese-style spicy chilli chicken. The Pork Belly Chettinad{succulent pork belly} came together well with notes of coconut and South Indian spices. The Happy Ending biryani, served in a cheery blue mini pressure cooker, was basically a Thai curry layered biryani style. While we had no complaints about the veg Thai curry, we did miss good ol biryani.

We started with the refreshing Cuban Goli Soda {available in lime and blueberry flavours}, a mix of white rum, pineapple juice, mint syrup, lime and sugar freshly carbonated in an old fashioned goli soda machine. The Kids Creme served in a baby bottle might look harmless enough, but packs in potent dark rum and lots of chocolate and Drip Me Tight, a vodka, blood orange, lemon and tonic cocktail to be sucked through a pipe attached to a saline bottle. Though the presentation was eyeball grabbing, the cocktail was plain and a bit too sweet.

Though the menu can be a bit gimmicky {Thai curry biryani anyone?} and the innovations a bit much {cocktails served in IV drips!!}, but a lot of these experiments work.