By Aditi Datta
Another day, another microbrewery in Gurgaon. This one’s somewhere between a garage and a dhaba, a mix of industrial and Indian kitsch, all of which we’re loving so far. But wait until the week rolls around; it’s Wednesday, we’re in love.
We were intrigued when we heard that Striker had introduced a new concept. We figured when we heard it was called ‘Adda’ that it was more hang-out than party on. But we didn’t know what we were in for, until we climbed to the first floor and heard the first strains of a baritone Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan hypnotising us with that compelling combination of the words ‘dum’, ‘mast’ and ‘kalandar’ – that exact moment when we know just why we’re all about the bass, no treble.
You know when your friend who loves Delhi winters and Old Monk gets a hold of the laptop and you switch from your favourite Dublin band to ‘Dooba Dooba’? Now imagine that all night long, in the hands of a deejay who knows how to use Strings to build up to Euphoria.
At this point, I’ll have to admit that I’m the girl who knew the lyrics of Lucky Ali better than I understood the writing on the wall. I’ve failed to understand how American cinema has a hundred shades of genres {the newest being Dramatality} while all Indian film got lumped under Bollywood, betraying the root and repetoire of emotions that carried each to curtain call. I know that mann ki lagan is a universal feeling, but best expressed in one language.
What we loved about Adda by Striker on that particular Wednesday is that it played out the highlight reel of Indian music, without young Sheila applying either Zandu balm or Fevicol to not let the subah come up. We’re all for blue eyes to hypotise when it’s wedding season, and to unleash balam pichkaris for Holi – heck, we even know the steps! But somewhere in between hectic dancing on one side and Western legends on the other, we miss the simple power of ‘tum gaye ho kyun, raat baki hai’ to convey how much I wish you were here.
Against this soundtrack of yearning and contentment, we lost on the average one person in the group from the conversation per song. With no jostling at the bar for drinks and service straight to the table, we were more than happy to let them drift. We also temporarily lost another couple of people to the faultless chipotle glazed chicken skewers, tortillas with a trio of salsa, Kerala mutton fry and Bombay vada pao, and a fair number of occasional wanderers to the very, very cool terrace. But it only took a bit of Jugni to bring them back to life.
Notes in our Little Black Book | Adda by Striker is the microbrewery equivalent of a casual diner with an awesome sprinkling on local pride. With a mixed menu of everyone’s favourites from around the world, and the signature menu of favourite fresh brewed beer from Golf Course Road, we loved the Hindi playlist of all our top 3am song picks on a Wednesay, although we’d be happy to visit any day of the week too.
For more information: Click here
Where: Sector 29, Behind Crowne Plaza Hotel, Gurgaon
Contact: +91-124-4147171 / +91-8800666007
Prices: Craft beers start at INR 165 for a pint. Meal for two at approximately INR 1200 including a starter and a main each.