TALLI SINGH, SECTOR 29, GURGAON: HIT IT TO GET A HIGH ON COCKTAILS

The innovative and catchy name “Tally Singh” immediately puts a smile on my face. And the most obvious question that pops up in my mind is – why Talli Singh ? The name, it seems, has been inspired by the logo of Johnnie Walker Whisky and Keshto Mukherjee –  he was an actor from yesteryears who specialized in comic drunkard roles in Hindi movies.

Talli Singh is a joint venture between Mr.Jai Batra and Chef Bobby Cinkara who runs the successful Dewan chain of restaurants in the U.S. and is barely a month old. It is located in the sector 29 market which is already bustling with many restaurants and pubs spoiling people for choice.

It is spread over two floors (basement and ground floor) with the ground floor facing a garden, with some sofa seats, a show kitchen and a smoking section at the back. The basement has a long bar almost running one length of the wall and a private dining area for private parties. The whole place is tastefully done up with the basement done up entirely in wood. This is undoubtedly a huge place with a seating capacity for 102 people. The only bummer can be for smokers sitting in the basement who would have to climb up a floor for each smoke.

Mr. Kapil Singh Thapa, their showman mixologist, makes some crazy cocktails. I got to try the Orange Bliss (a cocktail comprising of Bacardi, kaffir lime and freshly muddled orange). After tasting it, I could understand why he believes in using minimal syrups but maximum fresh ingredients. The Green Appletini was a perfect mix of muddled green apple and vodka. Also tried were the Tequila Spice (tequila, orange juice and lemon juice muddled with star anise) and Cointreaupolitan (a fine balance of Cointreau and cranberry juice). Each cocktail was awakening, tantalizing and satiating the palate leaving me asking for more.

The food menu is well planned, quite huge and has dishes from around the world. What I had there was a menu specially curated for the Indian Food Freak Team.

For the starters, I had:

Crystal Prawn Dimsums – a thin outer covering, loaded with prawns, carrot and cabbage. With each bite, I could get the sweetness of prawns.

Prawn Tempura – batter fried prawns with tempura flour were crunchy till the last piece. If not done well they go limp pretty soon after frying.

Chicken Sticky Fingers – boneless chicken fingers, batter fried, tossed in a sweet and sour sauce, finished with roasted sesame seeds.

Crispy Vegetarian Mangolian – vegetables batter fried and tossed in onion, garlic, soya, sweet sauce. Suited perfectly for the Indian palate.

Mountain Lamb Chops With Chur Chur Naan – the chops were huge and three ribs were used to make one chunky piece but sadly, they were not marinated long enough and were chewy. The Chur Chur Naan, on the other hand, was to die for.

For the main course, I had Paneer Lababdar, Mutton Curry and Dal Makhni. While they were all competently done, I felt that the dishes were quite heavy on oil and cream.

All in all, Talli Singh is a nice place with really low alcohol prices and wow cocktails – I would say that these two factors are Talli Singh’s true USP in the otherwise bursting at the seams Sector 29 market.

Ratings (Out of 5)

Food: 3.5 | Drinks: 4.5 | Ambience: 3.5 | Service: 3.5 | Overall: 3.5

Meal for Two: Rs. 1200(without alcohol), Rs.1600 (with drinks) |

Wheel Chair Friendly: Yes | Credit Card: Yes | Alcohol: Yes | Timings: 12 noon – 12 midnight.

Address: SCO 29, Ground Floor, Sector 29, Gurgaon | Phone: 0124-4382929

Disclaimer: This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. Due judgement and care has been applied by the author to remain objective and unbiased in the review, but readers need to consider this review keeping this fact in mind.