April 5, 2012
Out of the Box (Khan Market)
Cuisine : Multi-Cuisine Sheesha Bar
Approximate Price for two : Rs. 1200 including taxes without drinks or Sheesha
Contact Details: Khan Market Back lane, Ph : 9711197796
Summary : The only clean pub in Khan market with the holy trinity: good food, happy hours and awesome sheesha!
Khan Market is one of the most difficult places to go out for a drink in Delhi. If the place has good food, it doesn’t have happy hours. If it has happy hours, the food is bad. If it has good food and happy hours, the sheesha is horrible. Even if a pub has all 3, its filthy. So out of the box is a welcome respite for those looking for a clean place where they can order food, booze and sheesha.
I’m going to start with the booze and the prices. Heineken and Kingfisher are part of the happy hours so you get 2 for the price of 1. Since a bottle costs less than Rs. 200, in happy hours you end up paying approx Rs. 200 for 2 bottles which is awesome. For those of you looking for a more expensive beer, the only thing they have is Corona which is 2+1 in happy hours, so Order 2 and get 1 free. It’s not much but its better than nothing. Unfortunately, they don’t have Hoegarden yet but I was told that they are trying to get some. Happy hours extend to hard drinks as well but I didn’t order those because they were a bit pricey in comparison to the beer.
Fo
od is multi-cuisine. I’ve tried the Pizza, the salads and the dimsum all of which were pretty good. In terms of prices, its
approximately Rs. 450 a dish after taxes. Unfortunately, that’s the standard in Khan market these days.
Honestly though, my favourite thing about the place is the sheesha. There is a separate smoking floor which is usually quite crowded and full of noisy kids. But if you can get a table on the outside balcony then you are shielded from the crowd and you can enjoy your sheesha in peace. The signature Sheeshas are expensive but really good. A signature sheesha costs Rs. 750 plux tax so that’s almost Rs. 1000 for a sheesha. But they do refill the coal for as long as the flavour lasts. My favourite is the Apple Jack [60ml of Jack Daniels, cream, cinnamon and apple flavour as a base] which is quite a heady mix. They even serve fresh fruit sheeshas which are literally fresh fruits like watermelons and pineapples carved into sheeshas. I’ve tried these before. They cost Rs. 1000 without tax and often don’t work as smoothly as the cheaper glass sheeshas. There are some other really interesting sheeshas which use everything from Vodka, redbull and wine as the base. Haven’t tried the others yet but I’ll get there eventually 
Now for my review of the cleanliness. One thing people don’t write about enough is the hygiene factor in the toilets. For example, at Route 04, you need a gas mask to enter the loo. This place, on the other hand, has a spotless loo which well kept and really clean. People make a mess, that’s just how the average delhiite is. The question is whether the establishment takes care to have someone clean up the mess to keep things clean. In this case, the answer is yes. Apart from the loo, one comment I’ve always had with the balcony is that while the area is very clean, there are too many flies. Its an issue with a lot of places in Delhi but they really need to do something like having citronella incense or one of those electric fly buzzer things. I’ve mentioned this to the staff before but no steps have been taken yet. They even have an open kitchen on the 1st floor which inspires confidence in the hygiene and cleanliness.
On the whole, its a great place to have a chillout sitting with friends without denting your pocket. The music in the outside section is not overpowering. The service is very attentive and prompt which is extremely rare for Khan Market where pubs don’t care if people have a good time because of the volumes they get due to the location. There was always a waiter near our table and we never had problems getting service. The last time I went there, 6 of us ate and 3 of us drank to our hearts’ content and managed a bill of Rs. 3,000 including sheesha. And I didn’t complain about the service which is rarer still! A must visit for Khan Market.
