What? Urban Dezi
Where? 45 Jhowtalla Road, on the second floor of the same building where Caramelle was previously housed, a loud-ish shout away from Quest.
Timings? Noon to 1am
Is this Urban Desi 2? This is the second outlet of Urban Desi (at Fort Knox, Camac Street), this time spelt with a ‘z’.
Mood: A whiff of Paan Rasna teases your olfactory senses as you make your way through the wooden door of Urban Dezi. It’s time to grab a lazy seat and relax at the hookah lounge.
Cuisine: Mediterranean.
DECOR: Unlike its Camac Street counterpart, this hangout is moderately lit and wears a swanky modern attire. The 1,000sq ft area is dolled up in predominant shades of white, blue and green with wooden flooring and wooden geographic patterns on the ceiling (in the form of lights) which continue to the panels running across the windows. “Hookah has its origin in Arabic countries so with the jafri or latticework, we tried creating a modern feel of the Arabic hookah places,” explained interior designer Meenakshi Dutta.
The left-hand side of Urban Dezi is equipped with a DJ’s console. The walls are beautifully done with coloured bottles and the lamps are close replicas of Turkish lamps. “The use of glass to decorate interiors is common in Turkey so we added these bottles along the length of the wall to add colour,” said Meenakshi.
HOOKAH: The hookah menu of Urban Dezi took us by surprise with the inclusion of flavours like Cigar, Lemon, Ginger Break, Indian Orgasm, Kolkata Classic and Candy Crush. Single-flavour hookahs are priced at Rs 200 while exotic hubbly bubbly comes for Rs 320 with free coal change! “We wanted to build and grow our chain, so we decided to come up with a second outlet. Over the years, the number of hookah lovers has grown in leaps and bounds. Now everyone wants hookah as it has gained a ‘cool’ tag across generations,” said Bunty Sethi, director of Urban Desi.
t2 pick: After puffing on your hookah, exhale the smoke through a pipe dipped in a solution and create your own smoky bubz! #SoCool
There’s also a hookah server at hand to show you how.
BLOW HOT & COLD: It’s never too cold for ice-lollies! These sticks come in flavours of black currant, green apple and strawberry and hookah experts recommend a lolly in one hand and the hookah tube in the other for a cool feel. “Lollies are a hit,” said Sonali Sethi, director of Urban Dezi. “Teens are enjoying it after school hours.”
munch: The focus of the menu is Mediterranean. “Since our primary target audience is young college-goers, we have given importance to appetisers as they move fast,” said Sonali Sethi. Try the Arancini Ball (deep-fried balls made of Italian Arborio rice and cheese, served in a cone glass with mustard mayonnaise dip), Cajun Chicken Skewers (crispy Cajun spicy chicken served with Romesco dip) and the healthy, light and crunchy Chicken Mediterranean Salad served with walnuts. Keep space for Korean delicacy Chicken Bulgogi — grilled chicken in peanut sauce, served with kimchi and noodles.
Text: Pramita Ghosh
Pictures: B.Halder
