The Cycle Gap Is All About The Restobar Experience Served Chennai-Style

Anna Nagar got its first restobar, The Cycle Gap, in the month of October last year and it has been about ten months of ‘thaaru maaru’s and ‘glocal’s all the way. With Chennai’s pub scene predominantly concentrated on places like Gopalapuram and Nungambakkam, The Cycle Gap is a breath of fresh air in the neighborhood of Anna Nagar, which, though populated with more than its fair share of restaurants, lacks in restobars.

It’s all local

An auto prop welcomed us at the entrance and once we were inside, it wasn’t that hard to forget the outside world. A cool, contemporary ambiance with walls sporting bold caricatures of what we recognize as scenes of Chennai, along with generous amounts of the local lingo splashed across their lengths. The idea, we learn, is to have well-traveled people to meet at a local watering hole for a “glocal” experience. Glocal as in global plus local.

The long list of appetizers

We dive right in into their food and drinks, sampling some of their best, with generous suggestions from the chef. The first drink we try is the Maan Karate, a combination of gin & tender cucumber, balanced with honey & freshly squeezed lime juice, topped with fizzy soda. A clear winner on a hot day, this drink tastes just as refreshing as it looks.

Our first appetizer was the Indo Chinese Paneer, a yummy dish of cottage cheese fried and tossed in chilly soy sauce. Quite the spicy appetizer to pair up with your drink, this one.

Next, we had the Herb Chicken Kebab, which had chicken cubes marinated in a flavorful coriander and mint paste and comes roasted in the tandoor, giving it a smoky flavor.

We also tried their Beef Steak Bites, juicy chunks of beef with herbs, spicy mustard rub & slightly grilled to perfection. This mini version of your regular steaks is sure to please meat-lovers which its super delicious sauce and tender meat. It’s not every day that we get to cut up our steak with luncheon knives, right?

The Moroccan Chicken was as delicious as we heard it would be. Tawa-seared chicken breasts with Moroccan spices was easily one of our favorites at The Cycle Gap.

Being hardcore fans of prawns, the next dish just had to be tasted. The Garlic Prawns were simply scrumptious. Juicy, garlic flavored prawns wok-tossed with Chinese spices were a treat all on their own.

Pastas and prawns

The next cocktail we go for is the Glocal, an interesting blend of white rum, fresh pomegranate juice, frothy egg white, and garnished with a smoked star anise. If the star anise flavor is something that you’d go for, you’d love this one.

For the main course, we had a Spicy Prawn Curry (did we mention we love prawns?) paired with flaky tandoori rotis and flavorful jeera rice. The rice and the roti were light on the tummy and the rich gravy was a spicy indulgence that we dug right into.

Craving for something cheesy, we had the Pasto Polo Alfredo, penne pasta in a rich, creamy cheese sauce with a good amount of chicken that was as tender as they can get. We had no problem wiping off that plate clean.

Thoroughly ‘Tharu maaru’

For the dessert, we had the Oreo Chocolate, rich chocolate mousse layered with crumbled Oreo cookies. That’s chocolate through and through for you. The chef hints about expanding their dessert range and as far as we’re concerned, the more the better!

Our final drink for the day was the Tharu Maaru – triple distilled vodka, with colorful sweet melon balls, and fresh mint leaves bobbing at the brim. You can sip on the cocktail and fish out the melon balls for something to chew on.

If you’re looking for a place to chill with your friends, have a few drinks and indulge in some tasty food, The Cycle Gap is where you need to be. Great décor, good music and a full bar at your disposal, the place guarantees fun in everything they serve.