Afraa Lounge Kolkata introduces something new in Kolkata.

Its a Wednesday Fairy Tale . The invitation read as – “Then they walked into Afraa . They made their own cocktails , listened to some thumping music, hung out with celebrity bartenders and made merry .

Madhushree and I looked at each other and read twice . Thumping music sounds as obsolete a thing in our life as a cassette recorder in Music shops . Since we have become parents, we haven’t been able to go to any place offering thumping music in the evening.

Afraa lounge Kolkata opened in 2007 .

It was the first fine dining restaurant of Ambuja Neotia group. It was inaugurated a few years after City Centre Salt Lake came up. The word “afraa” means “white” in Arabic. Thus one can see the pristine white in the decor of the restaurant. Afraa is known for its globally inspired cuisine, its signature cuisine being Mediterranean and continental. Lounge timing is 6 pm till midnight.

Other than the regular bar menu, the fairy tale Wednesdays at Afraa Lounge Kolkata offer customised drinks to it’s guests.

It says – “Awake the mixologist in you”. First of its kind in Kolkata. The guest is given a list of ingredients when he orders his drink. One gets to pick from 4 categories: type of spirit, like vodka, whiskey etc;  flavour profile, where one picks from preference for flavour like sweet and fruity or rich and aromatic etc; long list of basic as well as exotic ingredients  like mint,  lemon juice,  thai grape,  basil etc;  and finally, the style of drink, like long drink or martini or old fashioned etc..  The list goes to the bartender and soon the bartender comes with this very interesting tray of shot glasses filled with the choices you have made.  Then comes the interesting  part.  Just chat up with the bartender and he helps you prepare your own special drink.  He shakes and stirs and pours the drink in the choice of your glass.  Voila! your drink is made and if you wish, you may give it a special name.

The fairy-tale  ends with a king or a queen being crowned every Wednesday on the basis of the recipe of the cocktails being made.  They get featured on facebook and after every four months,  a special drinks menu is created from all these recipes collected over the quarter.  There are  plans for a special cocktail festival where the Wednesday Kings and Queens will be invited for a special cocktail making and drinking session.

The drinks menu offer all the classics made with the Afraa twist.  So a classic long island iced tea is a Afraa frozen long island iced tea with the same spirits but presented in a different way. We tasted and recommend the same as a must try.  The classic old fashioned comes with a very interesting  twist of Blue Curacao  and a hint of cardamom.

For some fun, you can order cutting cocktail  which is inspired from the cutting chai concept where the glasses are same looking as the chai and the drinks are served in kettle . When with friends, this is a great way to share and enjoy your drinks .

We had the celebrity bartender and mixologist  Shael Bhardwaj with us who took special care for making our drinks and also allowed us to shake and make the drink .

The food is worth trying out and we tried out herbed coconut chicken tikka – which was something unique with a distinct flavour of curry leaves and coconut . It was like a confluence of Malai Tikka and chicken 65 without the red food colouring. We ended the evening with a mocktail of caribbean cooler. It was a virgin pina colada with an Afraa twist in form of red grapes and pomegranate, served with chunks of ice .

There was a last line also – “And they lived happily ever after.  Living happily ever after is a lot of effort but some Fairy tale Wednesdays by Afraa Lounge can definitely help to a great extent . We named our drink Analytic Anindya and Mad Madhushree .

Thanks to Tanmoy Roy,  the corporate F&B Manager, Operations, who was kind enough to explain and make the experience even more memorable .

We attended this review on behalf of Kolkata Food Bloggers