Did you know, in these egalitarian times, there are places that are 'members only'? Where the golden doors (in this case, an unmarked anonymous cream-coloured door) open only for those select few who have IT?
The IT in question is the password, and the patience/coolness to hunt for the entrance to The Local. Yes, there is no signage or visible clues to locate the entrance - but along with the password, they do give you directions that are just about enough for you to begin the hunt. And once you locate it (not giving any spoilers!), punch in the password, the innocuous door unlocks and you enter with a sense of achievement. Made it!
The Local has an urban-grunge vibe, with its dim lighting, quirky wall murals, a speckled mirrored wall and the naked electric bulbs fixed into a lattice of tubes and pipes reminiscent of the classic Mad Scientist's laboratory. The music is fun, wait staff is friendly and polite, the bar is generous and the menu eclectic. They also have interesting off-menu specials listed on the blackboards on the walls. As Agent J and I made ourselves comfortable after placing our order for drinks and kheema pao, I remarked that the only things left to make The Local perfect in my eyes were WiFi and charging points at every table (my iPhone devours battery charge like a glutton!) And guess what? Right below our table was a charging point (my hungry iPhone was soon gulping down electricity) and there was free WiFi too! Smiles all around. :)
Our drinks came by quickly enough but the kheema pao took so long that we were left wondering if the kitchen was busy chasing down the goat who would yield the mutton for our kheema. But before we could grow too antsy, our smiling server came over and apologised for the delay , explaining that the kitchen was busy with prepping for the busy Saturday evening. Score one for the service!
The Kheema Pao, when it did reach the table, made up for its fashionable late appearance. Juicy, tasty kheema topped with a fried egg and a little side serve of fresh onion, capsicum, tomato and mint leaves and a fat wedge of lemon. The kheema had just the right amount of spice and bite and the pao were soft, fluffy with burnished golden-brown tops gleaming with butter. Yummy without being too adventurous.
We asked our server to recommend our second dish, and he suggested the Smoked Chicken, a blackboard special. The chicken showed up in record time, and was delicious too! A roulade of chicken breast slices, stuffed with chicken mince and served with gravy, mashed potatoes and steamed veggies, this was a classic Sunday Roast kind of dinner. The mash was scrumptiously buttery and smooth, the veggies steamed just-so (not mushy at all!) and the chicken was soft and juicy. And the gravy, flavoursome with a gentle chickeny-peppery taste, just amped things up to a whole new level.
The Local hosts karaoke nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays (so the little signboards by the bar proclaimed) but they opened up the karaoke system on the Saturday that we were there. By then, the place was heaving with cool, well-dressed, hip young folks eager to grab the mike and ruin some of the loveliest songs of the decade. Oh well. You cant have everything in one place!
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