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WE'RE AT THE MIDDLE ROOM – a month-old 35-seater listening room that’s wholeheartedly dedicated to the city’s two forever loves: beer and music. On the night of our visit, we were part of the black t-shirts gathered to mourn the hard rock legend Ozzy Osbourne. The 76-year-old ‘Prince of Darkness’ had passed away 17 days after his final live performance at the ‘Back to the Beginning’ farewell concert. And this city of rock music lovers was showing up and showing out. And it was simply cathartic to be enveloped in the music – crowd-pleasers and deep-cuts – of this iconic musician. Even my stone heart developed the slightest crack on this sweet night.
While this city has been adorned with many sobriquets over its more than five hundred years of existence, this tender night at The Middle Room has prompted me to outfit it with another one: a charming city. In this constant avalanche of traffic, garbage and start-up chatter, this glimmer of old-world sentimentality was refreshing; it was charming.
Get Your Groove Back
This sweet sensibility was peppered throughout our two-hour booking slot at The Middle Room. While munching on the complimentary bowl of spicy Fryums – an immediate throwback to elbowing our way to the front of our school’s canteen to pick out our favourite flavour, its tangy tomato, of course. Between crunches, we take in our surroundings.
Situated bang in the middle of the community and cuisine offerings of The Courtyard – home to Naru Noodle Bar, Wine-In-Progress, The Conservatory and Subko’s Ajji Mane – it has its own distinct look and feel. It’s like stepping into an eccentric grand-uncle’s den – plush leather and fabric sofas; stocky, stuffed ottomans, stern wooden chairs in warm, earthy tones. There’s a wall neatly stacked with LPs from floor-to-ceiling – curated by resident selector Sri Rama Murthy aka Murthovic along with Avinash Kumar aka Thiruda. Murthy travelled across the world for over a year digging through crates to hand-select each record, and we’re told, “he’s been mandated to add thirty records a month”, bulking out the space’s reputation as a room dedicated to good music – across genres – and chilled beer on tap. Tucked between the LP stacks are little knick-knacks – a toy robot that looks like it came straight out of the late Robin Williams’ TV show Mork and Mindy, to miniature vintage cars and other collectables that might catch the eye of a well-heeled, well-travelled grand-uncle.
And in case you aren’t already seduced by the great acoustics in the space, The Middle Room gets an assist from being bathed in a red light and a chintzy curtain poured across one of the walls, further underscoring this warm, intimate vibe.
Clucking Awesome
While we were swaddled by the music, we did spice up our journey with drinks and bar bites. Our table overflowed with the servings from chef Adithya Kidambi’s kitchen: we kicked off with the cheese ball: gooey, lava-like aged cheddar spiked with cheeto dust gushing out of their crispy jackets; Naga pork: fiery, delicious, chargrilled pork sliced and packed onto skewers; and a Beef Roast: similarly skewered and sliced but served on a flaky parotta. We could’ve had endless servings of the cheese ball, and both meaty starters hit the spot in terms of flavour, but would have benefited from a shift in presentation: chunks for slices? It’ll up the texture game and give the dishes that added bite.
The superstar of the starters: the chilli chicken. The crispiest fried chicken (foot included with the claws giving you the bird) in the city! Generously scrawl each bite – already dusted with a numbing chilli dust – with the green chilli hot sauce from the accompanying mini squeezy bottle, say a quick prayer, and you’ll be thrilled to tears.
In between bites, we quaffed down our drinks. My music executive companion washed down our starters with a Soju Spiked Iced Tea that was devilishly good, followed by a Paloma de Cerveza, a lager punched up with grapefruit, apple shrub and a rim of Tajin salt. While we got a glass of stout with a great mouthy-feel, followed by a Michelada in the Middle, a miso chilli sour blended with clarified tomato juice with a sharp zing of jalapeno that tantalised.
We’d love to have soaked longer in the vibes of Ozzy and his oeuvre, but our two-hour shift was up. So, for the sake of being completists at our jobs, we ordered a cheeseburger and a black forest cake. The burger was a decadent delight of a juicy dry-aged beef patty, melted buttery Monterey Jack cheese and a peppery-caramelly onion jam stuffed in a pretzel bun that provides solid support for each succulent bite. And the dessert was that last scoop of cute: a familiar cake with refined ingredients but the same-old fun. I lost the battle of the teaspoons, and the music executive got to have the final bit of the creamy mess. But we’ll be back on a Friday for the disco and the dancing.
The Middle Room is at 105, Kengal Hanumathiah Road, Shanti Nagar. Open Tuesday to Thursday: 6 pm to 11:30 pm & Friday to Sunday: 5 pm to 11:30 pm; bookings are in two-hour slots. Call +91 6364942336, or click here for bookings.
