Hauz Khas Village is bustling with wonderful places, and so to speak even though there are countless eating joints jammed together, offering something better than the other, opening a new venture in such an established, crowded and popular hub is a challenge for anyone. Yet two modern day hot hunks, Sahil Choudhary and Avnish Sharma, decided to take the bull by its horn and open a brand new concept called Levels. Having spent most of their lives abroad, when they returned back to India, they put all their heart, passion and soul in this concept, to give a taste of exotic lands like Miami, London etc. to the people of Delhi. With the thought that it would be wonderful to experience few hours enjoying the food, drinks and ambiance of the West, without shelling a handsome amount for it. Just by sitting in one place rather than hopping around the world, they have brought together cuisines from all over the world, roofed under four different floors. All four floors encompass four different themes, four different genres of music, and of course different food and ambiance. A consolidation of cultures from around the world, Levels has set the levels really high. With an exceptional model of working, this restaurant cum lounge is most certainly going to be the next paramount entity in Delhi’s food hub.
Recently thanks to Talkmore Productions, a bloggers meet was organized at Levels, before its official launch, wherein few lucky ones got the opportunity to have a sneak peek at the interiors, have a go at their mouth-watering delicacies and enjoy some foot tapping music. The event was highly interactive and fun to experience, where we got the opportunity not only to enjoy the experience with different bloggers from around the town who share the same love for food, but we also got the first hand explanation of the concept from the owners, Sahil and Avnish.
As the name suggests, ‘Levels’, it consists of four floors i.e. “Underground, Main Street, Canopy Man and Under the Moon”. Right now only Underground is in operation but soon they will open doors to other phenomenally themed levels as well. So, every level has a different theme night. Not just that, each floor has its own distinct menu. The impression is to provide each and everything under one umbrella. One may not be a party animal, no worries!! Just change your level and appease yourself with some soothing Sufi music, while those who want to dance, can groove to the hip hop happening at the same time at another level. Just switch levels to enter into a different trance every time you want to experience something different according to your mood, how quirky!!
Located above Raasta, on the third floor, huge red doors welcomes you to the Underground level, and as soon as you enter the place, you are greeted by a red telephone booth, a picture of the London tower, dimly lit lounge area with a charming golden bar, black and red interiors with low sofa setting, wooden textured tables, red cushions with LEVELS printed on them, classic London street lights, British style printed sofa seating and a mini outdoor area where one can smoke, enjoy some great graffiti and the view of bustling HKV down below.
The cuisine is mostly deep American, Mexican, European, Italian and Continental. We tried a variety of their dishes and mocktails, and started off with:
Minestrone soup: a classic Italian delicacy, an amalgamation of various vegetables like beans, carrots, celery, onion etc. all cooked well in a thick flavorsome stock.
Fattoush salad: a Levantine bread salad made from toasted pieces of pita bread, mixed with greens and other veggies, it was light and refreshing.
Basil chicken tikka: succulent and juicy morsels of chicken marinated in basil and garlic, gave it an authentic taste and was devoured within seconds.
Malai ke kebab: super soft, juicy, melt in your mouth, cubes of cottage cheese marinated in white paste had a subtle yet lingering taste and was one of the highlights.
Fried calamari: oval shaped fillets of calamari, dipped in batter and deep fried, served with batter fried onion rings were extremely crispy, and the sweetness of the onion rings added to the taste.
Spaghetti aglio olio: spaghetti tossed in olive oil, and garnished with olives, chilli flakes and oregano was just right in taste.
Penne arrabiata: penne pasta cooked al dente, tossed in thick red sauce served with garlic bread was full of flavors.
Nachos: an English dish, fully loaded pan of crispy nachos, topped with beans, and oodles of cheese was another hit among the crowd.
Apart from these, we also had enchiladas, fajita, chicken shish taouk, and Greek kafta, couscous and quinoa salad and among mocktails, their mixed fresh lime soda, kiwi based drink and virgin mojito, all three were light, refreshing and zingy!!
Banoffee pie: an English dessert pie made from bananas, cream and toffee on a pastry base was a treat to the eyes as well as the palate and was a perfect finish to the gastronomical journey.
They boast upon serving some unique mocktails and especially cocktails which they assure we wouldn’t find anywhere in Delhi, as they are inspired from the land of Miami, with the plan of introducing 15 new cocktails every month, wherein they would eliminate the two least favorite ones and replace them with two completely new drinks. They also take pride in their special transparent hookahs with some quirky flavors and led tubes to make the entire experience beyond description. Apart from this they have dedicated their Monday nights for the hospitality and aviation department, which is quite unique in itself. And if all this wasn’t enough, they offer to their clients some personalized merchandise like tee shirts, iphone covers and whatnot, which would we won by the loyal customers upon crossing a certain amount of bill value. Another unique feature introduced by them is their membership card, so the thought behind the same is as we buy a cash card at food courts, in the same lines we recharge these fun and artistic cards to pay for our food and drinks rather than paying cash, and well can encash the remaining balance later on. Also they care so much about their clientele, that they can’t stand them waiting for their turn in a queue so they are coming up with their own App, wherein one can simply get their respective cards recharged, check out the events going on, buy their personalized merchandise and nominal price, all with just one tap on their mobile phones, how convenient!!
A great and happening place, a truly different, never before kind of concept, they have left no stone unturned to give the best of the best to the ever demanding peeps of Delhi. So if you ever want to get bombed up, and have the time of your life, just step onto any level of LEVELS to enjoy the ultimate level of awesomeness.
