Prankster – The F&B Campus, Gurgaon: Session begins

It’s true that most of our best friends are found in college and some of the best memories are created with them in the campus and the hostel. So doesn’t the best deserve to be cherished in the best way too? In a place that brings the perfect nostalgia of those carefree days and happily sleepless nights, and serves that perfect food to help create memories worth a million dollars? And what if the place knows just how much you would want to go back in the memory lane and how much of ‘now’ would you want to be in with your besties? Just how much you want to relive the cherished moments and how much you are willing to be surprised?

The bustling food lane of Sector 29, Gurgaon that is more than alive every single evening of the week, now has a new restaurant called Prankster, that defies all monotony of life and is geared up to serve you a new cuisine – nostalgic progressive. We were invited to get a whiff of the place before it opens door to the food-crazy Gurgaon. And just when we bit into the first dish, we knew what ‘nostalgic progressive’ was all about. What we didn’t know was that as we progress with our long-table food critic session, thinking with each dish that we now knew the best way ‘nostalgic progressive’ could surprise us, we were only underestimating the chef.

Prankster is the brainchild of Inderjeet Singh Banga, owner of the well acclaimed, Pirates of the Grill, and Pawan Soni, a renowned food connoisseur. It is a classy replica of the life and tastes as we know from college. Spread across 10,000 square feet, this f&b campus can accommodate 450 pax at a time. Seating options are more than you expect.

The Amphitheater: Remember the ‘Masti ki Paathshala’ from Rang De Basanti? Add to it some air-conditioning and a constant supply of great food and drinks!

The Classroom: Sit on the typical classroom desks to remind yourself of the pranks you used to play on your classmates and professors. Remember great food follows you everywhere at Prankster.

The Library: Long desks with table lamps to remind you of the days when you entered the library only to watch your latest crush endlessly, hoping to see a phone number in the book left behind just for you! But this library expects you to make noise because some celebrations are worth it. Ideal for large gangs, this room sports a high definition projector to make those cricket special days and nights memorable.

The Hostel: Hostelers can relate to this one! A private room with bunk beds to provide for a casual seating to gangs of about 15 to relive moments of mischief. Enjoy the best of both worlds here – get to play host like it were your house party and have it all done without moving a finger! The Hostel has a private balcony that will lead to the ‘Paan ki Dukaan’ eventually.

The Parking: This open balcony enjoys the perfect view of Sector 29 market that lets you enjoy the hustle bustle sitting atop old-styled scooters or tucked inside an old Mahindra jeep, all converted into sit-outs. How could a street parking be complete without a Chinese food van? Well, that hasn’t been missed at Prankster!

The Laboratory: Saving the best for the last. This is where you completely feel at home, carrying out your cocktail experiments. You are given a private counter with a sink and a set of beakers and test tubes. Let your creative juices flow. Food shall follow.

Prankster is a place that surprises you with its vegetarian food and kills you with the passionately prepared non-vegetarian bit. This is where you’d find chicken cooked for 24-30 hours to make you rethink melt-in-the-mouth. The food here is literally manicured and served at a temperature just right to ensure that each flavour is done justice with.

Recommendation: come hungry and do not think you can try it all in one visit. Without much ado, let us take you through the lineup of dishes that we were served at Prankster. Each a must-try.

Starters

We tried 10 veg starters and 3 non-veg starters here. Amongst the veg starters were Flat Gappe, Dry Fruits Salad, Sambhar Cappuccino, Dahi Bhalla Ice Cream, Super Sago Samosa, Honey Chilli Potato, Pao Bhaji Zinker, Qyast Ghati with Coconut Foam, Litchi Kebab and Thai Scented Kulcha. The 3 non-veg starters tried were Kung Pau Chicken with Tamarind Glaze, Lamb Chops and Tempura Prawns. Yes we literally splurged. But will describe only a few to keep some part of the mystery for you to unlock for yourselves!

Here we go with the veg starters!

Flat Gappe: A baked semolina (sooji) base with a jelly like sphere of the traditional ‘Gol Gappe ka paani’ sitting atop, finished with a mint leaf. The spherificated tangy water took us by surprise and we wanted to keep gazing at the innovation, when we were told that this starter was an eat-me-quick stuff because the water wouldn’t hold itself for too long. Just when the gappa hit the roof of the mouth, the tangy sphere burst and we could feel the smooth ooze of the much same water that we grew up drinking off the paper bowls and always asking the street hawker for more. Just so you are reminded, this was only the start of the ‘nostalgic progressive’ cuisine at Prankster!

Dry Fruit Salad: Healthy crunchy nuts arrived in a big bowl. Just when we began to wonder what could possibly make dry nuts lying in a big bowl so special (and why is the chef smiling at us?), is poured an orange syrup with nitrogen gas to suddenly make the dish seem exotic. Recovered from the surprise we dig into the bowl eating the nuts and sipping the fresh orange juice along. That’s when we were told that the nitrogen gas helps serve the dish at a temperature that’s perfect to extract the right flavor of the ingredients. Wow. Whoever said that dry nuts must be consumed dry!

Sambhar Cappuccino: A thick soupy sambhar with coconut foam and Podi masala (from Madras) sprinkled over it to make it seem exactly like a cappuccino. For the sides, there are paper-thin baked Dosa wafers to munch along!

Dahi Bhalla Ice cream: If you have always loved and relished dahi bhalla, know this. It tastes best when frozen. So here is dahi bhalla frozen with liquid nitrogen, decorated in the traditional way with pomegranate and served with the perfect nostalgic tamarind chutney. And yes the rice puff doesn’t get soggy in here, thanks to the nitrogen freezing!

Pao Bhaji Zinker: A perfect street style burger with a twist! Looks like a vada pao, tastes like pao bhaji, and is cheesy like the burgers we enjoy at the burger chain outlets! The rubik’s cube adds a touch of surprise with your burger hiding inside. Or maybe missing! Get down here to unleash your own nostalgia. And yes ‘Zinker’ is for the crunchy crunch!

Thai Scented Kulcha: If you are not a die-hard fan of Thai food, try this. This makes you fall in love with Thai. Ever visualized Thai curry with a singhara kulcha? If you can’t, just order one at Prankster! Loved the crunchy singhara with its flavor and texture kept intact and of course the combo with the green Thai curry.

Non-veg starters, bring it on!

Kung Pau Chicken: Mildly spicy, very flavorful and lightly smoky, the Kung Pao chicken tasted deliciously different. It was crispy outside and tender inside, and was flavored with tamarind and garnished with coconut foam. The foam made the chicken look delicate and intriguing, and mellowed the tamarind flavor. The perfect snack to go with a drink.

Lamb chops: The lamb chops were delicious right to the bone. The lamb was medium well done and had a rich, smoky taste. It came off the bone like a dream and the texture of the meat was just great.

Tempura Prawns: Those were mighty large prawns, and they were proudly served on wooden rulers. They had a light, crisp tempura coating and a nice aroma as we bit into them.

Just before we were to hit the main course, we were served Anardana shots in a surprising way (we leave that to you to experience) to cleanse our stomach! Small pieces of frozen Anardana and floating pomegranate made the drink look like sangria. The sweet tangy taste made us go bottoms up!

Main course

So full with the starters, we could still manage to try Ghutwa Palak, Compressed Paneer Barrels with Thai Makhani Gravy, Dal Makhani with White Butter from the veg list and Rampuri Ghost and Murg Palang Tod. Will describe the ones that floored us like nothing else:

Rampuri Ghost: When it arrived, the Rampuri Gosht looked absolutely tempting and the aroma of khada masalas was amazing. The meat was perfectly cooked and oozing with a fresh delicate flavour. Not your usual Lucknavi fare, it was less spicy than it looked but was bursting with flavour and we could almost taste every spice in each succulent piece of meat. Loved it.

Murg Palang Tod: The chicken was extraordinary. Melt in the mouth chuncks of chicken in a rich, creamy, spicy gravy. The chicken had been simmered and cooked slowly for 24-30 hours for the perfect tenderness, and had completely absorbed the rich flavours of the gravy. Ate it with the excellent sheermal and couldn’t stop till we were bursting at the seams.

 

Deserts

To die for. Rather to kill for! Baked Sheera in Coconut Payasam, Jalebi with Rabri Ice Cream and the Gulkand Kheer completely blew our minds off.

Baked Sheera in Coconut Payasam: A cake submerged in coconut payasam with floating tender coconut and a dash of saffron to add to the richness. A combo never thought of before!

Jalebi with Rabri Ice Cream: Another one in the lineup of nostalgic progressive of Prankster, this sweet comes with a row of very thin (the thinnest possible) crispy traditional jalebis on one side. The other side serves the unconventional bit with 3 innovative forms of jalebis – beads, wafers and churros served with Rabri ice cream.

Gulkand Keer: A memory that will stay with us forever. This desert is not just about the taste but the entire journey which starts with a beautiful preparation right in front of your eyes. First served is a bowl of kheer. Then is sprinkled loads of pistachio over it. Then rolls in a trolley by your side, with an ice box of liquid nitrogen and two long stemmed roses. The roses are dipped into the liquid nitrogen and made to kiss right above the kheer bowl. What happens next literally seems like firecrackers and the roses break into a rain of petals onto the kheer. The kheer is then offered to you to consume along with the fresh rose petals dipped in it. If you are planning a romantic dinner, let this desert do the trick for you.

A never-before experience that is sure to take us back to Prankster, for a lot more that was sadly left untried!