Vapour is a karmic rejuvenation of mind, body and soul. A cool watering hole that brews not just a variety of beer and never before beer-tails but also offers a host of your-kind-spirits laced with entertainment. Vapour Bar Exchange- a whole new way to hangout in Gurgaon, is a one of its kind microbrewery. A thoughtful and fun product of Mr. Vikram Rana, is sure to attract a huge crowd, especially people who like to get crazy drunk without burning a hole in their pocket.
The idea of stock exchange inspired liquor prices is undoubtedly the most striking feature of this bar, which is indeed a novice concept for the NCR people. This microbrewery will give you a feeling of a classic English pub. An ambient place with great food, foot tapping music and very affordable drinks is the definition of Vapour Bar Exchange.
Vapour Bar Exchange is nothing less than a stock market but instead of betting on stocks, we bet on drinks. The prices keeps fluctuating based on the demand of the drink and are displayed on screens at all corners. Vapour also drops the price drastically, making things even more interesting. That’s the reason prices are not put up on the menu for the drinks. So exchange your drink and trade for less. Its not only pocket friendly but an interesting game as well.
Ambiance:
The place is located in Sector 29 Market in Gurgaon on the 2nd floor of a newly raised property. ‘Vapour’ Bar Exchange is the 2nd outlet under this brand name, the first one being in MG Road, Gurgaon. The ambiance reminds me of a European Bar as the entire place is made out of wood with an elevated stage for any music concert. The red entrance gate painted with bull and a bear grabs the attention. Wooden hues pervade the place along with a few additions of pastel colors. The huge bar which has a microbrewery behind it is worth noticing. The first noticeable thing after entering the restaurant is a tall red colored Telephone booth which is named as Patisserie, where all the desserts are displayed. Vapour is huge and has a capacity for around 100 people. Wooden flooring, flags of various countries and posters loaded walls appreciate the Bar Exchange theme. It has dark green and red colored sofas with wooden chairs which are quite comfortable. The magnificent feature is their open area at the backside, it’s beautiful and green.
With a huge LCD, and huge windows, covered with thick plastic sheets, which can be rolled up, overlooking loads of greenery, is the best place to be if the weather is good.
Service:
I was welcomed by the manager, who was friendly and ever so smiling, the staff is courteous and on their feet to fulfill any demands. The service is quick and efficient. The operations manager was gentle and full of life and specially came to our table to take our feedback on the experience.
Food:
Vapour has too much to present in terms of Continental and Finger food. I went on a binge and was in no shape to stop. The menu is basically a two page specially printed newspaper called the Time of Bar exchange, with facts about beer, bar exchange, sudoku and other interesting things on the front and last page, whereas the middle two pages comprise of all the food and drinks, they have to offer. They also have a mini separate menu stating six of their freshly brewed beers, with their description and food pairing option, which makes it easier to choose from and enjoy the experience even more.
So we started off with a mini beer tasting basket, so that we can have a sip and order the preferred beer. Because its a bar and known for its drinks we tried an array of them:
Bartender’s special: its a mocktail (out of their menu), which the bartender was kind enough to prepare for me as i wanted to have a mocktail with a slight spicy note, it was basically a chilled spiced guava drink, it hit the right notes, and was perfectly balanced with adequate taste of earthy guava spiked up with a spicy tone, served in a salt rimmed glass.
Virgin Mary: its a unique drink with an intermingling taste of tomato juice and Worcestershire sauce with a dash of lemon and pepper.
Setting sun: again a mocktail made of Orange juice, grenadine syrup and soda, with crushed ice. it was way too sweet for my palate.
Summer hummer: a pretty looking pink colored mocktail with lychee flavor, its frothy and sweet.
Virgin mojito: Mojito is basically a drink that has mint leaves, lemon juice (citrus flavors) and sugar, jazzed up with soda, it was light, fizzy and refreshing.
My ever so thirsty cocktail downer friends ordered a variety of cocktails, some of which were: Long Island Iced Tea (absolutely loved by all of them), Cosmopolitan, Margarita, sangria in white and red wine, caprioshka, whiskey sour, martini, and a few beers….. all of them loved and devoured their drinks in a jiffy to have more rounds of them :p
Coming down to the food, to accompany the drinks, we had a feast and binged on a variety of things. Vapour fries: Vapour has an extensive range of finger food and the vapor fries are one of their best. Comes with a small portion of onion Rings, Potato Wedges, Corn & Cheese Bites and French Fries along with garlic aioli and sweet & spicy dip. The best out of them were the Corn & Cheese Bites which just melted in the mouth along with the Onion Rings. The dips were an excellent combination with these foods.
Mushroom duplex: mushroom caps stuffed with cheese, pepper corn and bell peppers, crumb fried, the coating was crispy and mushroom flavorful.
Crispy fried chicken: thin patties of chicken, crumb coated and deep fried, the coating was crispy, served with a sweet and spicy dip.
Hyderabadi chicken tikka: a little spicy as compared to awadhi version, chicken morsels marinated in red paste with fried kari pata leaves, grilled to perfection.
Awadhi chicken tikka: it is basically chicken malai tikka, soft and juicy chicken morsels marinated in creamy white paste, it was subtle and creamy in taste.
Chilli chicken: chicken morsels tossed and fried in spicy oriental sauce with onion, bell pepper and garnish on spring onion, slightly sweet and spicy in taste.
Buffalo wings: marinated chicken wings, tossed in heavenly barbeque sauce., the chicken was juicy and succulent.
Thai chilli fish: fish marinated in thai spices and tossed with spicy sauce, loaded with onion and bell pepper, the fish was flaky, soft and heavily coated with spicy sauce.
Chicken paprika pizza: a thin and crispy crusted base with ample paprika tomato sauce, loaded with cheese, which lends the perfect amount of greasiness to make it all the more delicious, loaded with juicy chicken morsels, bell peppers and more cheese.
Leek spinach soup: a creamy veg soup made up of leek and spinach leaves, the after taste of fresh cracked pepper was simply amazing.
Chicken Thai curry: a really aromatic, thai herbs flavor infused red thai curry with chicken morsels, mushrooms, bell peppers and other veggies, accompanied with steamed rice, loved the dish….the thai curry was one of the best.
Lamb dumpukht biryani: an aromatic and flavor packed combination of mutton, saffron infused rice, served with salan and raita, the biryani was served in a very interesting cutlery, it was non-greasy, and perfectly balanced, loved it!!
Gosht nihari: an authentic lucknawi mutton delicacy, cooked overnight, served with dal makhani and roti, the mutton was really succulent and juicy, the gravy has a slight sweet note to it because of the browning of onions, but it was delicious and so was the dal makhani, really subtle and creamy.
we also had paneer makhani and zafrani paneer tikka, both we delicious and full of flavor. although we were stuffed by now, but still who can say no to desserts, so we tried:
Caramel custard:it is a custard dessert with a layer of soft wiggly caramel on top topped with whipped cream and a cherry, the texture of this dish is so magnificent and mouthwatering.
Blueberry cheesecake: a New York styled Cheesecake topped with Blueberry sauce, i wasn’t too impressed with it, given am a cheesecake lover, it was a disappointment, and can be avoided.
Vapour has much more to offer than just the cheap liquor. Great rock, indie and retro music running on the big display will make your visit more fun. Truly, a must visit place with friends to hit a tavern which can whip you up before you hit the bottles.
Must have:
leek spinach soup
thai chilli fish
lamb dumpukht biryani
gosht nihari
chicken thai curry
caramel custard
