Middle Room: Bengaluru rewinds on a turntable

The Hindu

7 days ago

Oasis' 'Don't Look Back in Anger', which could well be July's theme song, what with the fractious Gallagher brothers burying the hatchet for an epic concert tour, washes over the Middle Room. The swish listening room recently opened at Courtyard, that meeting ground of ideas and experiences on Double Road in Bengaluru.
The brainchild of Akhila Srinivas, the force behind Courtyard, Middle Room draws inspiration from audiophile bars around the world, which in turn take their inspiration from Japanese jazz kissas where music was not in the background but front and centre.
Akhila, a true-blue Bangalorean, says she wanted to bring back the vibe of old Bengaluru's pubs (think Pecos and Purple Haze), where rock music, raucous sing-alongs and beer drove the party. While that sense of community and writing song requests on tatty napkins does not perfectly align with the hushed reverence of jazz kissas and the ₹500 listening fee, one can perhaps give the Middle Room a chance to find its groove within these parallel tracks.
The intimate space seats 33 and operates on a time-slot booking system. We chose the 6.30 pm slot and thanks to Bengaluru's legendary traffic, staggered in by 7 pm. There are some cons to being in the middle of everything, which is what gave the listening room its name according to Akhila.
Wood and red accents lend the Middle Room a warm yet edgy aesthetic. The fact that music is the heart of the Middle Room is underlined by the sleek turntable (Technics Sl 1200 mk7 from Tokyo) and a wall of vinyl of over a 1,000 LPs.
Sandeep Raman, from the erstwhile Record Room (which Akhila says was more a restaurant with vinyl), presides over the records and some cassettes, playing marvellous jazz records that immediately transport you to neon-lit smoky alleys, and a slinky pair of stockinged legs unwinding from a muscle car to a wailing sax.
Murthovic, music producer and DJ, who has burnt the floor in India (Echoes Of Earth, Satellite Beachside, NH7 Weekender) and abroad, and artist and creative director, Avinash, travelled the world and the seven seas, to build up the vinyl library, the equipment and acoustics.
While music is the food of love at Middle Room, there is a short selection of small and large plates courtesy of Chef Adithya Kidambi.
The drinks are shepherded by the grace of bar demon, Arijit Bose, the brains behind Spirit Forward and Courtyard's Wine in Progress in Bengaluru as well as Goa's Bar Tesouro. While the drinks menu is beer forward, offering Kölsch and stout from Mannheim, miso chilli sour (a Great State Ale collaboration), and Geist's Kamacitra, as well as the dreaded beer cocktails, I choose to be contrary and go for Prosecco.
As we look at the cute little Star Wars action figures and the vinyls, which are a mix of old and new presses, we decide on small eats. I try the pumpkin rissois, which is an interesting marriage of curried roasted pumpkin and whipped goat cheese. The meaty flavour takes some getting used to. The char-grilled broccoli follows where the lime and green chili emulsion gives a gentle jolt of joy.
My friend started with a birria dosa, which is the Middle Room's variation on the birria taco, where the crisp little dosa stands in for the taco. Stuffed with slow cooked goat leg, it made for a comfort bite. Feeling adventurous, we chose the Naga pork next. Though not at all hot (where were the ghost chillies of yesteryear), it featured lean and flavourful meat.
Oh and even though Middle Room does not take requests, Sandeep was kind enough to play 'Dont Look Back in Anger,' and in place of a rowdy singalong, we quietly mouthed, 'Please don't put your life in the hands/ Of a rock 'n' roll band/ Who'll throw it all away…
Middle Room is open from Tuesday to Sunday. Log on to urbanaut.app/spot/middle-room to book your spot