When I shifted to Gurgaon over a decade ago, it was still a small town with not many dining out options. There were very few decent eating out options and our favourite became the quaint Red Hot Café. Many years later, I went to its new avatar at Cyberhub to review it for a book I was writing then, and I was quite impressed by the authenticity of its Thai curries.

So this time when there was a celebration to be organized, I was looking at Groupon for options, and I discovered a reasonably priced offer from Rred Hot Bistro for a four course meal, and I bought it for the whole family, plus a single package for myself for a “Chef’s signature bowl”. I did not explore further and at the appointed date and hour arrived at the restaurant.

When I looked at the “Groupon menu” I was horrified to see that there were a limited amount of dishes and with one sole exception, the rest were all vegetarian or chicken. I am not fond of chicken so I ask the server if I can have a soup and khao suey with anything apart from chicken and veg. The server brings the unhappy looking manager who curtly informs me that it is either chicken or veg and no other option is available. His body language seems to say that I should be glad they are serving us and should not be making a fuss. So I give up and decide to taste everything and then go home and have a sandwich.

Given my aversion to chicken, and not taking the poor service into account, here is my unbiased assessment of the food served.

There is no “wow” dish that I taste here. Most of the dishes I taste are either average or below par. I am dividing the review into decent, average and below average while reviewing them.

Among the decent and competent dishes are the tom yum (Rs 215), the traditional spicy Thai soup, with chicken, lemongrass, bird's eye chili, galangal and kaffir lime leaves and chicken khao suey (Rs 475), a Burmese meal in a bowl.

                        Tom yum                                           Khao Suey

Also good is the only non-chicken protein, firecracker lamb (Rs 365), which is crispy lamb in a tangy sauce topped with sesame seeds. Homemade mocha ice cream with chocolate fudge (Rs 275) is a good and tasty dessert.

                   Firecracker lamb                        Homemade mocha ice cream

Among the average dishes are the gluggy Thai red curry chicken (Rs 425) which tastes alright.

            Thai red curry chicken                     Preserved black bean chicken

Preserved black bean chicken (Rs 375), Shishito chili chicken (Rs 315), mee goreng noodles (Rs 245) and darsan with vanilla ice cream (Rs 245) are all average and what you would find in any mid-range Chinese eatery.

            Shishito Chilii chicken                            Mee goreng noodles

The dishes that just do not work for me are chicken hot & sour soup (Rs 195) which lacks the essential punch, and the somewhat pointless crispy chicken chili oyster sauce (Rs 375).

              Hot & Sour Soup                         Crispy Chicken chilii Oyster sauce

There are many things wrong with the Thai green curry chicken (Rs 425). It seems to be artificially coloured, the curry is of butter chicken consistency, and the taste is totally lacking in depth and flavour.

            Thai Green Curry Chicken                 Darsan with Vanilla ice cream

Rred Hot Café owes it to its legacy and the loyal customers it has collected for its original restaurant, as well as the new customers that it wants to attract at Cyberhub, to serve better food and have a more graceful service. I really hope they improve the offerings.

The review was anonymously done after paying for the meal.

Ratings (Out of 5)

Food: 3.0 | Ambience: 3.5 | Service: 3.0 | Value: 3.5 | Overall: 3.5

Meal for two: Rs. 2000 | Alcohol: Yes | Credit Card: Yes | Wheel chair friendly: Yes

Address: 110, First Floor, Cyber Hub, DLF Cyber City, Gurgaon. Tel: 011 33105176