Monday, September 9, 2013

Article on nightlife in Gurgaon (Suburb magazine Sept issue)


Gurgaon is no longer only a corporate hub; the millennium city is home to a growing number of pubs,restaurants and night clubs. Gurgaon has a growing young population with high disposable incomes which allows them to experiment with new food concepts and at the same time crave for their indigenous cuisines.With the advent of a slug of corporates, the demand for clubs and party places obviously has gone up. Clubs / fine diningrestaurants and bars are cashing in on this new trend. New places are opening every week. With the increase of supply, these places are giving innovative incentives for party goers to visit them. This includes‘Ladies’Nights’ which area welcome addition for women to party from early evening around 6pm into the wee hours should they so wish.

A restaurant owner explains."Tuesday has always been the leanest day in the hospitality industry. There is 'the people don't drink on Tuesday' logic, besides the ‘who-parties-mid –week’ question. But Ladies' Night has changed all of this completely. He adds, "The idea behind Ladies' Night was basically to boost weekday sales. In fact, many ladies prefer an exclusive night for themselves instead of the crowded weekend bashes. Now, Tuesday night is actually more crowded and busier for us. Women get to party early and leave early for their home after chit chat and a few drinks.

This is creating a new culture among youngsters working in the crazily mushrooming corporate houses;theyare partying more on weekdays now.

This is a win-win for restaurants and clubs who had low business on weekdays. A DLF Phase-V resident who works witha top MNC explains - "Our company meetings no longer happen in hotels, the management prefers to have a get together in a decent restaurant where they customize the packages according to the client’s requirement. This way we get a variety of options at a steal."

For people who believe in partying at home, lots of options have opened up as the home delivery business has spiced up due to new entrants. The business is growing more than twenty percent per year in Gurgaon. Zomato.com says there are around a thousand restaurants in Gurgaon and fifty percent of them are onMG Road, DLF Phase 1,3 and 4 and SushantLok. New entrants like ‘Grill and Wok’ in DLFPhase 3 are very focused on the delivery aspect and cashing in on the growing trend. Even full service restaurants like YoChina and PindBalluchi have started sprucing up their systems for getting into this segment.

Home delivery is always a cheaper option for Gurgaon residents and convenient for people with busy schedules in office.

For those who come back hungry after pubbing there are many 24 hours coffee shops in Gurgaon in hotels- from Park Hotel's New Town CafĂ©- biryani mid night feast, MukeshDhaba near Genpact to Westin Hotel’s Seasonal Tastes coffee shop. Gurgaon residents do have a lot to choose from.

A whole new option has also come up for Gurgaon residents. Start-ups like Batman Delivers, Fly By Knight, Midnight Express, Munchies, and MadBites, among others, are picking up business through the night as Indians increasingly stay up long hours-partying, meeting work deadlines or tweeting or chatting away on social media sites.These firms not only deliver food at your doorstep, but also cigarettes and chocolates, and even sachets of Eno and condoms-all after the Cinderella deadline.