Disco meets gaming at Smaaash

Smaaash in Gurgaon and Mumbai is a virtual gamer's paradise with a mishmash of comfort food for company

As is the norm, Gurgaon’s Cyber Hub is teeming with revelers on a Wednesday at 6 pm. I make my way to Smaaash and it looks unsuspecting enough. But the moment I step inside, I’m greeted with an assault of loud dance music and multi-coloured LED lights dancing around.

The options in Delhi and its suburbs have been limited when it comes to gaming, with only a bluO in Gurgaon or an Essex Farms in Delhi trying to fill the void with some bowling alleys, snooker, foosball and other arcade games. But with Smaaash, there is spanking new 47,000 square feet of virtual gaming in the city, with F1 racing cars, hang gliders using augmented reality headsets, cricket and basketball simulators, goalkeeping and racing, besides regular arcade favourites. Entrepreneur and former stockbroker Shripal Morakhia started Smaaash Entertainment along with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (who also inaugurated the Cyber Hub branch last month) in 2009 in Mumbai’s Lower Parel. Another branch is scheduled to open in Hyderabad.

Not a big gaming fan, (I like my sports real and live on TV), I soak in the virtual reality experience, which is a mix of motion and positional tracking and mounted head displays. There are many adventures to explore, skills to test and games to compete. It has the ambience and high-octane energy of a club, with dance hits blaring through the speakers and a constantly moving crowd full of kids, teenagers and adults alike.

The options in Delhi and its suburbs have been limited when it comes to gaming

I head to the cafe, Unforked (and Uncorked, the cleverly named bar), for a meal and some relative quiet. Cricket and sports memorabilia (some of it autographed by Tendulkar himself) hang on the walls, with plain black and red interiors and even more LED lights. The menu is a mish-mash of Thai, Italian, Indian and some Asian, obviously intended as filling and easy-to-eat post long gaming sessions. They have a health section, and I decide to order the go green smoothie. It comes in a tall jar — a Martian green concoction made with cucumber, green apple and kiwi, which quite happily overpowers the kale, spinach and celery.

Next up is the chef recommended bharwan mirch fritters, which come steaming hot with a stuffing of goat cheese mouse that nicely douses the chillies’ fire.

Our table has an attentive waiter, who suggests the basil lemon blush to sweeten the tongue post the chilli. For the main course, I opt for a shiitake and saffron risotto, which is sufficiently creamy and belly-warming, though I cannot taste the saffron. Garnished with Parmesan shavings and pickled arugula, it makes for an enormous serving.

A kiddie birthday party has started next to my table, with parents leading the proceedings and kids jumping all around, reminding me that it’s time to head out. From a limited dessert menu, we ask for a Bailey’s tiramisu that turns out to be average. Probably made with instant coffee and absolutely no Bailey’s, the chef seems to have over-soaked the ladyfingers, resulting in a cake body that is a soggy mess instead of the traditional richly layered classic.   

On my way out, I check out the games and the gamers. One man is playing Face Ronaldo, a goalkeeping game that compels him to throw up his arms in the air and dance after stopping every goal he can. Another one takes a large swig of his beer before hitting each penalty shootout against the supersonic Super Keeper. A young man with a mic provides encouraging commentary right outside the cricket nets where a virtual bowler hammers bouncers to the player. The games are a tad expensive, and you need a Rs 1,000 recharge to play even one. An evening with food, alcohol and gaming can cost you between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 per person. Though I hear that there are long queues for the games post 7 pm, and weekends are totally choc-a-bloc with gaming enthusiasts, I can’t wait to get back to old school reality now (Wimbledon is on TV).