’This looks like one of the bistros in Europe,” said K with a smile as we sat down by the bar at Kaspers. Kaspers is one of the most talked-about new restaurants in Mumbai and our neighbourhood, Bandra. It is not easy to get a table. We went there for a late dinner the day before. It was an impromptu decision to celebrate my blog’s 19th birthday.
The place was packed with tables and bar stools. There were a few standing areas too. You could not put a figurative fork in between people. The vibe was buzzy, but not boisterous. We could hear each other speak. We were seated outside till they found us at the counter shortly, which was nice, but we soon spotted a two-seater table, which was more to our taste.
You could, through a glass front, see a group of young chefs working with looks of concentration in a seemingly cramped space. The serving staff kept their cool despite the crowds. They were knowledgeable and answered our questions about the menu. The kitchen and front-of-house staff worked in tandem to keep orders flowing smoothly.
I often dwell on the service and ambience if I do not have much to write about the food. That is not the case here.
The showstealer of the night was the mafaldini pasta in ox tail and bone marrow ragout. The stew was intense, yet not ‘too’ meaty. It had a pleasant bite and combined well with the pasta. Talking of bite, one can’t praise enough the voluptuous seductiveness of the hand-cut bacon, which gave in delectably to each bite. It had a char siu-like flavour. This was a very close second. Wish the portion was a bit more. Portion was not an issue with the hand-cut steak tartare. It was juicy, fresh and had the right amount of acid to cut the dense flavours of buffalo meat. It was the second dish that we ordered and I was worried that we would be too full after it.
We had a pasta called Nicolas. Rigatoni stuffed with pork mince, skillet-baked in a vodka sauce. I loved the crust of the pasta, the boldness of the sauce. The only weakness, as K pointed out, was that the sauce overpowered the taste of the meat. Oh, and we had a shaved cucumber salad at the start which was refreshing.
Some of the crowd sourced Some of the crowd-sourced recommendations of sea bream tartare, roasted bone marrow, and tiger prawns were over. We had gone at 10pm. Reason enough to go back.
Oh, and the gut obsessed Bengali in me must point out that we did not feel heavy later despite our red meat heavy meal. Tells you about the quality.
