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| Seafood stew |
K and I went to the recently opened Mumbai outpost of Indian Accent last Tuesday. Indian Accent is the restaurant that defined the modern Indian dining landscape in India. Its legendary and yet very humble chef, Manish Mehrotra, is the culinary director of the Mumbai branch. Rijul Gulati is the head chef.
I have eaten couple of times at Indian Accent in Delhi, the city where the story of this legendary restaurant began. This was K’s first visit to Indian Accent and she was excited. This was my first to the Mumbai branch. This time I went as a ‘civilian.’ For a quiet night out. Unlike in the earlier occasions in Delhi where I was invited as a food writer.
We got a reservation for dinner when we called earlier that afternoon. We had to pay a redeemable booking fee (Rs 2,000).
First things first. We had a lovely time. The restaurant, located in the Jio World Centre, gives a sense of space which is unique in Mumbai. We were seated in one of the ‘couple sofas’ (my term) which face the window. It was rather cosy. The only problem was that one looked at what looked like a concrete parking lot in the dark. I was told that a fountain is going to come up in a month there. That will presumably take care of the dreariness.
The service was unobtrusive but attentive. The manager came up and said he followed my blog and then left us to enjoy our dinner.
My only suggestion on the service front is to make the music a bit softer (it is not really loud) or to get the server to speak a bit louder. One missed out on the menu descriptions in most cases and had to request the person serving to repeat his/ her spiel. Half the experience in such meals is the storytelling that accompanies each dish. I was there as a food writer in my earlier visits and there was a lot more effort put into explaining and enunciating what each dish was then. Or perhaps the service staff is new and are slowly settling down.
How was the food? It was really good. No surprises there!
We went for the non-veg tasting menu. Most of the dishes hit the right spot. There was the odd blip, but that can be overlooked in such an extensive menu.
I had felt that meat and fish dishes tended to be the Achilles heel of the Indian Accent when I ate there in Delhi. The vegetarian dishes displayed a higher degree of complexity of flavour and texture.
My experience in Mumbai was pleasantly different. Each non-vegetarian dish was nuanced. Each so memorable, that it is as if I can taste it now. Here are the highlights:
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| Murg malai |
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| Pulled lamb dumpling |
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| Smoked duck shammi |
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| Braised pork |
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| Seafood stew |
- Murg malai, Gobindobhog, mushroom payesh & summer truffle: The cream-adorned chicken was soft as a hug. The gobindobhog mushroom payesh (savoury and technically not a payesh) was an explosion of flavours as the cliche goes. The rice provided a subtle, creamy base for the magnificence of truffles to come through.
- Pulled lamb dumpling aab gosht, red rice puff: The dumpling with its diaphanous casing and tender lamb filling was like a piece of classic art, as was the sauce. The dumpling had a certain fragility to it, figuratively speaking. The sauce in contrast, was robust. The red rice puff gave a crunchy relief to the dish.
- Smoked duck Shammi and crispy sevai: The kebab had a certain earthy ruggedness to it which was accentuated by the gamey meat. The crunchy sevia crown balanced the meatiness of the dish.
- Braised pork, Punjabi lobia, bacon chilli glaze: The pork was crunchy and ‘multi-textural,’ to use the term MasterChef Australia taught us. The bacon chilli glaze was very deep and intense. The lobia added a baked bean-like touch to it. I am a bit conflicted about which was my favourite from the evening. Whether it was the braised pork? Or the lamb dumpling? The good thing was that one did not have to choose!
- Seafood stew, raw mango, smoked chilli curry: This was the alternative to the pork in the tasting menu. We ordered one of each, as there were two of us, and got to taste both. The prawns in the seafood stew were truly juicy (‘…as a gossip rag,’ I’d write back in the day when I had a penchant for flowery phrases). The crunch, juicy prawns in the mango curry made for quite a cheerful, summery combination in contrast to the dark, deep braised pork and bacon chilli glaze combo
There is more …
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| Blue cheese naan with shorba |
We loved the blue cheese naan served at the start with the house shorba. The cheese burst out the moment we tore the nun. If a dish ever deserved the epithet ‘orgasmic,’ then this is it! Helps that we both love blue cheese.
The kali daal at the end of the meal had the warmth of a mother’s good night kiss… there I go again with those wild analogies. No wonder the dish is called mah ki dal! Excuse the silly pun.
The hoisin duck kulcha served with it was sweet and greasy. The butter chicken kulcha didn’t impress one either. It lacked the crispness that one associates with this Amritsari classic. The wasabi raita on the side was electrifying though.
I was underwhelmed by the chaat-based dishes at the start. The chhole bhature pickled green chilli tasted like squashed chhole in a rice cracker. Nothing memorable. The dilli papdi chaat was just that. Dahi chaat in a rice cracker. Again nothing special.
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| Smoked brinjal. Don’t miss the dreary view |
There was one dish that stood out. The smoked brinjal maple plantain. The baigan had the smokiness of a bharta/ chokha, amped many times. This was served on a crunchy Kerala plantain chip-like base and the dish exuded oomph.
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| Mishti doi cannoli |
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| The heartbreaking dodha burfil |
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| Pista ke lauj |
The mishti doi in the mishti doi cannoli was as authentic as it gets and made for a very interesting combination with its crisp, flaky casing.
K felt rather let down by the ‘warm dodha burfi, treacle tart with ice cream’. She was looking forward to the dodha all evening. She loves this North Indian badam halwa-like sweet dish. What she got had no resemblance with the dessert that has her heart. Thankfully she went to Gurgaon soon after and my brother got her dodha from Gopal Sweets to help her get over the disappointment.
The pista ke lauj didn’t do anything for us. I am off desserts these days so this indifferent performance didn’t affect me. For me the braised pork was a glorious ending to the meal.
Much has been written about Indian Accent’s coming to Mumbai. Here are my two bits on the subject.
Indian Accent is without doubt the pioneer and trendsetter when it comes to modern Indian food in India. Many have followed… and rather competently at that.
In Mumbai, there are restaurants such as Masque, Tresind and Masala Library which are strong and established names in the modern Indian food space. You have Bombay Canteen and O’Pedro which experiment with Indian food in a more playful way. Avartana is coming to the ITC Maratha soon. This is ITC Hotel’s foray into modern Indian food, specifically South Indian food. They have shown an excellent growth trajectory.
And let’s not forget that the modern Indian food genre is not all that there is to Indian fine dining. My uncle had once told me that you need to understand core liquors first before trying out cocktails. I feel the same about Indian food. You need to get a taste of its classic renditions before you try the modern takes on it; and there is no comparison to Dum Pukht, Bukhara and Dakshin, all from ITC Hotels coincidentally, when it comes to this. The Local Love section of their coffee shops give a chance to taste Mumbai favourites for those who do not want to go into the city, cannot go into the city, or do not have access to home kitchens, to get a taste of dishes which Mumbai loves.
As you can see, it’s anything but lonely at the top!
So what does Indian Accent do in Mumbai?
Keep surpassing the high standards that they have set for themselves. Again. And again. For that’s what champions do!
Welcome to Mumbai Indian Accent. It’s good to have you here.
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| Bawi plus Bengali accents |
We took the ‘without alcohol set’ which was 4.4K plus taxes per person. They have alcohol pairing menus, a vegetarian tasting menu (no, not what you think!) and an a la carte menu. I’d recommend the tasting menu to do justice to a place like this.
