Friday, June 24, 2011

Indigo Relaunches Menu

Rest : Indigo
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Behind the Taj Palace, Colaba

Indigo has long been a favouraite of mine (older visits here & here) unfortunately the wife is not a big fan and i don't end up their as much as i used to. This week the wife traveled to see some family and the heavens opened up and Indigo launched a new menu.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to sample the new dishes. Accompanying me was my friend Vishal who is friends with a bunch of Indigo chefs and a fan of the kitchen and throws most of his famous birthday parties at one of the DeGustibus restaurants.


The new menu is a mix of the Mediterranean Rissotos & Gnocchis, but there are also plenty of Asian touches such as the Soba in Dashi broth. There is a strong sea food under current with lobsters, sea bass, scallops as well as the marrying of Indian ingredients and tastes.

The menu is different from the old one and considerably less European, however the influences seem to be European, Asian, Indian with a good measure of granny's touches thrown in.

The bar continues to be stellar, turning out an expensive list of cocktails, the mojito was refreshing on a balmy evening (465)

The soups we went or were the potato and green garlic with shaved truffles and pine nuts (465) served with a slice of very tasty grilled garlic bread. Sumptuous and very tasty, reminded me of a fantastic potato soup dished up a Parisian friend.

The Lobster bisque with lobster salad (515) not my cup of tea, i did have a taste and didnt find it particularly great, however i am a vegetarian. This is one of the dishes to have survived from the old menu and is fairly popular.

Grilled heart of palm, seared tomato, spicy greens in a Parmesan fondue (595) Interesting, the heart of palm itself was blandish, however the tomatoes were juicy and the sourish salad was complemented well with the cheesy dressing.

Chevre, in phylo, mustard haricots with spiced tomato chutney and a shot of gazpacho (625) A fairly deconstructed dish, the dryish phylo contrasted with the strong shot of gazpacho. Not bad at all, i am not a fan of phylo, however.. unwieldy to eat, the gazpacho should be colder..

The risotto of tomatoes cooked three ways, with garlic confit and mascarpone (775) was just brilliant. A simple dish the tomatoes were fresh and the whole cheesy risotto came together really well. The dish is probably one of the best i have had at Indigo perhaps the best dish on the menu.

Grilled portobello mushroom with 4 mushroom roesti and potato rosti (865) Not bad, you cant go wrong with that much mushroom in my opinion, however, too much going on with the dish, not bad at all but pales in comparison to the risotto.

The desserts were not bad, they continue to offer souffles and the old jalapeno tinged dessert continues to be on the menu. I however chose the choc cake, meringue and hazelnut ice cream (545) Not bad, the ice- cream was just great.

The choc marquise with salted toffee (545) was interesting, the very sweet and brilliant marquise was contrasted with very salty toffee. Take a bite of each and you'll enjoy the marked difference between the two. I had a similar experience of contrasting the sweet with the salty at a dessert bar in Singapore which was paired brilliantly with wine. Perhaps too out there for local diners but fun nonetheless.

Overall, the food was good, the new menu is strong, another visit to try some more should be on the cards, however they seem to be on the right track. Indigo made its name by being brave and being different, From the start some of the dishes on their menu have just not worked but that's the price one pays for trying new things. At times i have ended up with an entree that promised more than it delivered, this time though there was nothing really weak, for now, it seems like a good step forward.

I had a brief chat with the Rahul Akerkar and he said they spent about a month planning the new menu and there are some personal touches in the dishes. He also happened to mention that there is an Indian restaurant coming up at their other location Tote.

Though I was there by invitation, i have reviewed each dish on its own merit.

We didn't pay but i reckon a four course dinner with a cocktail or two would run to about 3000-3500 pp not cheap by any means.

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10

3 comments:

Kalyan Karmakar said...

I have been to Indigo deli quite a few times and have been largely happy. never to indigo yet. Seems pretty expensive though the food sounds promising

Gaurav said...

@ Kalyan, was at Indigo Deli in Phoenix for breakfast. Service continues to be crazy.

indigo is indeed expensive but worth a go on a special occasion. after having spent a month in Europe, Bombay seems almost at par !

The Kid said...

very colorful pictures :) yummy!

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