Kalaghoda is to the art and culture map of India what a collar is to a shirt
Hitchki the new eatery befits its location
Kalaghoda is like a big, bold painting on the wall where the background has frozen with time but colorful elements keep popping up here and there. There are cafes, restaurants, shops, road side vendors some of which pop with time and some of which stay forever.
" Hitchki is here to stay"
Location
Ambience
The inside was a contrast to outside, my eyes blinked from the afternoon heat but the cool and dark interiors transformed me to a different world, like a piece of paper that has flown far before landing. The door opened to a long room with tables of four place in an organised queue, the restaurant manager Jayesh was right there to greet. He said,' I was expecting you, would you like to sit upstairs as we have more comfortable chairs there. At this level we have high chairs.' I agreed to his proposition and realised that my youthfulness and appearance is as as contrasting as the inside-outside of the place.
Appetizer
The restaurant is having trouble with its liquor licence so at this point of time they are not serving any liquor. This has been compensated by an interesting mocktail menu. Thank God! for the detail explanation along side the names of the drinks, otherwise what can one understand how a 'He- Man' is different from 'Minion'. I ordered Minion and it was exotic. I could just go back for that drink.
The menu has very interesting local and international dishes with permutations and combinations of flavors and elements. The starters are mostly straight forward, mine looked and tasted impeccable.
The starters definitely got us started, paneer was soft, charcoal smoked and one of better paneer tikka I have eaten in recent times. The chillies delivered what it meant to but I must add that they work best as accompaniments rather than an entire dish. One can stretch oneself to eat three but definitely not 5. Even Bombay Canteen has something similar which is good for sharing but not for an individual.
Mains
The first dish had me smiling... Hell No!!! It had me slurping, chewing and digging in. I'll tell you why...
It was the strangest marriage I've ever seen Italian & Thai. Kudos to chef Vaibhav who thought of it..creamy red sauce with abundance of lemon grass, the pasta perfectly cooked ( not soft at all)
It was the strangest marriage I've ever seen Italian & Thai. Kudos to chef Vaibhav who thought of it..creamy red sauce with abundance of lemon grass, the pasta perfectly cooked ( not soft at all)
The second dish was also well made and well- thought. Spinach Risotto with fried Okra smothered with cubes of Cottage Cheese.
Dessert
The chef, Vaibhav has brought to the table desserts which are different from the regular ones like Chocolate Lava Cake, Mousse and pastries. His combinations not only sound exotic but tastes too- like green tea & cream cheese, rum & rabadi, dark chocolate & white chocolate, almond & berries etc.
Tender Coconut Panna Cotta, the surprise element in the dish was the after mint and roasted dry coconut which brought crunchiness to dessert. The Fruit compost was too sweet, I would have rather liked a drizzle of vanilla or herbs like thyme or basil.
Hazelnut Creme Brulee with caramelized sugar coating was to die for. The sugar coating was paper thin like the paper around the White Rabbit Candy but rock solid too. It could break into million pieces like glass but in the mouth it melted very smoothly along with the burnt, nutty cream.
I was invited for this lunch by FBAI ( Food Bloggers Association Of India). This was a part of Axis Bank Gourmet Fest, Restaurant week.
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