Mumbai dons an Indian Accent

Seafood stew

K and I recently went to the Mumbai outpost of Indian Accent. I have eaten there a couple of times in Delhi. This was K’s first visit to one and my first to the Mumbai branch. This time I went as a ‘civilian.’ For a quiet night out. Not at work. If you call eating ‘work’.

Chef Manish Mehrotra is the culinary director of the Mumbai branch and Rijul Gulati is the head chef.

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 dar. 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 about.

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:

Murg malai

Pulled lamb dumpling

Smoked duck shammi

Braised pork

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 chilly 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,’ as I’d write back in the day). The crunchy juicy prawns in the mango curry made for quite a cheerful, summer combination in contrast to the dark, deep and autumnal braised pork and bacon chilli glaze combo 

There is more.

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 analogies from my growing up (as a food writer) days. No wonder it’s called mah ki dal! Excuse the silly pun

The hoisin duck kulcha 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. 

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 base and the dish was all oomph.

Mishti doi cannoli

The heartbreaking dodha burfil

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. The tail end was weak, but not really. I am off desserts these days and both the crunchy pork and the seafood stew offered the perfect crescendo to end my meal.

Here are my two bits since I would be expected to go beyond just describing our dinner.

Indian Accent is 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 modern Indian restaurant is not all that is there to Indian fine dining. I remember what an uncle had told me when I was in college. You need to understand your core liquors first before trying cocktails. I feel the same about Indian food. You need to get a taste of the foundation before you try the modern takes on it; and here is no comparison to Dum Pukht, Bukhara and Dakshin, all from ITC Hotels coincidentally, when it comes to the classic Indian fine dining stratosphere in the city.

Well, you could say that it’s anything but lonely at the top! So what does Indian Accent do in Mumbai?

Keep beating the high standards that they have set for themselves. Again. And again. For that’s what champions do!

Welcome to Mumbai Indian Accent. 

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.