When life gives you choices, choose chocolate first. Advice like that is best put into practice at Sandy’s Chocolate Laboratory, which rewired their entire section of desserts and portions of their savoury menu as of the beginning of July. “I took 15 minutes to come up with the menu, and two months to get rid of the old stuff!” says owner Sandesh Reddy. Although, if you’re a regular, don’t worry, That Really Tiny Chocolate Cake, which has been on the menu since Sandy’s opened shop in 2009, is not going anywhere. In fact, with Belgian chocolate and a creamier ganache, you can look out for a 3.0 version on the shelf.
I got sunshine...
We dive instead into some of the newer pastry concoctions in sight. There’s a Flourless Chocolate Cake, multiple layers of sunshine with Lemon Meringue in a jar and drum roll please... The Indie Road. The latter, a half baked chocolate chip cake comes topped with treats that most of us grew up with — think Kit Kat, gems and gooey marshmallows. From over 30 desserts on the menu, 15 are new additions. “But even the old ones we have changed in shape or with new ingredients,” Sandesh adds.
Camembert on a cycle
To offset the sweetness later, there is the sourness of strips of raw mango paired with Harissa Chicken Skewers which quickly becomes one of our favourites in the savoury section. Camembert Fritters that arrive on the rear of a cycle make for another fun bite over conversation and generous dips of the apricot purée.
The mains of Pork Belly are so soft that a butter knife goes right through the top and the Stuffed Chicken Roulade with spinach, mozzarella and oven dried tomatoes are delicious. Curiously enough, the mashed potato on the side is mild red in colour, which we discover is because there is a dash of red peppers smushed into the mix. A wee bit of seasoning on top would have bettered this bowl for us. But the slow braised pork is brilliant. Served with a beer caramel sauce — save this order for those celebration nights where feasting is mandatory.
Finding Nemo
For a lighter meal, try the local ‘fresh catch’ section. Sandesh assures us that their Basa will
continue to feature on their list however. He says unabashedly, “We’ve retained the Basa because it’s tasteless, flavourless and most importantly, complaint-less. Most people want to eat fresh fish, but something that doesn’t taste fishy.” Also to look forward to next month is a rotating choice of five ‘weekly specials’ inspired from Sandesh’s travels across Europe, Japan and Singapore.
Meal for two Rs 1,500. Details:42144000/42303852