We spotted the makings of this restaurant months ago on a casual visit to Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Center and have been waiting for it to open ever since. Bang in the centre of attention, with a clear view from the lobby, Zarf is executive chef JP Singh’s exquisite baby and we promptly turned up when invited for a tasting. Open for a month already, the well-designed space already has quite a few takers, as is evident from the crowds that already throng its tastefully put together and decorated dining rooms.
Chef JP enthralls us with the stories of each of the dishes that he’s chosen for his debut menu and soon enough we are seated for our meal, our minds bursting with images, tastebuds activated in anticipation. We start off with a starter menu that could well suffice as a meal in itself. Avocado Poori, Ajwaini Prawns, Asparagus and Edamame Shammi, Zarf Murg Tikka, Kakori Kebab, Dahi Kebab 2.0 and a Bharwan Guchhi are served to us one by one and we pair them with the seven Signature House Chutneys. Each of the dishes beats the previous one, both in terms of presentation and taste, but we are especially wowed by the Bharwan Guchhi. Each dish represents a journey through a region in India and the flavours do just that — transport you right to where the inspiration comes from originally.
We were pretty stuffed, but gluttony forced us to peruse the main course menu and the chef recommended the Koyla Atta Chicken, Black Mutton Curry, Jalebiya Naan, Khamiri Roti and Dal-E-Zarf. Having heard quite a bit about both the chicken and the mutton, we choose to begin our meal with those two dishes and the mutton curry delivered and how! The chicken, on the other hand, while delicious, did not deliver on texture. The real crowning glory, however, was the Dal-E-Zarf that was one of the most interesting dals we’ve ever eaten and we were through several katoras before we even realised it. Pairing the mutton and the dal with the naan and the roti was definitely one of the highlights of the meal, especially since we also complemented every single bite with one of the seven in-house signature chutneys — our favourites being the papaya and mango variants.
With hardly any space for dessert, we still managed a few spoons of their Mishti Doi Cheese Cake before being presented the Gadbad Kulfi, Trio Kulfi and Falooda. The latter exceeded the former by miles and we polished off the second dessert in a jiffy, patiently waiting for seconds while thanking the food gods for meals like this.
Meal for two: INR 3,000 onwards. At Hoodi, Whitefield.
Email: romal@newindianexpress.com
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