Towards the weekend, on an early summer afternoon, crowds ascended at the 240-seater Nataka Kitchen and Café. Decked up with massive enclosing walls of red sandstone, the fine diner exuded refinement, exclusivity and luxury. Meanwhile, to elevate its menu, Head Chef, Anik Singha with almost a dozen-plus-one experience in culinary artistry, cooked as though the fate of the entire planet depended on the tenderness of his Tres Leches, Chicken Cafreal, and more. Indeed, with some searching, one can spot cafés that introduce standards hinging on conviction. Specialising in Nataka’s continental table d’hôte, the chef has taken his heart to the kitchen. Also, for the Western sweets spread, he employed his succulent judiciousness to offer moist, crumble-in-your-mouth, and floral desserts like Seasonal Cheesecake, Baked Philadelphia Cheesecake, Jack Daniels Mud Pie, Banoffee Pie, Tiramisu, and Biscoff Cheesecake – all of which are meant to be felt than tasted.
While the mixologist blends orange juice and espresso in caffeinated mocktails like Sun Kiss Summer, Anik ensures that all his guests acquire and take in the fine aroma and cookery of Italian, French, and Spanish platters. Although the Hyderabadi taste bud primarily caters to fusion bites, the chef’s intelligentsia does not take a detour from its uncut culinary style and yet, carefully ventures gastronomical edits when necessary. For example, when we scuffed our seats towards the plate of Chicken Cafreal the table attendants kindly placed before us, our connoisseurship registered its Indo-African savoury heart, both in terms of outward appearance and internal flavours. The succulence of chicken breasts delivered a spell of fresh cilantro, mint, herbs, and garlic. Likewise, we hoarded minty and earthy mouth-feels of dry oregano from the bubble-shaped Broccoli Cheese Poppers.
The chef focuses on ample impressions and seasons from sautéed vegetables, olive oil, and Georgian spice, integrated with fenugreek, marigold petals, coriander, black pepper, dill, mint, and bay leaf to enrich the delectables that came later. We were relieved to sink ourselves in warm, sweet-and-sour, nutty, and grassy piquancy emanating from roasted greens and meat dishes like Grilled Chicken Steak. While the spicier and less vinegary Dijon mustard subtly extracted the bitterness from the hors d’oeuvre, finely chopped basil and lemony thyme sprinkled a lip-smacking personality on the dish. Our lunch counter bore the delicacy a notch above. Sharing his expertise in the South Indian section of Nataka’s food menu, Head Chef K Krishna tossed mutton paya (trotters) into tamarind and dry chillies among other homegrown ingredients for a tangy and wholesome cutlery presenting Mutton Shorba. Rose flakes swam in our ceramic pudding bowl as wedges of almond sponge refashioned the Tres Leches like a dessert you would not believe until you have tasted it. As for other mocktails – the Mint Virgin Margarita was as refreshing as a brisk wind blowing down from the Dolomites – needless to say, one of the rarest departures from a multi-cuisine dining tradition.
₹1,500 for two. At Jubilee Hills.
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Twitter: @PaulChokita