With great curiosity and a healthy appetite we headed to the latest watering hole in Anna Nagar, on a scorching afternoon, to sample their new menu. Run by brothers Varun Shreyas and Rohan Manjesh, The Void is a family owned business and was a busy kitchen during the pandemic. Finally having procured their liquor license recently, the restobar opened with a thumping party with interesting short eats, cocktails and lots of pizza, last Sunday. As we chatted about the delicious watermelon salad dotted with sesame and the popular butter chicken tarts that were enjoyed at the launch party, Kochi-based consultant chef Mohamed Siddiq walked us through the new menu at the 150-seater restobar. “Our menu is global in nature. Though we have redesigned the menu with a strong focus on South Indian flavours, you can also expect Asian, European, Indian fare along with some subtle Mediterranean influences,” says the chef.
We gave a sigh of relief when we saw that the first dish to reach our table was a warm and creamy Butternut Squash So u p. “Yes, we h ave retained some of the favourites from the old menu,” says Siddiq, which was great news for us as we were indeed rooting for this broth! We were served an interesting platter of sushi next with prawn tempura stuffed in rolls of rice for the non-vegetarians and crunchy vegetable-stuffed maki for the others. After an extra smear of wasabi we reach for a soothing Pina Colada to calm our palate. Light and summery, the classic cocktail is a perfect brunch drink. The next dish might be challenging for some but delightful for us — as we are fans of liver pâté. The chicken liver pâté is creamy and strong flavoured and is perfectly paired as a spread for crunchy toasties. The next one is less adventurous but equally satisfying — the Karaikudi Seekh Kebabs are tasty with an added punch of pepper.
Meanwhile, we sipped on an interesting ‘jamun’ infused cocktail — where the dried java plum fruit is muddled and the nearly majenta coloured cocktail has a potent vodka base to keep up the spirits even on a hot day. Coming to the mains — the slab of seared fish on a polenta cake is a subtle and wholesome dish and surprisingly, it didn’t need the addon sweet creamy coconut sauce. Our favourite is the ‘bowl’ menu. We picked the North Indian combination that saw a bowl of fragrant pulao with sweet caramelised onions, a roll of omelette stuffed with chicken tikka and a side of butter chicken gravy, dal fry and raita. The other options include a Goan combo with fish curry and a Chinese bowl.
For dessert, the Flourless Chocolate Cake is moist, divine and dark as sin — making us linger longer than we intended.
Meal for two at about INR 1,200 (not including beverages).
— Sabrina Rajan