Most tasting menus are experimental and feature ingredients you may have never heard of and dishes you never fathomed could be possible. While they do leave you in awe with how brilliantly a dish was conceptualised, you tend to struggled with understanding the flavour profile. But the newest menu at Indian Accent Mumbai stood out. While the dishes at Indian Accent were innovation, the ingredients and flavour profile were known, the dishes were something everyone has had and it catered to familiar taste buds—Indian Accent ticked all boxes in terms of innovation and known dishes.
It may have been just a year since Indian Accent opened its doors in the Maximum City, but it feels like a known space for Mumbaikars as well, thanks to the multiple awards the Delhi outpost has received over 15 years. Located at the city’s year-old arts and culture hub—The Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre—Indian Accent is situated on the ground floor overlooking the popular fountain show at the centre.
On a weekday night, I went to try their latest tasting menu and while the service was impeccable, I could not find myself to complain about the ambiance and the spectacular view of the colorful fountain show that served as entertainment for the night. The new seven-course chef’s tasting menu at Indian Accent in Mumbai is curated by Culinary Director, Chef Manish Mehrotra and Head Chef Rijul Gulati. The menu is priced at ₹4900++ for vegetarian and the non-vegetarian is priced at ₹5500++.
Head Chef Rijul Gulati and Culinary Director, Chef Manish Mehrotra. Photo: Indian Accent
Rapid Review
Upon getting seated, Chef Mehrotra greeted me with a warm smile and eagerly spoke about his menu. Despite meeting the veteran chef for the first time, it seemed like catching up with an old friend and discussing food. “This is our third menu change,” says Chef Mehrotra. While some dishes are same, a lot of them are new and the chef has also included a few “Bombay-centric things such as pav bhaji and a few more things,” he adds. “But of course, we make it differently. I love making and eating pav bhaji,” shares Chef Mehrotra. “Making pav bhaji is very comforting.”
While it was my first time visiting Indian Accent, I was aware of the chef’s popular dishes—the Blue Cheese Naan, the Anar Sorbet, and Daulat Ki Chaat. I opted for a cocktail pairing with my tasting menu. Chef Mehrotra was also kind enough and surprised us with his signature Daulat Ki Chaat—which wasn’t part of the tasting menu—at the end of the meal. Soft, pillowy goodness, the makhan malai, or Daulat Ki Chaat, lived up to its name.
Photos: Indian Accent
The Great
I love a good medu vada—be it a roadside stall, one of the many South Indian joints in Matunga, or even your local Udupi hotel in the city. So when a medu vada with a beautifully plated chutney course arrived on the table, I was excited. But it wasn’t what it looked like. This medu vada was made of tofu and came with a pear onion chutney and a sambar cream. Deceiving on the eye, but spot on when it came to flavour, this medu vada was a melt-in-the-mouth bite of tofu and the onion chutney was enough to eat a spoonful of it.
The Sweet Corn Muthia, Masala Methi Roti with Fresh Burrata was a plate of comfort food—with familiar flavours and food I grew up eating. Supposed to be had as a taco, the masala methi roti resembled a Gujurati thepla, and the sweet corn muthia was just perfect—not too hard, and just soft enough to take a bite and the burrata gave a creamy texture, binding it all together.
The main course included a platter of food. The two sabjis included Paneer, Tadka Saag with Herb Feta Crumble, Beet Chops with Fresh Fennel, and Coconut Mustard Curry. Along with this a Black Dairy Dal, Wasabi, and Kakdi Raita, and two Kulchas—one with a stuffing of paneer and the other being mushroom. Each dish mentioned above hit the right spot. Ideally, a saag is slightly bitter and pungent but this was balanced so well that I would not have said no to a second helping. The beet chops were soft, flavourful but the highlight was the coconut mustard curry. Coconut and mustard don’t end up on the top of my flavour list but somehow the pungent taste of the mustard, paired exceptionally well with the sweetness of the beetroot. I have reached a point where I avoid eating dal makhni outside, mainly because Mumbai doesn’t do dal makhni well. Instead, I now prefer my mum’s recipe for the perfect dal makhni. “I thought I had competition from restaurants, but now it is from mothers also,” jokes Chef Mehrotra. However, Indian Accent’s dal makhni is something I would come to have again.
(from left to right) Tofu medu vadai, pearl onion chutney, and sambar cream; Pumpkin Halwa Soft Serve. Photos: Indian Accent
The Anar and Churan Kulfi Sorbet lived up to its hype. This palate cleanser came in a mini pressure cooker. “Now this is very popular,” says the chef. “But 15 years ago, when we started it, it was a unique concept. But now this course has become more famous than me,” he jokes.
The Pumpkin Halwa Soft Serve came in a mini cone with a not-too-sweet pumpkin halwa soft serve with a single pumpkin seed on top of it. I loved the concept and it was a perfect start to the dessert course.
The Good
The Lucknow Dahi Jalebi was a dessert I tried for the first time. Crisp, not too sweet jalebis with a dollop of dahi on top. “It is quite popular in Lucknow,” Chef Mehrotra stated. The jalebis were beautiful, both in taste and the crispy texture but as a personal preference I prefer eating jalebis as is, even without any rabdi. However, a fellow diner who is from Lucknow confirmed that the chef managed to nail this dessert and it reminded them of eating the same thing in Lucknow.
The Kashmiri Morel Pulao, Pine Nuts with Fresh Truffles was a warm bowl of comfort food. The pine nuts added a nice bite to the pulao flavoured with Kashmiri morel mushrooms and truffle. While it did resemble a risotto to some extent what had to be appreciated was the fact that the truffle was not overpowering—which is the case with a lot of truffle dishes. I would not be against the idea of increasing the serving quantity for this course.
The final dessert was Aamras Puri, Cheesecake, with White Chocolate and Raspberry. I had my first mango of the season, courtesy of Indian Accent Mumbai and Chef Mehrotra. A fun take on the classic aamras puri, this dessert had everything—a crunchy puri, almost resembling a pani puri on top of a creamy cheesecake on a bed of aamras. I am used to dipping piping hot puris in chilled aamras, so naturally I would have enjoyed this dessert more if the aamras were colder, but the dish was still devoured.
(from left to right) Kashmiri morel pulao, pine nuts with fresh truffle, Aamras puri, cheesecake, with white chocolate and raspberry. Photos: Indian Accent, Nidhi Lodaya
Papad is a staple at home so the smoked Marwari Papad with Potato Lettuce Cream was a fun take on the usual papad churi. Taking a spoonful of the crushed papad and mixing it with the potato lettuce cream left us wanting for a second helping. The smokiness of evident and while I thoroughly enjoyed the flavour, I think I somewhere missed the traditional kind of papad churi as well.
The Miss
Even though the Indian Accent style pav bhaji was a new addition to the menu in Mumbai, it didn’t cut for me. As a Mumbaikar, having grown up eating pav bhaji on a monthly, or even a weekly basis, I could not help but compare it to what I have already had before, or even what my mother makes at home. The bite-sized mini pav stuffed with bhaji didn’t have the greasy buttery pav which is loved by all and the spicy bhaji, the way you get it in the city.
The Dhokla with Black Garlic Chutney was also too fusion for my tastebuds. Dhokla, a staple at home, is better to be consumed with the basic green chutney. This one seemed like it had quite a few flavours in one bite.
(from left to right) Pav Bhaji Indian Accent style, Blue Cheese Naan with Shorba. Photos: Indian Accent
The Blue Cheese Naan with Shorba is what I was most excited to try. But, it didn’t cater to my palate. Chef Mehrortra warned that the blue cheese is a rather acquired taste, and perhaps that is why it didn’t sit right with me. If I had a taste for blue cheese, perhaps I would have loved it. As a first-time diner experiencing this, it was a bit too overpowering for me.
All in all, the tasting menu at Indian Accent Mumbai had more things I would come back for and fewer things I would skip, making it to my list of places to visit again.