One man whose habit is to come up with out of the box ideas is Zorawar Kalra. The talented son of food expert Jiggs Kalra has surprised all the foodies of Delhi-NCR with his new venture Farzi Café at DLF Cyber Hub Gurgaon. So well did he markethis product that it had created quite a buzz in the food industry even before its launch. Its name Farzi contributed to it.
Quite curious about the whole affair I visited it to review it on the opening day. Hand-written signage, teak wood furniture, quite a lengthy bar and an area for live music, the café had everything one requires to be a success. Coming to food, I was told that it’s the first attempt to do a café menu based mostly on molecular gastronomy. I am sure it is tough and needs knowledge, as well as a creative bent of mind for a chef to curate a menu with molecular elements but Chef Himanshu at the helm of it made it look easy. Though on a personal note molecular gastronomy doesn’t impress me much because I am a firm believer that any natural thing shouldn’t be fiddled with. But with cuisine evolving that seems to be the future at least for a decade to come.
My gastronomic journey started with a mishti doi shot which was made into a yoghurt bubble topped with strawberry coulis and a dash of panch phoran, and what a burst of flavours it was? Mishti doi never tasted as good ever before. Mini raj kachori stuffed with crisp okra and served upside down followed it and again it surprised me. Use of chutney as a foam was very impressive. But the one which could take away all the heat whatever might the temperature be outside, was the bhelpuri version 2.0. Crushed as powder with nitrogen being used to prepare, it was cooler than an ice cube.
Other innovative creations were chilli duck samosa, prawn tempura, palak paneer pao and sarson ki gilawat and all were worth a try. But again a dish which I fell in love with was their galouti burger with roast tawa boti. Only the ones which couldn’t match the rest were their dessert offerings. Phirni oxide was spectacular to watch with all that smoke and crushed iceberg texture but failed to keep the flavours intact.
Farzi Café is a welcome addition to NCR and a must go for the ones who love action and drama with food.
Meal for two - Rs 1200
