When you think of modern Indian cuisine, it doesn’t take much effort before names like Indian Accent, Farzi Cafe, and Masala Library pop to mind. Given this, did we really need Rooh, a San Francisco-based brand, doing more of the same thing, and in India to boot?
From the minute you enter, it sets an experiential tone. You’re taken into the kitchen and introduced to the team, who you’ll be seeing a lot more of through the night. But first, to the bar.
There are nine cocktails (and six mocktails) arranged, in a menu designed according to flavour-profiles: salt, pungent, astringent, bitter, or sweet. Simple, yet effective; no one wants decision fatigue to mar the start of an evening. Special mention here for the lacto-fermented cape-gooseberries that come on top of the Turmeric Collins, with gin made sous vide.
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The space itself has different sorts of enclosures but the tiny dining room for four is an eye-catcher. It makes full use of its location, with the Qutub Minar standing ready to participate in your conversations.
Once seated, each time a dish comes to your table, you’re acquainted with it by someone from the kitchen even before you are allowed to wonder at its presentation. Which is great — for the level of skill and technique that results in each of these dishes, it’d be an undersell if they weren’t as excited to communicate, before you masticate away their hours’ (sometimes days’) worth of effort in a hot minute.
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The first few dishes are enjoyable reinterpretations of chaat. The ‘passion fruit explosion’ is their burst-in-your-mouth gol guppa, and their textured yogurt is, as chef Priyam Chatterjee says, “Dilli 6 in a bite.” Cloudy bits of curd dissolve in a melt of tangy and tart sauces when they touch your tongue.
All rasam must be hot, so their melon rasam is confusing at first. But the cool, soupy dish is just right for the summer, with its delicate South Indian flavouring — a hint of curry leaf and tender coconut are topped with highlight-worthy seabuckthorn. The fermented aloo paratha with local goat curd was just the right basic ‘northern’ carb-comfort, with a little tang from the process working its magic. The paneer 65/scallop 65 came with an interesting interpretation of curd rice, the southern favourite, made with hollandaise.
You might find yourself reacting emotionally to the ‘mango-yolk’ dessert. This most accessibly creative dish on the menu, is Chatterjee’s creation, which chef Sujan Sarkar, of the original Californian Rooh was impressed with, and added for Delhi. The delicate yellow yolk is the mango, sitting in a colourless jelly of coconut, with two cracked meringue ‘egg shells’ gently floating on it. The kaalakhatta jujube is a fun treat with which to close, though the toffee Mysore paak was an over-sweet toffee, nothing like Mysore paak.
Shaking up the wine pairings was the one beer — the Bhutanese Kati Patang, which is all the rage now. Currently, this is an 11-dish tasting menu, which Chatterjee says might expand to 22. Perhaps it’s better that they don’t — the meal as it stands doesn’t get heavy, and allows you to wrap your head and heart around its flavours. In fact, this is where Rooh’s tasting menu wins over the likes of Indian Accent’s, in addition to its throbbing freshness.
The question therefore, of whether we needed a Rooh in India, doing more modern Indian is automatically answered. With a resounding yes.
Tasting menu: Vegetarian, ₹2,900++, non-vegetarian at ₹ 3,200++, wine pairing: ₹2,300; a la carte: ₹4,500 for two. Ambawatta One, Kalkadass Marg, Mehrauli