Caveat: This place seems strictly meant for those with a sweet tooth and by that I don’t mean just desserts. Read on.
Being a Mumbaikar, if there’s one grouse that I hold, it is that we definitely need more vegetarian restaurants in the city. And places that can make the vegetarian taste buds happy! Of course, I love the Udupis in the city, but then they are a whole different league. So when I was invited for a menu tasting at Panayaa, an all-new veg restaurant, I was hoping it would not disappoint.
Tucked away in a quiet lane of Raghuvanshi Mills, this 6,000 sq ft, apparently palace-themed restaurant is all set to serve Gujarati and Rajasthani food. Resorting to the molecular gastronomy treatment, Chef Naved Patel has attempted to give this cuisine a quirky touch. We began with a Pomegranate mocktail, infused with sprite and lemonade, and trust me, it was just what I needed on a hot November evening.
The tasting menu looked awesomely appetising and I surely couldn’t wait for the food to arrive. First up were the nitro sticks. They looked like thin breadsticks, engulfed by nitrogen. When it arrived at our table, it was sizzling, and I was a wee bit worried about burning my tongue. But as soon as I sampled it, it left an icy layer on my tongue, for a few seconds. My first impression of the nitro sticks? An interesting molecular version of the popular Rajasthani savoury, mathri, with strong flavours of cumin.
The décor of the restaurant seemed quite a mishmash. The rusted gold-framed mirrors on the walls don’t really complement the theme of the restaurant. And jazz music for Indian food! A complete no-no. I looked around to see if there was anything desi to let me soak in the Indianness of the cuisine. But nothing, really. Then arrived sweet corn tea, in a mini-sized tea cup. I love sweet corn but this one was too sweet for my liking. When I shared my feedback with the chef, I was told that Gujarati cuisine is mostly sweet. So honestly, I missed my pepper and other spices!
Sweet Corn Tea
We then graduated to the appetisers. I definitely preferred this to the main course and dessert. We began with Tofu Crackers/Tofu Fireworks, which was basically silken tofu with the crackling flavours of coriander, coconut, breadcrumbs and some zesty gunpowder. I am not a fan of coconut in chaat. But yes, it reminded me of Thai flavours. If you love Thai, then you obviously love coconut, so you don’t want to miss this one. I flipped over the Potato Spear Chat with Ragda- a golden labyrinth of crispy potato noodles dipped in fiery ragda. The ragda wasn’t fiery, but the flavours distinctly reminded me of chaat. It was a beautiful variation to the original texture. I also recommend the Dhokla Oxide, which is disintegrated khaman with a flavourful relish of assorted Indian chutneys. The Sharkargandi Chaat and deconstructed dahi vada were a complete bummer- too bland, unflavourful and looked pale.
I love salads but I was sorely disappointed with the Grilled Mushroom Salad. It was too creamy, sweet and I couldn’t get a taste of the grilled effect.
Thecha Sabji
The mains were a complete bummer. Everything seemed to be made in a gravy of sugar. If I go back to Panayaa to eat, the only main I would probably order is Thecha Sabji. Now, thecha is originally meant to be fiery and spicy, but this one was not even remotely spicy. The chef did mention that the sabji comprises mixed vegetables cooked in a curry of finely ground chillies and aromatic spices. The only spice was a whole red chilli sitting pretty atop the sabji. Why would I still order it? Because it wasn’t as sweet as the rest of the food. The other mains – Dal Makhani, Amritsari Kofte, Multani Paneer – made me wonder if they were dessert!
Strawberry Dome, Scrappy Mountain and Mohantal Cheesecake. Sounds delicious, right? But I give a thumbs up only to Mohantal Cheesecake. This is the one thing that they seemed to have got right. And why not! Mohantal is after all a traditional Gujarati sweet. They obviously couldn’t mess with this one.
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