sukhmanisakhi Sodabottleopenerwala launches a whole new array of Parsi dishes created with a twist on flavours without a fuss and a waft of homeliness in every morsel of their hearty dishes.
The food may not be the most distinct but it is certainly unpretentious and that’s the thing about good food, you get what you see and what you see is straightforward cooking with simple fresh ingredients that delivers straight to the cords of your hungry heart.
Starters were certainly the highlight of my meal. Bacon Vada Pav and Carnivore Bhel is please the savage non vegetarians who’d put bacon in just about everything. Light and well made.
Chicken Cafreal Salad was a formidably fresh bowl of mixed salad leaves, cured apples with a sharp sweetness to cut the Tart balsamic that embraced the tender chicken bits with delicate smoked onions. Shrouded with snowlike Parmesan, the salad reminded me of a warm Christmas morning!
Adapting to popular conventions the Chicken Cheese Pav would please cheese lovers with a spicy “achar” chutney underlaying stringy cheese! I wish there was mozzarella in it than craft cheese because I missed some gooeyness there. But hey, we all know how fast anything with “that” kind of dairy disappears from the plate and disappear it did, within minutes.
The whole baked Tarela Trout is cooked in rich spices, served in its entirety where you can taste individual earthy flavours, seafood lovers should opt for this or the Jumbo Prawns. The curry is just as beguiling as its name — simply done with a gravy infused with coconut. Humble and tasteful
The Chicken Biryani is just a really nice chicken Biryani which is made with marinated chicken in yogurt and mild essential spices and made texturally irresistible with caramelised onions and ginger slivers. This served with cool raita reminded me of grandma and her kitchen from my childhood. Very homely yet full on flavours.
Paneer Sanju Baba with Malai Parantha is another dish that has hints of nostalgia with a soft malai parantha and a rich paneer sabzi finished with a dash of malai and nuts. Wholesome and very satiating
Our plates soon freer of crumbs of food, our thoughts wandered sluggishly to dessert. Wishing we had four stomachs instead of one, we picked the Coffee ExpressoCake with whiskey caramel sauce. A formidable roundel of decadence so dense and pleasantly bitter, the texture was so gooey, this little baby grows on you with every bite. Strong flavours but what a bomb. Did I mention it’s made sans flour, so well just imagine it in its velvet buttery sheen or just go and eat one!
We pump in several cups of green tea before we catch a breath after a good meal and leave in a sweet reminiscence of modern Parsi cuisine.
Masala Library, Magnifique!
