The taste trail just got a shot in the arm! But first, here is something to think about: We can all celebrate the newness of life’s experiences. Or we can say farewell to change. On that note, the year 2019 began with revelry across borders. For fellow Bengalureans, it was a time to reflect on the tumultuous year that passed, and a longing for the Bengaluru of old. And this reinvented menu is where the newness of change blended beautifully with past glory. One that was green, beautiful and charming. Reminiscent of olden days when nights would end with a nice after-12-delicious meal at a five star coffee shop, where you bumped into a motley crowd you knew, and it felt like home. Nostalgia of that bygone era is what Taj West End has come to signify for many.
In our first Bisi Bengaluru this year, we revisited this marvel from the past that has, thankfully, with great vision from its core team, been true to the Cantonment essence... spreading its wondrous Colonial glow.
Executive Chef Sandip Narang and his able team believe in celebrating a simpler time when nature was blossoming, and food was hearty and wholesome. And Mynt, the coffee shop in the most idyllic of settings has now added a punch of new flavours with Mynt Reinvented. A new menu, that was a long time coming ... given its exquisite surrounds. Now, this Continental, regional-flavoured and Colonial-influenced menu curated by executive chef Sandip Narang deserves a visit.
We started with a whisky cocktail that was Smokey, and then dove right in. Mynt was teeming with people (as hotel guests use it often so it can get loud), and the tallest Christmas tree on the hotel lawn, had a sparkly star placed atop... a mean feat given how tall the tree was.
As executive chefs go, Sandip Narang is always on the job, a busy bee going from table to table, very ensconced in his work, a heartening sight... with an exhaustive culinary knowledge.
Chef Narang’s Middle Eastern expertise is renowned, and when the mezze platter came sumptuously burgeoning with pita and hummus, tabbouleh, tzaziki, babaghanoush, spinach and feta fattayer, we were unstoppable. It was that good, fresh, we couldn’t help heap our plates, especially the tabbouleh and tzaziki. Yum. Must have. We had the creamiest Burrata, with a tangy herby cherry tomato relish, perfect. It had arugula and roasted pinenuts, though more arugula would be nicer.
Then it was a toss-up between one dish too many from the chef’s specially curated menu for us, and we decided to opt out of a wonderfully sounding Potato and Leek Soup and woodfire pizza... a new entrant!
The chef’s anti-pasti platter was perfecto... and our small tummies were full up, even if our gusto was not satiated! A deconstructed prawn cocktail with tangy capers, a smoked juicy bite of salmon with crusty croissant, cherry tomato and boncocini, and Japanese Shimeji and button mushrooms — all tasty, the artichoke was our favourite. Delicious. The watermelon and feta salad and a chicken and pineapple were ok.
For the new menu, Chef Narang revisited the Bangalore of old and came back with star dishes of that era. It also has a more Continental spin, with Indian, Italian and Lebanese, and a swirl of regional and Anglo Indian food. For our next course, we had the Rubain Meshwi, marinated prawn in a Morrocan spice of zatar which was succulent and pink, a welcome middle eastern flavouring accentuating the prawns, and the Riaz Meshvi, a deliciously marinated Mediterranean and Lebanese lamb chop which was a bit fatty, tender though. The Iranian Chicken Kebab was cooked well, imbuing flavours.
“It’s called Mynt Reinvented, as we have reinvented some traditional and Mynt classics. Among the new dishes, is the burrata, lobster thermidore, and new pastas and pizzas, we have also focused on adding comfort south Indian food like a robust Alleppey curry, appams and stew with some colonial flavours, reminiscent of what the Taj West End used to serve many years ago. Our all-day diner favourites are the pastas, pizzas, sandwiches, fish and chips and we have also taken care of allergies on this menu — lactose intolerance, peanuts, gluten, etc,” says the executive chef who is among the few executive chefs we’ve seen so hands-on, scurrying around with foodie wisdom.
Try their breakfast with millets — kodo, foxtail ragi, mixed millets for upmas and dosas, and they even serve millet pancakes with palm sugar for the diet conscious.
As we chomped on delicious food, and revelled in the spectacular ambience, a fellow diner, an Old Bengalurean and affable Parsi recalled how the hotel used to be called Spencers at one time, a beautiful landscape of colonial bungalows that was then leased to Taj. For many millennials who would not know, the entrance to the hotel used to be from Abshot Layout into its lush garden.
The specially curated mains that were on our menu included a kachampuli filled Pandi Curry which sounded delectable, a South African chicken curried bunny chow, grilled salmon with béarnaise, which we will definitely taste next, and spinach malfati — all held the promise of a beautiful meal, wish we had more space though. For dessert, it was a sugar free cheese cake and a warm oozing saucey sinful chocolate pudding with vanilla bean ice cream- divine, which, uncannily enough, we walloped to the last morsel... guess our tummy has priorities!
The IHM Mumbai graduate, Sandip Narang has been in the industry for 22 years, and was earlier with the Maldives Taj Exotica and also opened Souk at Taj Mumbai before being captivated by the Garden City... His signature cuisine is Mediterranean, French and Indian though his Vietnamese mouthfuls at Blue Ginger are worthy of a tasty trail as well.
The prices are on the higher side. Yet so is the Taj service: very welcoming and warm. We liked that the new menu stressed on classics, with inventive presentation and traditional preparation, and the chef’s culinary camaraderie. It has small plates too, which is great, and expect to see some very delectable Spanish tapas from the chef’s earlier forays into Spanish hinterland where he visited the best restaurant to have a suckling piglet or lietao... which is now on our bucket list! As coffee shops go, it does get a bit crowded, but the outside garden facing tables are perfect for a sumptuous meal with a brand new swanky bar, and impeccable hospitality from an able team. With scrumptious bites from the city’s past. Surely, nothing can beat that.
(Suruchi Kapur-Gomes takes the road less travelled, in search of the ultimate foodie high in namma city)
