After a rather busy week, my Saturday just needed this lunch treat! On a sweltering hot noon of March, as my friend and I made our way to the recently opened outlet of Farzi Cafè at the Oberoi mall – I expected nothing less than good food and royal treatment and some exciting and innovative food dishes & their presentation that I had experienced in their Delhi outlet!! Tagging along a vegetarian friend with oh-so-many weird food issues ( i mean, seriously now, which normal human, who actually has no food allergies, can really say “I cannot stand the sight or sound of the word “yogurt”) actually meant the chef has to be extra careful on the servings. And yes, we were impressed by his selection of food for us.

After being welcomed and greeted by the chef Hemendra, we were treated by refreshing mocktails “Farzi Ok” which is a mixture of orange juice & kaafir lime and Italian smooch topped with mint foam. Both of them were excellent and perfect to soothe us from the hot weather outside.

We started with a lip smacking, “molecular food” version of the Indian Dal Rice and papad. The taste is so true to the roots of this dish! This very first food had me go “wow” instantly and obviously made me expect more food like this ahead during my meal. The aloo bukhara kale salad with goatcheese, olives & almonds – a salad made with the right mix of fruits and raspberry  juice was a tasty treat for a lover of fruits like me. We were then presented with a piece of cooked black chicken on a black dish. The unusual dish is named BLACK sesame chicken and it is  chicken cooked in black sesame marinade served with spicy chicken-&-sesame flavoured dip. So flavorsome that this is a definite recommendation to my readers! Next up was the Tandoori Margarita Kulcha with bloody mary ketchup . Once again, a beautiful transition of an absolute Indian dish to a revamped molecular food version. Very cheesy and just so tasty! Just when i was contemplating on requesting for a fish item, i was presented with Mustard fish tikka served in a miniature table-top tandoori grill which is a portable modern day angeethi with burning coal inside it. Have I  already mentioned that these guys are too good with food presentation? The Tempura Fried prawns with lemon and chilli foam also made to the list of starters. The foam was really tasty and fun to play with!

The long trail of starters ended with Rajasthani pyaaz ki kachauri!! These were mini bombs of flavours and with every bite I was reminded of the heavenly kachauris of Jaipur.

For the main course we were offered the delicious 8 hour cooked Haleem Risotto made with lamb meat and served with lentil crisp. This will really go on the order at my Next visit here. It was really grainy, nutritious and full of mutton pieces so well cooked that they melt in your mouth. The veg option to us was Posh Maggi where the favourite noodles were cooked with bellpeppers, asparagus, mushrooms. It was a little bland for our taste and liking. It could have been a little more flavorsome, But anyway who eats a maggi in a restaurant!

We were so stuffed by the time we finished the mains!! But how could we leave without the dessert!! Parle G cheesecake which was such an eye candy with the parle G biscuits and gems being a part of the dish. My friend’s love for Bengali sweets made us call for the Farzi Cafè version of Rasmalai sandwiched with carrot cream and topped with raspberry juice on crystallized sugar. The desserts were a total delish!! Perfect way to end our meal.

Finally, we thanked the chef and bid adieu to the restaurant. Comfortable interiors, cozy atmosphere, friendly and prompt service – all in all, a good, recommendable diner. The artistic food presentation and the refreshing tastes were the high notes of our lunch. I managed to lose 5kg with controlled diet and regular exercise in the last 2 months. All my control diced off with this meal. I am sure to have gained all these many calories back for myself now!

Note to self: Get your lazy legs back to the gym right away!

PS: The post is majorly written by the vegetarian friend who wishes to stay anonymous 🙂