Top Table: Indego By Vineet

When Michelin star chef Vineet Bhatia invites you for dinner, you really don’t think twice before saying ‘yes’. After all, a gastronomic delight is guaranteed each time you make a trip to Indego By Vineet with its unique Indo-European offerings. No wonder the expectations were high when I stepped on to its spacious terrace to try the new ‘Indian tapas’ menu that Bhatia was introducing this season. The relaxed al fresco atmosphere was just right for light, delicious food and great conversation. Thankfully, both were available aplenty here!

‘Expect the unexpected’ could well be Chef Bhatia’s mantra when it comes to preparing a meal.

Despite the prior promise of innovative food, I was taken aback by the inventive nature of the welcome drink — bubbly mixed with mango purée! ‘Extreme fusion’ was perhaps the only way one could describe this drink! The peach and strawberry-ginger champagne cocktails were absolute delights too. But my personal favourite was the rather interesting take on the very traditional Bloody Mary – a lassi-based shooter accompanied by crab gol-gappa!

Wait till you hear the rest of the menu. The Indian tapas couldn’t have been more exotic. The stir-fried wasabi-curry leaf prawns retained the special flavor of both the main ingredients. Then there was the chilli-lime scallops and saffron mash – literally to die for. And the small meat and apricot tikkas were simply mouth-watering!

For me, the most interesting items on this menu were the chaat cones. These were special chaat combos – paneer in green chutney, chickpea and pomegranate and potato chaat stuffed in mini-cones. The crunchiness of the cones was a wonderful contrast to the tangy filling inside. The desserts weren’t a disappointment either, even for an ardent Indian mithai fan like me. The beetroot-walnut halwa and the lemon shrikand bites rounded-off what proved to be a 360 degree twist on traditional Indian khana – a delicious marriage of the East and the West that we loved!

Contact: 04 317 6000.