Palate in Paradise

George Bernard Shaw once said that there is no love sincerer than the love for food. A staunch believer in this philosophy myself, I have always associated happiness with generous servings of good food. Luckily, the man I married happens to share the same love for food as me and hence, most of our amorous conversations somehow, fascinatingly, circle around the topic of food. ‘What’s for dinner’, ‘which restaurant are we exploring this weekend’ and ‘is there leftover biriyani for breakfast today’, are some of the frequently asked questions in the house.

In this set up, selecting a place for a romantic date on our 2^nd wedding Anniversary, was a real challenge. Last year, for our 1^st Anniversary, we had found our date in a very posh restaurant in Lower Parel, Mumbai. That evening, amidst the frenzy of celebrations, we ended up consuming a bottle of champagne each. Needless to say, we not only spent a bomb on dinner, but also remembered little from the supposedly beautiful night. This year, we did not want to repeat those. We wanted to focus exclusively on food and on remembering every detail of the evening spent. Many references and reading up about ‘The 10 best places to dine at in Mumbai’ later, my husband zeroed down on a mysterious place called ‘Masala Library’. Now, there is a reason I call it mysterious - in this age of social networking and publicity, the place has little detailing, let alone a glimpse of its menu card, available on the internet! Despite that, it has some zillion followers and no less than 4.5 rating in Zomato. This, made us very curious. All we knew from the internet was that it is a fine dining place and that it works only on reservations. So, without further ado, my husband booked a table there for our Anniversary dinner, almost 2 weeks in advance. They said they had slots open for two timings only – 7 pm and 10 pm in the evening. The 10 pm slot suited us perfectly and our reservation for the grand date was thus, set.    

Two weeks later, the day arrived. It was a working day for both of us and hence, we left home the usual time in the morning, promising each other to wrap up work as soon as we could. There were no surprises otherwise in the day and it went by, in its routine tone, with a few wishes pouring in over the phone from friends and family. Soon, we were home. We freshened up in no time and took out our best clothes from the closet to suit the occasion. The reservation confirmation message received from the restaurant read the dress code as ‘smart casuals’ and we chose our outfits likewise. Being the planner that I am, I had already arranged my outfit the night before, so as to ensure that I waste minimum time in getting ready. Of course, my husband had made no such plans beforehand. He tried on at least 3 shirts, before selecting the final, most appropriate one, for dinner. Once ready, we booked a cab to head towards our destination. I took one last look at the mirror and insisted on clicking a selfie before we left. Having completed these two rituals, we left the house and boarded our cab. With the able guidance of Google maps, we reached our destination without any hassle. So, there we were! We stepped inside the Masala Library.

While we made our way to the reception area, we noticed certain set patterns in the elegant interiors of the restaurant - classy tables, mellow lights, soft music in the background and spic & span arrangement – which were quite typical of a fine dining place. On reaching the reception desk, we gave our reservation details to the receptionist and were immediately led to our ‘table for two’, to be seated comfortably. A young man in a suit came to up to our table and said, ‘Good evening Sir and Ma’am, I am your host for the evening. Welcome to Masala Library. Before we begin your gastronomical journey here today, would you like regular water or bottled water?’ ‘Regular water’ came our prompt and perfectly synced reply. The man disappeared and came back with water and 3 sets of menu cards. He described the cards as: a bar menu, an Ala carte menu and a Chef’s tasting menu. The first two were self-explanatory. So, he told us about the third one. The Chef’s tasting menu, separate for vegetarians and non-vegetarians, was a menu set by the Head Chef of the restaurant. It had one soup, a salad, three different starters, a main course and a dessert each. Any beverage that we liked to have, he said, were over and above the rates applicable for the set menu. The tasting menu sounded interesting and we called for the same without any discussion. In addition to that, I ordered a cocktail called the ‘burnt curry leaf martini’, which appeared to me the most desirable and my husband went for a house classic – the Long Island iced tea. The waiter took our orders and off he went!

As our wait for food began, we started engaging in the usual small talk. Having had a glance at the menu card by now, we had an idea about how much our spending that evening was going to be. We realized that we were perhaps the only ones excited to have a meal there and had planned our finances aprior to comfortably enjoy our evening, while most of the remaining people seemed like regulars, dropping by after a hard day’s work. It amazed us to discover that so many people in Mumbai had such high standards of living, while we were simply small fishes in the big pond. The conversation went from there to remembering our last fine dine experience at a five-star restaurant on my birthday, how we hoped that the portions here would be big enough to fit our appetite, how Bollywood stars eat so less and yet survive and so on and so forth. Soon, our waiter re-appeared with the cocktails. We clinked our glasses to a quick cheer and took a sip of our drinks. Let me just say this - never in my life did I ever imagine that the taste of burnt curry leaves would taste so good in a martini and my drink was nothing short of heavenly! From thereon, our conversation came to a standstill and our journey in paradise, commenced. What came as food to our table, was unbelievable! We immersed ourselves in the explosion of flavors that greeted us and said an occasional ‘Wow’ or two, while gorging on our meal. Before we dug our spoons in, each dish was given an introduction by the waiter, who also told us how ideally it should be eaten. Here are the places our palates went through in our anniversary dinner at Masala Library, in order of appearance:  

The Thandai Bubble

At the beginning of the meal, we were served the Thandai bubble, which came in a soup spoon, gently rested on a small pool of thandai. This was meant to cleanse our palate and we were instructed to take it in one shot. We were stunned to see that it was an actual bubble! We took it in, as instructed and the bubble burst inside our mouths, filling it wholly with delicious thandai!

The Mini Bun Maska

Still reeling in the feeling of the thandai, we took a sip of our drinks and just then, the waiter arrived with a plate of mini bun maskas. For those who are unaware, bun maska is a Maharashtrian staple, mostly served by Irani Cafes across the State. Simply put, it is a bun, i.e. bread, with maska, i.e. butter. I must have had innumerable bun maskas from roadside stalls across Mumbai, to feed my hunger at uncalled for times. But this, was unlike any bun maska I had tasted before. It was warm and extremely soft, with fillings of butter inside. It did not even need chewing, such was the texture! Of course, there was some secret ingredient which set such a mundane dish apart, but the feeling nevertheless, was fascinating. We just rolled the bun maska in our mouth and let it do all the job it wanted to do. Sips on the cocktails, continued.   

The Patrani Machhi Soup

Soup was the first item in our tasting menu and it came in after we were done with the bun maskas and had finished a considerable portion of our drinks. But this was no ordinary soup – it was the patrani machhi soup! Patrani machhi is a Parsi delicacy, which is basically steamed fish topped with green chutney, usually cooked in banana leaf wrappings. We Bengalis, have a similar dish called the fish paturi. But how was this going to become a soup? Our wonderings were allowed to rest when the waiter placed elongated soup bowls on the table. At the bottom of the bowl was a slice of patrani machhi, i.e. steamed fish topped with masala and chutney. The waiter took out a small jar of piping hot lemon coriander shorba and poured it on the fish, until our bowls were filled. The result - steaming shorba flavoured with patrani machhi! The soup was, needless to say, absolutely delightful! We worked our way through the soup, enjoying every spoonful that went inside our mouths, ultimately reaching the steamed fish that lay at the bottom. Forks dug in, fish scooped out, our soup journey thus, came to an end.

The Prawn Salad

After the soup, enter the Prawn Salad. Now, when I say salad, I imagine leafy somethings, tomatoes, cucumber and other sorts of greens. But no, this had no such thing. The Prawn salad that they served comprised of spicy peppered prawns, on a small bed of curd rice, along with elongated strips of banana chips. My husband, who had spent initial years of his Corporate training in Chennai, had an inherent hatred for curd rice. Somehow, he never warmed up to the concept and I could see his apprehension, when the salad was served. I was thinking, who serves banana chips in a salad? But all these controversies shut up immediately as we had a spoonful of the salad. Our perception of curd rice and banana chips changed in a jiffy and we found ourselves in a state of absolute awe! How delicious was it! The spicy flavor of the prawns was breaking through the mildly tangy flavor of curd rice, while the banana chips provided some occasional crispiness in the mouth. My husband declared that he can never feel the same way about any salad again and that he had found his soul-salad. I agreed.

The Galawti kebab

The soup bowls were cleared soon after we finished and within a span of about 10 minutes, our first starter of the evening was served. This was the Galawti kebab, an Awadhi Specialty. The waiter explained that it was made of minced mutton, tenderized with various ingredients and cooked in North Indian spices. We were served a single kebab each, which was the size of a small ping-pong ball. Along with it came a mini saffron paratha, complimenting the size of the kebab and mint chutney, smeared on the sides of the plate. The waiter advised us to take all of it on a spoon and eat it together, at one go. We did accordingly, carefully placing the kebab, the paratha and the chutney on the spoon and off it went inside our mouths. It was as if we tossed in butter! The kebab and paratha both melted in the mouth immediately and left us wanting for more! The taste was simply outstanding and we just couldn’t believe how the spices and the mutton blended in so perfectly! This was, by far, my number one dish that evening and in life.

The Bacon wrapped Morel

The next ten minutes went by in discussing how beautiful the Galawti kebab was. We were talking again and just couldn’t stop sharing our amazement in eating the kebab. Soon, the second starter arrived, which was called the bacon wrapped morel. The waiter introduced the morel as a special Kashmiri mushroom and explained how this dish was cooked, to prep up our taste buds. The Kashmiri morel was mixed with cream cheese and the stuffing so made was wrapped in bacon, giving it the shape of a small dhol. This was served with bacon jam and a bacon strip, bathed in a pool of chardonnay carbonara sauce. Wasting no time at all, we stuck our forks in the bacon wrapped morel and swiped it off. We felt the cream cheese and mushroom filling through the overwhelming taste of bacon, while the jam and stick floored us nonetheless. The plates which brought the starter to our table, now looked as good as freshly cleaned.  

The Mutton chaamp flavored with maple syrup and kokum

The Mutton chaamp, as many would know, is a popular Mughal delicacy. When I was living in Kolkata, Biriyani with Mutton chaamp used to be a regular favorite. But the idea of champ that I had, was primarily as a main course accompaniment and I was curious to see how it fared as a starter. The wait was over and the mutton chaamp showed up on our table. It was a small portion of the goat leg, cooked in pepper sauce and maple syrup, with kokum garnishing on it. The kokum is a fruit, primarily used in Konkani cuisine, to bring in an extra tanginess to the dishes. Kokum and mutton chaamp would have otherwise never agreed together in my head but what was served, certainly blew my mind! We ate through the succulent piece of mutton, enjoying every bite of the spicy, sweet and sour taste of the dish. On one hand, the maple and kokum were shouting out tangy, while on the other, the pepper sauce silenced them with a strong spiciness. We scraped through every corner of the piece to ensure nothing was left untouched. 

The Main Course

For the main course, we were given 2 options and we obviously chose both, one for each of us. My husband decided on a spicy duck preparation in tangy tomato sauce, while being the fish lover I am, I went for a Rawas preparation. When the food arrived, it took us a while to assimilate the entire spread. My plate now boasted of a large piece of Rawas fish, cooked in Kerala spices and smeared with the very traditional gunpowder or podi, along with a portion of crab meat and spinach, mashed together in a mound. The waiter poured a coconut based curry alongside it, to complete my dish. My husband’s plate was similarly set with the duck preparation and the tangy tomato sauce was poured in the side. The accompaniments that came with the main course included various types of Indian breads i.e. chicken stuffed mini kulchas, prawn stuffed mini kulchas and lachha parathas, along with Dal Makhani and Boondi raita. The fish was a real treat, with the South Indian spices coming in a healthy fusion and the stunning coconut gravy adding a slight sweetness to it. The kulchas and parathas were as soft as cream and blended with the meat served, effortlessly. The Dal Makhani was conventional, with no surprises, but the Boondi raita was outstanding, with crispy boondis filling up the bowlful of sweet and sour raita. The duck was delicious as well, bringing together an assortment of spiciness and tanginess. We leisurely enjoyed the main course, slowly finishing all the items we were served. Now, we started to feel full.

The Dessert

Dessert took a while to arrive and honestly, we were not complaining. After all, there needed to be room for dessert and we were almost full after the main course. Many minutes later, two desserts presented itself on our table. The first one was a 3-storeyed rasmalai, layered with apple cream, on a kesar pista milk base and it was crowned by a caramel glaze. Caramel glaze is something I have only seen in high profile cooking shows on television and this, was a treat to the eyes! Our spoons went inside the soft rasmalai easily and the delicious taste of the kesar milk pampered our taste buds, with the apple cream adding the extra comfort. While we were busy indulging ourselves in dessert no. 1, dessert no. 2 caught our attention. It was a jalebi caviar with rabri, accompanied by saffron milk froth. Now one may ask, what exactly is a jalebi caviar? It is nothing but jalebi, served in the form of caviar, i.e. the jalebi base, mashed and lumped together to form a solid mass, which, here, was positioned in a pool of rabri, with saffron milk froth in the side. The combination was a known one and thus, we scooped our way into the dish. The sweet taste of the jalebi was stunningly overwhelming, with the froth and the rabri bringing in a superlative balance. We took our time to finish it, savoring every bite that we took.

The Ending

It was 12:00 am and finally, our meal came to an end. We were sitting there still, waiting for our cheque to come, exhausted from all the emotions we just experienced in eating all the food items. It felt surreal! The waiter got us the cheque soon and along with it, came two sticks of candyfloss. We took the candy in our mouths and it immediately disappeared, leaving a very surprising paan flavor in our mouth. It was a paan flavoured cotton candy! Just when we thought that the surprises were over for the night, the Chef proved us wrong and stunned us again. We paid the bill, called a cab and headed home. The date had come to an end.

Masala Library, undoubtedly, added a unique chapter in our lives. It was the most extraordinary food experience we have had till date and each dish was better than the other! After we headed home that night, we wondered how passionate the owner must be, to actually think of these outstanding combinations of food items and how deep he thinks to present them in a manner, unheard of. Each item on the menu must have his heart and soul. That, is a rare thing, an astonishing quality in fact. With that thought, we called it a night. That evening, we would remember for a long time to come. Why, one may ask? Because, the palate had been to paradise.