Your taste buds need these four new restaurants and menus around the country

The last year has been a grand celebration of food. There were restaurants popping up every week, everywhere, and very few cuisines were left untapped. In the midst of the noise, or rather the palate exhaustion, we thought we’d give you the easy four that you might want to step out, or even get on that flight, for.

Banng, Delhi-NCR

 

The first restaurant on home soil from Mumbai-bred, Bangkok-based, two Michelin star chef Garima Arora. How could this one not be on the list! We hear Arora travelled to Chiang Mai [Thailand] with her head chef Manav Khanna to learn from a Thai culinary master for this one. “Do not expect pad thai on this menu,” says Chef Arora as she introduces the restaurant on Instagram, signalling that this one isn’t going to be the plain old Thai favourites. What it is is a fun play on all the staples with a little Indian spin—think spring rolls inspired by the signature Bangkok 7/11 toastie, a tom kha pani puri, som tum pappadom, DIY Noodz, and, strangely, ham n’ cheese cigar roll.

Sienna Cafe, Kolkata

 

Sienna’s has been a glow-up we didn’t know we needed. A favourite of gourmands and, well, not epicureans alike, the three months of waiting on what’s to become of 49/1 Hindustan Park has surpassed all things imagined. The new Sienna Cafe is all of three floors grand. Start off with the cafe on the ground floor. We recommend the battered bhetki with sienna fries, lion’s mane with truffle burger, chenapoda cheesecake with jam, even the malai toast crème brûlée. And move on to the dining room on the first floor—with some of our favourites being maach’r tel chocchori dolma with sesame emulsion, chingri lace dumplings with malay curry, mangsho tonkotsu with hand-cut noodles, pork kalojeere kakuni with radhatilak rice, and the baba au rhum.

Crackle Kitchen, Bengaluru

 

You cannot miss this stand-alone Omakase-style kitchen and bar—where ingredients take centre stage and experimental dishes over a wood-fire pit sing the tale of chef Vivek Salunkhe’s childhood memories, global travels, and lived experiences. We’re talking dishes like Gaiety Galaxy, a fun play on the different textures of corn, which is an ode to the chef’s days of watching movies at the Gaiety Galaxy cinema in Bandra. Or how about Chowpatty, Salunkhe’s take on Juhu’s pav bhaji. Perhaps the Moules Moilee Marinière created from his memories of eating mussels in the streets of Bordeaux. There is lots more, but chances are, by the time you get there, the chef would have completely redesigned the menu to make room for new memories, so you might want to take our word and go try.

Yauatcha, Mumbai

 

The name of the game is innovation, and a celebrity favourite, Yauatcha Mumbai, never fails to rejig their menu. Their latest is 13 new dishes that pay homage to their 13-year journey in a way that celebrates the cultural significance of the number. Think the golden yam bean and lotus root in pumpkin sauce, which represents prosperity and warmth with its golden hues; the jade noodles with cuttlefish and spring onion to honour longevity and renewal with their vibrant green colour and spring onion-infused sauce; and the lotus root, mock meat, and mushroom dumpling, with its bright orange wrapper crafted from carrot juice that embodies vitality and good health.

All imaged: The brands 

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