Contemporary Indian Fine Dining at Varq, Taj Mahal Hotel New Delhi

A couple of weeks ago we reviewed Bukhara, which was voted India's best restaurant. That stalwart was unapologetically traditional Indian cuisine, so today we're going to review a more contemporary restaurant - Varq at the Taj Mahal Hotel. Varq is also ranked on this year's Acqua Panna / San Pellegrino list - 4th best restaurant in India and the 32nd best in Asia!


I'm pretty happy that Varq also makes allowances for the solo diner - with the Varqui Lunch option. For 1500Rs (SGD 31.20), you get a pick of either starter, soup or dessert plus a main course, from anything off the menu, served with a selection of Indian bread. I take my picks and settle down to the amuse bouche which reminds me a lot of palak paneer (cottage cheese and creamed spinach).


One problem I've found when ordering in India is how to properly communicate the spice level you want. For example I ordered the Sukha Mutton, which I understood is traditionally a very spicy preparation. Naturally I asked the waiter to get the spice level tuned down "a little," but it ended up being tuned down "a lot." Wish there was a worldwide standard heat level which we could all use to talk to each other - "I'd like a 4-star heat level please" :)

In any case other than it perhaps being not as spicy as it should, the starter is gorgeous! Lamb with coconut shavings in a black pepper preparation with curry leaves - all served up in an Asian fried spring roll bowl. I find Delhi cuisine to be generally less spicy but bigger on flavour, creaminess (from milk, cream or butter) as compared to most Indian food we get back in SG/Malaysia - and I like it here a lot.


The main course - Kali Mirch Ka Murg - is Corn Fed chicken breast with mango relish served in a creamy black pepper curry. This actually tastes very, very Italian. Like a spicy, peppery carbonara sauce. The chicken is expertly cooked - tender and juicy - and that sauce is oh-so-delicious. Plus points for them providing an additional cup of it on the side for lapping up with the Indian breads!


Speaking of breads, instead of a 'bread basket' or an assortment being served to you all at once, they cook up small 5" diameter breads to order. So you're almost always eating your bread fresh and hot out of the clay oven. Great concept! I ordered a butter naan (which surprisingly ended up more like a parata), and two wholemeal actual paratas - all delicious and piping hot! Apologies for the not-particularly-presentable half-eaten photo here :)


I still have some room in the tummy so I order up an Apple Kheer (Rs 475 or SGD 9.89) - this is a stewed golden apple with reduced sweetened milk and nuts. It turned out to be pretty nice, although I must admit that Indian desserts are in general a taste that I haven't fully acquired.


Nor, it seems, have I acquired a taste for indian palatte cleansers - in Varq we get a few Betel leaves wrapped around something or other. That something or other isn't that important because the pungent acidity of the leaf simply overpowers every other flavor. Good thing the waiter warned me before hand to take a small nibble instead of popping the entire mouthful :)


In comparison with the higher ranked Bukhara, I actually enjoyed Varq a lot more. I thought there was very interesting usage and crossover of ingredients and flavors from other cuisines, the dishes were presented in a more upscale fashion, and the food was simply better overall. Five thumbs up.

Wasabi New Delhi by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto

Before that sushi documentary came out, the most well known Celebrity Japanese Chef worldwide was probably Masaharu Morimoto, by virtue of his being Iron Chef Japanese on both the Japan and American versions of Iron Chef. His celebrity status has, naturally, allowed him to open a number of restaurants in different cities around the world - one of them in New Delhi, India - so of course I had to take a taxi ride and get myself seated in a corner of the Wasabi by Morimoto restaurant in the Taj Mahal Hotel.


Morimoto is known for creative and modern, almost fusion Japanese cuisine, so it's perhaps no surprise that his restaurant here is as un-traditional as it gets. Bright yellow and red neons light up a modern dining area, flanked by teppanyaki and sushi bars.


I give my orders to the cordial and polite waiter, and take stock of the amuse bouche - a curiously mini sized slice of maki sushi with wasabi mayonnaise. I have to say that there wasn't really anything special here, other than perhaps the tempura battered and deep-fried nori (seaweed).


If you're a serious sushi/sashimi eater you'll know that any proper sushi place will always serve its wasabi freshly grated off a sharkskin board. The flavour profile of fresh wasabi is simply so different from the powdered stuff - it's more fragrant, more delicate, less pungent, and less likely to overpower the relatively delicate flavors of fish and rice.


Speaking of fish, I wanted to go for the sushi set but decided at the last minute on the Assorted Sashimi (Rs 3,850 or SGD 81). There's 2 slices of each of the usual suspects - maguro, chutoro, salmon, scallops, kanpachi - all freshly flown over from the Tsukiji Fish market in Tokyo. Strangely enough though the salmon was smoked rather than raw.


Moving on to a hot entree then - couldn't pass up the Ishi Yaki Unagi Bop (Rs 1,800 or SGD 39) - slices of Unagi, garlic and vegetables on rice, served in a hot river stone bowl. I'm not sure if you can see it from the photo but it's a big bowl and there's a lot of rice. Overall while the flavor profile was pretty good, I sorely missed a proper char on the Unagi like the one we had at Zipangu years ago. To me, a good unagi must be grilled, and a good grill means a char on the exterior.


The waiter suggested the Grilled Banana (Rs 700 or SGD 15) for dessert. It's a very filling and very sweet dessert - two bananas grilled and served with candied nuts and dried fruits, lathered with a sweet syrup, flanking a scoop of banana caramel ice cream. It's nice, but it really is too much sweetness for a South East Asian palate.


I wasn't blown away by Morimoto's New Delhi restaurant - although I think that speaks more of the quality of Japanese cuisine we get over in Singapore more than anything. I thought the sashimi was pretty fresh and the other warm dishes were pretty good, but the prices are pretty steep and I'd easily get better food over here with the same kind of money.

Wasabi by Morimoto is in the Taj Mahal Hotel. Reservations probably not required except for large groups - I visited on a Sunday night but the restaurant was barely half full. Non-halal.