Such was the hype around the opening of the place, that it seemed like our farz to drop in. Given that it meant going to Bangalore, we delayed it a bit though! meanwhile, bad wordplay aside, somehow, the word farzi had come to denote ‘fake’ in my mind, but in this context, I had connected it to Persian. However, as per their website, the connotation here is “creating an illusion”. Gotta say that with it being perched on the top floor of the UB City mall, the connect (illusion – UB – Mallya) was rather funny.
We tried to reserve for Saturday night a day before, but apparently the tables were all reserved, so we shifted the plan to Sunday. The place was packed by the time we got there, and folks were being turned away. Lesson – make a reservation. Most of the tables are around the large bar, and that’s where we got ours. High tables, with bar stools. If you don’t like those, it might be a good idea to specify that when you reserve. They have more standard seating too, but these are mostly with a higher seating capacity. Speaking of illusions, there is quite a lot of mirror play, giving the illusion of size, and with those lights, it must make a pretty picture at night.
The menu uses a fun handwriting font, and had some very interesting options. I do wish they gave the details about the house cocktails though, since we had to get into an interrogation session just to figure the ingredients! I got myself a whiskey based Three Musketeers and D asked for a Bottle ka Gin. While we waited, we got an amuse-bouche wrapped in swirling ‘mist’. Before I could figure what was in it, it melted in my mouth! A mild version of mishti doi would be my guess. Sweet and a fantastic start. Our drinks though, weren’t really lookers. My drink had chilli and chocolate as the other musketeers and was just ordinary. D’s gin based drink at least had a little zing that earned it some points. I think vodka based drinks might be a better option to try out here. The starters we ordered arrived soon after. The Smoked Bacon and Pyaaz ki Kachori with the Aloo Rassa reduction was absolutely fantastic both in terms of concept as well as taste. The Chilli Duck Samosa came with a tangy plum chutney. Piping hot, with well cooked meat, and nothing to complain about.
The Rice Noodle Chicken Biryani was too intriguing to not try. The flat noodles concept was smart, but the masala failed it. I did like the bajji play with the egg though. Andhra Chilli Beef in an appam was quite a visual treat, but the beef itself wasn’t cooked consistently. The coriander based (?) masala was tasty though, as were the chutneys that came with it. We should have gone with our first choice – the Bheja Fry.
There was a mysore pak – filter coffee dessert we had eyed early on, but the Parle G Cheesecake finally won. And thank god! Cookie dough essence and rabdi awesomeness.
All of that left us poorer by a little less than Rs.3600. Hey, it’s UB City, a meal for two for less than Rs.2500 would probably get the restaurant thrown out! The bill arrived in that cute little faux typewriter that I’d have loved to ‘borrow’. Too big to smuggle out though! There was another little surprise though – that Kadubu/Nevri looking item houses a very traditional finish to an Indian meal. A very pleasant surprise, which I won’t spoil for you. 🙂
