My visit to Kopper Kadai was long pending. Kopper Kadai is nestled in the heart of Koramangala, near Jyoti Nivas College – just opposite Indigo Bar. A grand set up, neat and tastefully done interiors, and soft music – I absorbed all this in my first couple of steps inside. We were a bunch of us invited for a tasting of their menu – a menu that serves North Indian and Frontier cuisine with its own little twists – some modern, medieval and primordial. Now I didn’t really know what to expect, so we sat down, and were given lassi tasting platter – think of shots of various kinds of lassi. A good beginning most definitely – though slightly thin, I liked the various distinct flavors of salted, sweet, mango kesari, chaas and berry. There was also a drink that tasted like Fatafat – the digestive chewables that were available long time ago! Very different. Like I said, a good start.

We tried way too many dishes to actually remember. But a few left lasting impressions. Mutton Hatodi Parchey – you have to see this to believe it. Laal maas recreated as kababs – and served, yes, in an actual hammer. Aside from the oomph styling, the dish was rich and delicious. The Nawabi Galaouti Kabab though was less than perfect, wasn’t as mouth melting, and didn’t come with the parantha at the base. Call me old school, but this was more about sentiments! The Picnic Chicken made up for this to some extent, as did the Ganna Chicken. I actually don’t want to spoil the fun by writing about it, but this one actually is chicken mounted on a sugar cane! So with every bite, you get a lovely and natural sugar rush!

Sarson Ki Champey was another interesting dish of tandoori soya chops – while the others liked this a lot, I didn’t really have the right palate for this. The Mal Mal Seekh was quite good, nice twist to regular kababs. Murg Malai Shooley was presented beautifully – in a nice smokey pot, and tasted good and creamy too. Cooker mein kukkad – even without the drama of the whole pressure cooker, this was a delightful and simple dish – home cooked chicken with its flavors and aromas just right. Kabab number 4 was the signature Kiari Kabab – creamy and delicious – worth trying.

We had the desserts after a while – the mains and starters were quite heavy, and we needed some time to get our bearings straight before we plunged into the sweets. Dilli wali fruit cream with fresh cream and nuts and fruits is perhaps not the most conventional dessert – but again, I liked this the most. The Gulab Jamun Biscuit was the second pick – baked jamun, rabdi with cookie crumble – presented beautifully again. Nutella Dodhlava – hmmm – didn’t reflect the complexity of flavors of Nutella or Dodha barfi. Bateesa Cake was enjoyable overall, not spectacular.

My Take: Kopper Kadai is a concept fine dining place with elaborate dishes bringing curious styling & drama into Indian food. Go there for an experience.

Comments

comments