The restaurant has an unassuming entrance. So unassuming, that we didn't know where the front door was. At lunchtime the day after Christmas, it was very quiet with only a couple other tables occupied.
Despite this, the service was kind of inattentive. They don't have a bartender on duty, but it took 20 minutes for Josh to get his cocktail, which arrived even after we had finished the first course. Josh's knife was dirty so we asked for another, but a new one never arrived. Service wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.
We started off with the duck and plantain croquettes, which our server had recommended as the best of the croquettes. It came with a spiced fig compote and a darjeeling tea simmered fig. I thought it was an apricot.
The croquette was quite tasty. Nice crispy outside, flavorful and delicious.
I tried to show the texture of the croquette insides. They were more tender than they look.
For our mains, we both got the Kerala fried chicken. It came with a breadfruit and onion theeyal (a soup), rice fried with spinach and peppers, and a coriander-spiced beet and red onion salad.
As I had read, the Kerala fried chicken was delicious. It was all breast (I think anyway) and it was fried beautifully and hearty with spices. It was a bit spicy (heat) also.
The soup was lukewarm, so I assume it was supposed to be that way. The taste was vaguely familiar, and it wasn't until the end of the meat that I realized that the breadfruit and underlying flavor matched that of red bean sah that we often has a dessert out at restaurants.
The fried rice was good.
The beet and red onion salad was a little chilled, and was relatively boldly flavored, but compared to the other dishes, was a little mediocre.
Overall though, I was disappointed that every note was a high one and there were not real cooling flavors or contrasts. Don't get me wrong: I ate everything I could, but I found myself wishing I had some raita or something to clean my palate.
I'd love to go back for dinner which has a more extensive menu.
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