“Kitne aadmi they?”

Who can forget this iconic dialogue of one of the most iconic villains from one of the most iconic films of Bollywood? I guess no-one. In a similar fashion one cannot just forget the inimitable tastes of the dishes after having food from the Bollywood themed restaurant of Kolkata- Gabbar’s Bar & Kitchen. Maybe that has something to do with the quirky names given to the dishes, or may be because of using ‘molecular gastronomy’ principles to the traditional methods of serving. How much the outlet fares in quality of the food let’s find out.

Recently team PanchPhoron was invited over for a dinner at Gabbar’s. Finding the restaurant was pretty easy. Located on Russel street, it’s situated where the erstwhile Mexican joint ‘amigos’ used to be. From the outside it seems a bit small, specially the waiting area is too congested to let you even imagine what sort of things wait for you inside. Nonetheless the waiting area also houses the bar, & has some quirky one liners written on small placards which you can use for those group selfies as you wait for your turn at the tables. As we entered the main dining area we were quite surprised by the size of it. It truly is spacious. The walls are adorned with graffiti’s & quotes from Bollywood films. Looked quite good. Great for a family dinner or lunch, or even hanging out with friends. The tables & chairs were quite formal though. We were welcomed by Harsh, the owner who gave us a brief intro about how the concept of Bolly-theme came, & how the idea of serving molecular gastronomy emerged. Finally the food started arriving at the tables. The brief review of items that were served is given below.

Drinks:

Litchi & kaffir lime Mojito:

The scent of the lime mixed with the sweetness of litchi made this combination a refreshing welcome drink. Even the idea of serving it in pouch packs with straws was quite unfamiliar.

Watermelon Basil Mojito:

Fresh watermelon puree mixed with crushed basil leaves. Another great drink to have in the summer.

Both the mojitos were served in alcoholic & non-alcoholic versions. The virgin mojitos were good, but no point for guessing that they tasted better with alcohol.

Curry Apple Foamtini:

The drink with a twist in the presentation. The glass of apple juice & blended curry leaves were placed inside a bowl containing dry ice. Fuming & looking like smoking hot, this was a chilled refresher.

Lambi Race ka Ghoda:

One of their innovative cocktails. A mix of White Rum, Vodka, Gin, Cointreau & Thums up this one was served in a one litre measuring cylinder you find in chemistry labs.Just imagine so many types of alcohol in a singles serving, that too in such a huge quantity. The long vessel looked intimidating & inviting , the concoction quite strong. Actually ended up liking it & drinking half of it in one go!

Raspberry & Kala Khatta Daiquiri:

These two rum & lime based cocktails with ample crushed ice were good too. But well, after having Lambi Race ka Ghoda , surely any other drink feels pale.

Appetisers:

Rome Ali Pizza:

Giving a subcontinental twist to the Italian delicacy, this one was basically a super thin crust pizza (rumali roti) , with chunks of chicken & loads of cheese. Not too much of non-sensical veggies, this one was a no-nonsense bang on point meal starter.

Chicken Potli Kebab:

A double dose of chicken, minced chicken or keema stuffed inside chicken drumsticks, this one was well appreciated by all. Although the keema was a bit bland compared to the outer drumstick, all in all it was another great starter.

Tandoori Momos:

This one is fairly common nowadays. The familiar dumplings instead of being steamed/fried are being coated with marinade & roasted in a tandoor. Looks like a Kebab, tastes more than momos is all I can say.

Balam Puchkari:

This thing (can't call it a dish, really), when arrived at the table, it was a total attention grabber. Eight pieces of crisp phuchka/golgsppa lying inside their own spoon, resting on a bed of artificial grass in a tray which looked like a small English garden complete with a set of miniature table & chair. It was a sheer delight to look at the presentation. Also present was a bowl of fuming vapours which housed test tubes of Pudina & Imli water. Can give a 10/5 for this unique presentation. Sadly the pudina & Imli water were a bit dilute & lacked the punch one would normally expect.

Inverted Pav (keema/Vada):

The name says it all. Instead of slicing the Pav & stuffing it with the filling, it's done the other way round. The Pav here was covered with the 'filling' (which should now be called coating to be precise) & batter fried. A twist to a much loved dish, yet maintaining great taste.

The visual treat here were the condiments & sauces being served in mini hawkins pressure-cookers no more than small cups in size. They looked so much in place & perfect for the Indian theme of gabbars.

Highway de Dhaabe di Shaan: Amritsari Kulche served Gabbar's style:

To honour the Amritsari flavour infusion, the high way ki shaan kulchas actually arrived in jeeps. Actually toy jeeps, but those looked cute as hell. Palm sized fluffy kulchas, preloaded with chole ke bhature. Beside the jeeps were small steel pails which contained the salads.

Another interesting presentation . Taste great as well.

Main Course:

Gabbar ki maa ki daal:

Fancy name aside this would be daal makhani, I.e. Black lentils cooked with select spices. Served in aluminium sauce pan, this was quite average in taste.

Paneer Tikka Masala:

Thank God that this one did not come with a weird name. This too was served in an aluminium sauce pan. The flavour was good.

Lasooni Palak:

Spinach puree cooked with lots of garlic, this was a bit better tasting dish, blame it on my partiality to garlics, be it garlic bread or lasooni naan!

Makhan Singh Butter Chicken:

Grilled Chicken tikka simmered in rich tomato butter gravy. This one was a perfect dish among the side dishes of the evening. The lightly grilled kebabs were soft while the gravy rich in taste as well texture. It was a pleasure to have these with the parathas.

Kochi pathar jhol:

No. Don't. Just please don't. Although I'm not a huge lover of pathar jhol, as a Bengali I know how that tastes. The rich aroma of the pathar jhol is a quintessential part of Bengali cuisine along with sorshe ilish & murighontos. When you try to twist it in whatever way you try, if you fail, you come crashing bad, real bad. This was an disappointment to say the least. The gravy was watery, the spices were missing. Even the perfectly cooked muttons couldn't save the show.

Accompaniments:

Warqi Parathas:

Crisp flakey parathas best enjoyed with the butter chicken. This one was the best of the parathas served.

Garlic nan:

As I said earlier, this one I loved too, specially the extra dose of garlic.

Masala kulchas:

Minced vegetables stuffed into soft flour dough baked in tandoor. Soft & tasty.

Steamed rice:

The rice was a bit dry, may be because of being prepared in bulk & reheated as per order. Could be looked after.

Desserts:

Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi:

Order this, & they'll hand you a clay pot with a green sapling. Dig into the 'mud' & you'll find its actually a mix of crumbled choco brownie topped with a mix of vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce & Oreo biscuit. Each ingredient is great by itself. & It can't go wrong when you have all of them at once. This one was just amazing. & Extra marks for the presentation.

Golmaal:

Again a deceiving item, initially it will look like a dark coloured cricket ball, obviously which it isn't. It's actually made of dark chocolate, which gradually melted off as hot chocolate sauce was poured over it revealing the inner ball of chocolate ice cream. Chocolate , chocolate & chocolate. Actually it was an overdose of chocolate. I for one would like to have the same dish, but the chocolate ice cream replaced with some crunchy non-chocoltey ice cream.

Jalabi Bai:

Jalabi caviar soaked in saffron sugar syrup, topped with chopped pistachios served with rabdi foam. The description seemed interesting, even the recipe too. But I've had better jalabi & rabdi at other places.

Mango Cigars:

This too arrived in a great getup. Smoking light coloured cigars placed in an ashtray . The cigars were actually very thin cream rolls. Where the usual cream had been replaced with a blend of macaroons cheese & mango pulp. The outer dry flakey texture hid the soft tangy yet sweet filling inside. Delightful to look at & also to eat.

Molecular paan:

Here the twist was that the traditional betel leaves were replaced with edible potato starch sheets, with a mix of pan masala & shredded betel leaves on top. Well the presentation was a bit innovative , specially anyone will confuse the starch sheet for thin plastic, but in reality those are edible, & the whole thing tasted as good as a normal masala paan.

To say the truth this was as much a gastronomic delights as much it was a visual delight. The Bollywood themed ambience were equally complemented by the quirkily named dishes. The innovative style of servings came as another treat to the eyes. The drinks , sides & desserts get full scores from me, though some of the mains do need attention.

The service was great, staff polite. Mr. Harsh, the manager was ever present to look after us & explaining to us various details of the dishes that were being served.

Surely our group had a gala time tasting the dishes, taking pics & doing what not.

If not for the mains & sides I'm surely going back for the drinks & desserts. They were just too good.

Till then

Happy eating

Cheers!