Nautanki is well-known to serve a delicious platter of exotic dishes. A place, which provides you best of experiential cuisine. Their experiments with gastronomy are well known and well appreciated.
It is located on IIM A Road, one of the busiest street in Ahmedabad. But once, you are inside this beautiful restaurant, you will forget the world. The decor has been intelligently crafted, selected, and placed.
It has recently launched its winter special menu and believe me, it is brilliant. The menu has all the intricacies of winter special food. You also can taste some of their regular items that have been added to this menu to make it interesting.
- Drink: Curry Leaves Mojito
Curry Leaves Mojito is an unheard drink. I had it for the first time here and it is such a refreshing drink. Mojito has always been one of my favorite but it this one was with curry leaves. What beautiful amalgamation of such important yet unique ingredient. Totally worth the try.
- Amuse Bouche (Pani Pakodi Bubble)
Amuse Bouche is your Pani Puri in style. A simple shot gives your palate and an amazing blast of flavors. From your mithi chutney to your crunchy boondi – it has everything in one shot! And what a shot…
- Soup: Dal Cappuccino
Eating Dal and Rice/Roti is quite common in our household. But having the same dal served as a cuppa of cappuccino is something exceptional. A single sip of this yummy Dal Cappuccino brings all the homely flavors in your mouth. The slight yet strong flavor of ghee, the tadka, and the gently cooked dal – it has everything. And that so cute small roti cookies.
- Salad: Deconstructed Samosa
Samosa and that too deconstructed!???!
My first thought on reading this was how would it be served! Will the layer and the stuffing be divided or presented differently? But when my plate came, I literally ate this one with my eyes before my mouth could enjoy. Such lovely plate with exuberant flavors.
Everything was put with keeping all details in mind. Whether it was the horizontal crux of samosa with a little bit of topping or the millet salad. If Samosa was to be reborn, it would be reborn like this.
- Theatrical Drama: Jalebi Ragda 1.0
This was a treat to my eyes. I mean Jalebi and Ragda, are they even a pair?
But trusting the chef and how the entire experience had been, I was like, it would definitely have something different. And yes, I was right.
The chef came and prepared my chaat and I just could not take my eyes off. For the first time, I enjoyed the mess that was being created. Or so to say so.
A dash of thick chutneys – tangy, spicy, and sweet; topped with ragda, tikki, pomegranate, curd, sev, and Jalebi. Then came the star of the evening – Liquid Nitrogen; which gave a perfect closure to this dish.
A quick bite into Jalebi made me realized that it isn’t the regular sweet jalebi but unsweetened one that had crispiness in it. The entire chaat tasted so well, that I am loss of words to describe it. Please enjoy the pictures.
Starters
- Wild Mushroom & Truffle Oil Momo
This lovely momo was made from beetroot. Look the amazing pinkish-red color it has. The stuffing was of wild mushrooms that melt in your mouth. It was served with crème sauce that complimented momo beautifully. Do not forget the sprinkled truffle oil dust that just lures you into eating more and more of it.
The momo was very soft and perfectly steamed. In every bite, I could feel mushrooms – which I like and devour in religiously. The crème sauce gave good richness to the momo and together they just floated in my mouth.
- Paneer Cornichon
This soft piece of paneer was marinated in pickle sauce and had lemon foam to accompany it. I mean, seriously, the lemon foam was biggest surprise and that tangy and raw taste of lemon uplifted the entire pickled paneer bite. Not to forget that yummy mustard crisp that proved to be a quite a crunch for the dish.
- - Charcoal
Charcoal is a tricky ingredient. Many love it, many don’t. I am the one who loves it. The light smoky flavor or the big bunch of it – charcoal is the new king of food industry.
This charcoal was stuffed with goodness. Yes, it had Kathiyawadi Khichdi inside it and a little touch of cheese. Cheese can never be harmful.
And the Khichdi, the best one I had till date. What taste and starking flavors! The highlight was the charcoal cover that made it a fabulous dish. There was a pinch of edible ash too… I mean, wow! Edible ash! Totally nailed it.
Before I proceed, I was sitting at my table and thinking what more does this Nautanki holds for me. And in its truest sense, this place is a nautanki. The dishes vouch for it.
Next followed were:
- Palate Cleanser: Chuski
The mandatory palate cleanser. It reminded me of my childhood days. Such tangy flavor it had.
- Main: Saagwala
I went for Sarso Ka Saag and Makke Di Roti – a staple winter dish. This lovely and refreshing green colorful dish was served along with dal makhani, corn & curd cutlets, and rose caviar raita.
Only one word – Blissful!
Desserts
- Sithaphal Kulfi
I am not a fan on sweets that much because I don’t have sweet tooth. But this classic dish just found its way to my stomach. Sithaphal (custard apple) kulfi was garnished with caramel sauce and caramelized biscuit.
I love custard apple so I gulped it in no time. This shows how much I must have enjoyed it. Extremely delicate flavors and the right amount of sweetness!
- Éclair Rasgulla
Whoa! This was huge.
An entire éclair wrapped around the fluffy rasgulla. Heaven! And don’t miss the cute chunks of Kiwi and the Kiwi sauce. I enjoyed it more because well, I love Kiwi too.
Overall, my experience at Nautanki was delightful, full of surprises, and with lots of food. I am very happy to see Ahmedabad revolving so much in terms of taste and style. And undoubtedly, this place makes it to my favorite list.
Thanks for reading.
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