Situated in the heart of the city, the newly opened Tamasha had caught our attention on the many occasions we passed by it. So we thought it was time to pay a visit and indulge in its ambience and food, and reached there on a Saturday evening. The long line of cars jostling for parking space made us wonder if we would get a place to sit. However, after waiting for a few minutes, we were offered the table right next to an outdoor heater — the “best spot” in their courtyard, which can easily be described as the biggest outdoor space in Connaught Place.
Spread over 18,000 square feet, the outlet is the brainchild of Priyank Sukhija, Jaideep Anand and Gundeep Anand. The USP of the place lies in its ground floor, which has a wonderful outdoor space and a first-of-its-kind truck bar stationed there. Without much waiting, we quickly scanned the menu and ordered for Mint Julep and Old Fashioned — both Bourbon-based drinks, as they did not have any rum, or any cocktails from their molecular bar.
Never mind, we thought, and were enjoying our drinks when the first dish for the day, Beijing Chicken, arrived on our table. A preparation of crispy chicken tossed in oyster chilli sauce topped with peanuts, the dish tasted amazing. It had the right balance of flavours, and the nut topping added an earthy punch to it. Next up were Malai Methi Chicken Drumsticks along with Tikka Tasters – which had chicken in achaari and lehsuni flavours. The chicken in all three dishes was juicy and flavoursome.
We opted for a couple of vegetarian dishes and were served Baked Mushrooms and Cottage Cheese Chelo Kebabs. The braised mushrooms served on a basil mash along with baked broccoli, walnut gratin and lime chilli hummus was wonderful. The mushrooms were perfectly braised and the dish had the right amount of consistency and flavours. However, the cottage cheese dish which was served with saffron rice and spicy tomato slaw was well marinated and grilled but tasted dry. A little gravy would have been the perfect accompaniment.
Next up were Chicken Gyozas, which were an interesting take on momos. The dumplings were pan fried and served in wide soup spoons with a spicy roasted peanut dipping. The gyozas tasted beautiful with the peanut sauce, which was a huge respite from the regular chilli sauce served along with momos. Next to be served were the Beer Batter Amritsar Mini Fish Steak and the Golden Prawns. The Amritsar-spiced marinated steak was a delight to the palette as it was tender, had the right amount of crispiness and melted in out mouth. The butter-garlic prawns served with wasabi mayo was also well-balanced.
Almost full, we thought of ordering for the main course, but the Hummus Bin Lamb Martine caught our attention. Served in martini glasses, the appetiser had Israeli hummus topped with braised Lebanese style lamb served with bread sticks. The dish went perfectly well with our drinks.
Finally, it was time for the last meal, and we were served Chef’s Special Chicken Biryani, which was a bagful of flavours, but extremely hot and burnt our tongues. So, we decided to end our dining experience with some dessert, which despite waiting for nearly 20 minutes, never arrived on our table. Dejected, we decided to call it a day, hoping to return sometime in the future to try their impressive desserts section.
FAQs:
n Address: 28, Kasturba Gandhi Marg.
n Meal for two: Rs 1,200
n Time: 12 pm to 1 am.
Published 17 February 2016, 15:46 IST