Igloo-pods and dramatic drinks

With out-of-the-box ambience, Nevermind offers pan-Asian and Indian dishes.

The swanky new restaurant may be named Nevermind but it’s definitely a term that you will not use to describe it. Located on the busy streets of 12th Main, Indiranagar, Nevermind offers a bit of everything for you — from a party zone to an intimate space.

There isn’t any other place in the city that has an ambience like this. It’s a 300 sqft space with mirrored ceilings, igloo-style pods for small groups, glass-encased six-seater booths and metal pillars that look like tree branches.

The restaurant is conceptualised by friends Rohit Barker, Shylesh Jain and Rice Obliquity team. Though it’s only been less than three months since they launched, the place is bustling with people from all walks of life.

Dim sum and coconut prawns.

The menu mostly consists of pan-Asian dishes but there are also a few Indian options available. Once we soaked in the uber cool ambience, we couldn’t wait to get started on the food.

We began with ‘The Flint’ which had vodka, guava juice, Jalapeno, brine water and mint. I can’t stress enough of how good this drink was. That hit of spice with the sweet guava juice was a perfect way to begin the meal.

Soon came ‘Prawn Shui Mai with Chicken Dim Sum’, ‘Slow-cooked Honey Chilli Pork’ and ‘Filipino Crispy Shrimp Tempura’. The meat in the dim sum was soft and moist and the sauce paired well with it. However, it wasn’t something we haven’t tried before in other places.

While the flavour of the chilli pork was good — a combination of sweet and spicy — the pork was dry and rubbery.

The tempura was the winner among the starters for us. Yes, it’s tempura and every Pan-Asian place will have it. But what was used as a batter to dip the shrimp in made it unique. We couldn’t get an answer from the server as to what the secret ingredient was so we quietly continued to enjoy it instead. The batter was light which gave it the perfect crunch and not a heavy coating. The shrimp was cooked to perfection.

Cauliflower puree and scallop.

We also tried the ‘Korean Beef Bao’. As soon as we realised that the baos aren’t the ones that stick to your

mouth, we knew that we were on a good start. The slightly spicy Korean-style beef sandwiched between the sweet bao not only made a good Instagram photograph but also tasted fantastic. We definitely recommend this.

Just before we started the main course, we decided to try another drink — a slightly dramatic one this time. We opted for ‘Smoking Pink Downfall’. The presentation was slow-motion video worthy; brownie points for the theatric performance. The drink, however, may not be a crowd favourite because of its sweet taste. It’s made with vodka, tender coconut water, lime juice, cranberry juice, thyme and sugar syrup.

Smoking cocktails

We decided to keep it light for the main course and ordered the ‘Duck Rendang with Jasmine Rice’. The duck curry was served with pineapple (read ‘in a pineapple’) which we thought made for a great presentation. We loved how well the duck was cooked — light yet packed with flavours that paired well with jasmine rice.

We couldn’t leave without trying at least one dessert. We picked ‘JD Mud Pie’ and this was a dessert we will recommend that you don’t miss either. Just as they described it in the menu, it was incredibly decadent that had a rich blend of cream, dark chocolate and Jack Daniel’s.

‘Nevermind’ is located at 614, 615, 12th Main Rd, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar. For reservation, call 91108 41695.