“Rooh” , Naam hi aisa hai ki Rooh khush ho jaaye.
And iss regard mein Rooh pehli baar khush hui when I was at a Starbucks event and met Priyam Bhai. The Rockstar Chef from Q-La informed me that he has Moved to ROOH and it shall open soon. Woh naam mein hi jaadu tha.
Jab pata chala ki iske picche Sujan Sarkar Bhai hai, someone whom I have been connected with for some time, met a couple of times, par somehow jinka Khaana kabhi nahi khaaya , then anticipation aur barr gayi.
Thore din pehle Ashish Tulsian Bhai and Sakshi Bhabhi were there and they too had some great words to say about the place and were waiting for the pehla mauka to be there.
Parso woh din aa gaya and I reached there for Dinner at 7. Somehow I’m a big Fan of Early Dinner. Probably one reason is that in my Hostel in Simla, we used to meet for Dinner, errr Supper by 7 and 8:30 tak we used to be in our Beds Sweetly tucked in our beds for pyaari waali Ninni.
Mehrauli is a bit far from my place (Distance does not matter, Traffic does) and that is the reason I have not been able to visit the Beautiful Places like Olive, Bo-Tai, Lavaash by Saby, Q-La, The Grammar Room, etc as often as I would want to.
However, here I was in space that breathes! Thanks to the Green area around, Here I was in a Place that is PURE HISTORY, Because Mehrauli was the First City of “DELHI”, here Was I in a Place that is famous for Qutab Minar, a Monument we all have grown up listening too and is a Metaphor for everything tall.
“Ambawatta One” is a calm and serene place that houses many of the Top Designers of the Country and once inside, you just start breathing in it as it’s a different city. Wahaan ki Vibe, Wahaan ki Buildings, Wahaan ki hawa paani kuch dil khush kar dene jaisi hai.
So, shaam ko 7 baje, we climbed the stairs to Rooh and entered the Huge Door. Once inside that door aisa laga ki bahar ki Duniya ko humne bahar hi chhor diya and hum kisi Khyaalo ki duniya mein aa gaye.
Khuli Hawa, Lehrate hue parde, alag alag halls, Pyaari Paintings, Manmohak Rang, Muskurate hue log aur Khaane ki Bheeni Bheeni Khushbu, sab ne mujhe keh diya, “Tikku, Aapka Swagat hai” 🙂
Araam se Bar Chair par baithe and socha kuch peeya jaye. In past 4 years, it is really nice to see a huge shift of Restaurants as well as Patrons to focus on Cocktails. Aakhir that is what sets them apart from others with regards to the beverage.
The cocktail menu broadly has 9 Cocktails. All broadly based on Six tastes. Sweet ones, Bitter Ones, Salty ones, Sour Ones, Pungent ones, and Astringent ones.
I wanted to order jiska naam asaan ho and also the one that is Sweet, mere jaisi 🙂
However, Bhaiya at the Bar Suggested me to have Kumquat Mule, A name jo shayad mein dhang se pronounce bhi na kar paau.
Arre Baba, Maine yeh to bataya hi nahi ki My partner for the Dinner was my Partner for Life. Pyaari Gurleen Kaur Tikku. She was suggested to have “Kale & Cucumber”.
Jab drinks bani to pata chala ki “Kale & Cucumber” matched the Colour of Gurleen’s outfit. Shayd isliye hi Bhaiya ne suggest kiya ho 🙂
Bar Stools is not my game and hence we moved to a Corner jahaan hum Miya Biwi araam se baith kar baat kar sake, Akele mein, Jahaan koi humari paagalpanti waali baatien sun na sake.
And hence we moved to the Corner room that had 1 Huge Window on one side and 3 Doors on other 3 sides. Matlab akele the, fir bhi lag raha tha sabke beech hai and that was a good Feeling. One more reason for this Good feeling was that from our seats we could Watch the Iconic Qutab Minar. Matlab waaah hi ho gaya yeh to. 🙂
We sipped our Drinks, We Chatted, We Clicked some Pics and we were Greeted with Smiles on our table.
We Opted for Chef’s Tasting Menu and not he A la carte one. One Mantra, When in Talented Hands, Surrender 🙂
Best Part about Chef’s Menu is that be prepared for Innovations, Be Prepared for time Gap Wait for Dishes to Arrive, Be Prepared for Small portions, Be prepared to be Surprised, Stop for a Minute before you taste the dish and appreciate the Thought process behind it and the mehnat that has been done in plating the dish. All this shall amplify your Experience.
Our Server for the day was a person with a Super wide Smile, Gaurav Bhai and our first course out of the 11 Prepared was Amla Piece. Ab Amla dekhta hu to apni Daadi ki baat yaad aa jaati hai.
“Burre ka kahaa aur aamle ka Khaaya, baad mein kaam aata hai”
Humne Khaaya, maza aaya. :-0
Then came Passion Fruit, jo khaaya to bahut maza aaya. It has Flavours of Gol Gappa and somehow aise laga ki mooh mein barr aa gayi. The Liquid kept flowing in my mouth and it was an Explosion of Flavours for sure. Gurleen Smiled Wide after eating this and that made me smile too 🙂
Then came Bheja Pate. Was good to see it coming in the shape of a Small “Bun”. Loved the Velvety Texture of Pate.
Uske baad was Yogurt. Sahi bole to Dahi Bhalle ke saare flavours and every bite gave a whole next texture and taste. The key to this one is to eat it within 3-4 minutes just when it is on the table. Thandak and texture is perfect then.
Now the Shaam had started on a good Note and we knew now experience will only go Uphill.
Dheere Dheere Din dhalne laga and the feel of the room changed to a cozier one.
Then came Sweet Corn-Liquid Bhurji. Oh bete ki. It was a Delight to eat this Velvety, Flavourful Corn Bhurji with a Crisp Buttery Pav.
Fir aaya Melon waali koi dish served with Rasam. Yeh kuch samajh nahi aaya humko but then I would insist on trying it as hum dono ke Taste thore same same hai. I am sure it would be a delight for someone else.
Then came Aloo ka Parantha with Goat Curd and Pickle and was a Delight to have.
At Rooh they have taken care to not serve just one Cuisine of India. Rather they have taken flavours from all different Indian Cuisines created this Soulful menu.
I need to add that you can have the same experience in San Francisco too. Rooh has its first restaurant there. Rooh is owned by Anu & Vikram Bhambri. They are also the Brains behind the Beautiful Restaurant Baar baar in New York and New Delhi 🙂
Ab aapne Mutton Shammi to zaroor Khaya hoga, Par this one was alag. This was Shaami kebab prepared with Duck. Waaah Waah Waaah 🙂
Ab samay aaya to relax and cleanse your Palate with the Cucumber-Whey Sorbet. It refreshed our Tastebuds, Sachi mein 🙂
Scallop Sixty Five was the next Dish. Ab isko Samajhne ne ke liye isko Khaana hi paregga. Shabdo se Samjhana Mushkil hai jee. So, Jaao khakar aao 🙂
Now came the super amazing Lamb Chop with Potato Pave.
Now I want to talk about 2 things. One is the Medium of Cooking used for the Lamb Chop. It was a Sous Vide. For those who don’t know, This is a method of cooking in which food is placed in a plastic pouch or a glass jar and cooked in a water bath for longer than usual cooking times. One of the benefits of this style of Cooking is that vitamins and minerals are not lost during the cooking process unlike in boiling or steaming.
And the texture was perfect, Rosy Pink.
Doosri baat is that I was introduced to Potato Pave for the first time and it was a delight to see multiple layers of Potato in a stack, something that you see in a layered Opera pastry.
Never had anything like that and it was amazing. You can see how it is cooked in a 3-minute video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qll4g2HjyEQ
Gurleen who is a Chicken Lover, Loved her Chicken Roulade with amazing Khameeri and Sattu ki Rotis. I Am thankful she shared some with me too.
I have to say that the In Chef’s menu the restaurant has to take care of getting the course on the table at perfect Time gaps. Thora jaldi ho gaya to garbarr, Thora late ho gaya to garbarr and Rooh had mastered this art really well.
Ek baat aur, for meals like these, take a Partner/Friends whom you can talk a lot too. Because it’s an Experience and not a Formality ki aaye and khakar chale gaye. The conversations shall help you in soaking the experience acche se 🙂
Ab Main Course to ho gaya, par what we had on our plates was a Twist. Seemed like a broken Egg and a piece of Shell. A beautiful piece of Kaarigari. It was in Actual a Delicious Mango Dessert.
Then came meri Favourite Rasmalai. And the delight was that the Rasmalai was actually floating in the saffron Milk. Each bite made me smile and the quality of Dry Fruits in it was of Top Notch Quality. Could feel it.
Have to mention that apart from our Server for the day, Gaurav bhai, it was Vivek Bhai who ensured to explain to us every dish with full details and his Signature Smile.
Ab uthne hi lage the ki Samrat bhai, who Heads the Operations for Rooh and a Well Known Delhi Face came over to Say hello. And woh hello humari 30 mins tak chali and added the Zing to the evening.
Are haan ek baat aur came to know that both of us share the same Nick name, TIKKU 🙂
Bahut gappe maari and then he took us for a Kitchen Tour. Lag raha tha ki kisi ke Drawing room mein hai. Spacious, Clean, Airy, Lots of Space to move around, Well organized and yes Colourful too.
Mast baat yeh thi ki All the Chefs including Chef Sathish, were Glowing, normally hota nahi hai aisa as Kitchens are somewhat Messy, Warm, Shor Sharabbe waali jagah. Ab pata chala ki shayad yeh ek reason hai yahaan ke khaane ka jisne Rooh khush kar di 🙂
