Taste the convergence of Bengali and French cuisines in Chennai

Restaurant chain Mustard that serves French and Bengali cuisine comes to Chennai with a 100-seater restaurant in Nungambakkam serving Tartines and Chhanar kofta

French and Bengali cuisines are similar in more ways than one. They are eaten as multi-course meals and have a dedicated fish course. These cuisines converge at Mustard — both the condiment and Chennai’s new restaurant. The bi-cultural eatery opened its first branch in Goa in 2015 and in Mumbai in 2018.

“Mustard’s menu is curated by Pritha Sen, a food anthropologist and Gregory Bazire from Normandy. “It is 60% Bengali cuisine and 40% French with no fusions,” says Punam Singh, co-founder of the restaurant chain. So we start our meal with tomato tartare which has four kinds of tomatoes placed on a bed of chilled quinoa with a layer of avocado puree in between.

Another colourful delight is brought in. The Provencale-style tartine has a mix of veggies on a slice of focaccia.

“It can be a stressful one to plate. With 13 ingredients on it, we work with our tweezers even as the plate is picked up for service,” says Punam.

First to hit is a small slice of lime. Just as the sour begins to dominate, the eggplant caviar comes in. While it is a bright dish, it does not compel us to go in for another slice.

The fish fry in tartare sauce is mildly spiced and light. The Red wine caramelised compressed lamb is rich and falls apart in the mouth.

The palong chhanar kofta is a dish with spinach balls stuffed with paneer sitting in a coconut milk gravy. The kofta is sweet with creamy paneer. The savoury gravy goes well with the soft dal puri which is shallow fried in ghee.