Why Zarf in Bengaluru is a call for celebration

If there is a milestone you want to celebrate with loved ones, the food and ambience are equally important. Here is why you might want to consider Zarf

A sleek, shiny baby grand piano catches my eye as I walk into Zarf and I wonder if something so lovely could strike a wrong note. Looking back, I realise that thought set the tone for the royal spread I was to enjoy.

Zarf is at the Sheraton so it is not astonishing that the ambience is on a grand scale. Every nook, cranny and surface gleams and the décor is a study in muted elegance. Opened around two months ago, Zarf focuses on serving Indian cuisine with recipes unearthed from different corners of the country, especially those that have stood the test of time.

Chef JP Singh comes to our table and shares the ethos of Zarf with us and how each dish on the menu has been curated with thought to ingredients indigenous to its place of origin. Apparently, many of the so-called ‘exotic’ vegetables in the Indian market today, including asparagus and avocado, have been cultivated in our country for eons now.

The menu card comes with a glossary of Indian terms right at the beginning so patrons can make an informed choice. While one can argue it is for the benefit of foreigners, it still is quite informative. Did you know multani is a masala made with dry ginger powder, Lahori salt, cumin, raw mango powder and carom seeds? Or that chilgoza pine or neja is a pine-nut native to the Northwest Himalayas?

Our amuse bouche, the avocado poori, arrives with great fanfare in a highly polished wooden box; the millet poori and avocado ragda take on a roadside snack are a precursor to the feast to follow.

The bharwan gucchi or morel mushroom at Zarf could put any truffle snob to shame. Subtle spices add to the delicate flavour of the mushroom and its velvety texture. The asparagus and edamame shammi is stuffed with pine nuts and goat cheese, and is served with a tangy tomato condiment. Every bite of both these starters is rich, filling and a revelation into the understated decadence of vegetarian dishes.

The Himalayan pink salt salmon tikka and the Zarf murg tikka are succulent and bursting with flavour. Yet, they are accompanied by the seven types of house chutneys — hemp, raw mango, tamarind, mint, tomato, papaya and pineapple — each unlike the other and still, they complement the tikkas in a symphony of tastes.