This was the third time I was heading to Masala Library during lunch hour with the usual dread of being turned away for lack of seating. But to my pleasant surprise the restaurant was a bit empty; perhaps because it was a bank holiday, I did not have much trouble getting a table. As the old adage goes – third time is the charm.
Masala Library is the brainchild of the grand old man of Indian cooking, Jiggs Kalra where he has experimented with molecular gastronomy and infused scientific elements into Indian dishes to give it a unique dimension. Dessert Lollypops, Jalebi Caviar, Dehydrated Mushroom soup which looks like green tea, Khandvi Sphere are some such amazing concoctions that are produced in this kitchen. However the magical feel is restricted only to the kitchen as the restaurant interiors is at odds with cuisine with contemporary colours, wooden lattice work and false stone walls which make it look like any other fine dining restaurant.
The star here however is certainly the food and it is very well complimented by an excellent service. The ever smiling staff makes sure to explain each of the dishes that are brought to your table and also explain pairings for those who are confused. The restaurant even has a tasting menu in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions for the uninitiated.
Feeling adventurous, we decided to go a la carte and ordered a restricted menu of 2 starters and 2 mains. Before the starters were brought the restaurant served two different amouse bouche to each patron, one of them was cheese based brunn bread, and the other one a besanless khandvi sphere, a yoghurt bubble infused with the khandvi spices and brought in a spoon with a gur based sauce. When you pop the khandvi in your mouth, it explodes inside filling you mouth with the flavours of a typical khandvi.
The first starter on the table was a mutton champ (Rs.695) – four big juicy pieces of braised mutton chops with a sweet and spicy marinade of maple and kokum. Sweet, tangy with a kick of spice, the chops were so well cooked that we did not need to knife to cut through the meat, the mutton was literally falling off the bone. The next starter, served in a glass jar, was the chicken tikka (Rs. 525) with jalapeno chutney on the side. I found the chicken pieces to be a bit tough but the chutney was amazing and covered up for the chicken’s flaw.
As soon as the starters were cleared off our table, the servers brought us two lollipops as palate cleansers. These lollipops were solidified mishti doi pops, I do not use the word frozen as they were not frozen to the core and on putting them in your mouth, they would melt into a typical mishti doi flavour. For the mains we chose a portion of Laal Maans (Rs. 675), This typical Rajasthani dish had the consistency of a mutton nihari and the meat was once again fall-off-the-bone kind but unlike a typical laal maas, was quite mild in its flavours. Perhaps this was done keeping in mind the global clientele thronging the place. The other dish, and my piece de resistance of the day, was the crispy duck in aloo bukhara qorma (Rs.725). The crispy duck, despite being made in a peking duck style retained elements of Indian flavors,the aloo bukhara korma added to its finesse by adding the required sweet and tangy taste with a kick of spice.
While we were having these, the chef brought us a portion of prawns thaiyar salad on the recommendations of my friend Aneesha Baig who happened to be also in the restaurant at the time. The thaiyar is typical curd rice topped with prawns cooked in Kerala style, the heavy spiciness of the prawns is balanced with the curd freshness of the curd rice and the surprise element to the dish is the topping of Pok choy which adds an interesting crunchiness to the dish.
We paired our dishes with naan Francois (Rs.175) and lachha paratha (Rs.125) which were quite satisfactory and the chef also brought two kulchas for us to taste, the prawn kulcha and the egg bhurji kulcha which were nice but by this time, quite heavy on our stomachs.
We had to skip the desserts as we had absolutely no space to digest the same, given the decent portion sizes but were totally floored by the Paan flavoured Cotton candy that was brought along with the cheque instead of the usual saunf and mishri. I thought this was a very novel idea.
Ever since it’s opened its doors in the financial district of BKC, I have wanted to visit Masala Library, but twice I had been turned away due to no reservation and heavy waiting. Finally after trying the food this time, I can gladly say that the place is quite worthy of its name and does fair justice to the master JiggsKalra! A bit steep on the price, it is a must try if you would like to enjoy good service, world class food in a great ambience. I call it the celebration of Indian food in a Harry Potter style!
Ratings (Out of 5)
Food: 4.5 | Ambience: 4.0 | Service: 4.5 | Overall: 4.5
Meal for two: Rs.3500 (Without Alcohol)| Alcohol: Yes | Credit Card: Yes | Timings: 12.00 noon till 3.00 pm and 7.00 pm till 11.00 pm
Address: Unit No. 3 (B), Ground Floor, G Block, C-54 & 55, First International Financial Centre, Opposite Sofitel Hotel, BKC, Mumbai – 400051.
Tel:022-66424142
