The Best New Restaurant in Bangalore

I think Bangalore has a mediocre food scene. The last great restaurant to open in this city is Bengaluru Oota Company that opened half a decade ago. Before that we had Toast and Tonic. But even today, when friends visit the city and ask where they should go eat, we name these two places and Karavali. Else it’s the same old tried and tested comfort food. The ghee roast at Sanadige, the biryani at Nagarjuna. There are places that have done a great job researching and presenting traditional food like Oota at Windmills or Sarposh. But when it comes to innovative, creative, contemporary food, it’s zilch, nada, nothing. 

Roasted Pumpkin Chaat with Tamarind Chutney, Mint chutney and Sev

Compared to Delhi, Mumbai and Goa, Bangalore is a culinary backwater. So much so that I have been trying to urge my friend the writer Priya Bala to put together a manifesto that we can use as a guide to encourage chefs to be braver, to push themselves, to strive for what is magical and not just comfortable. 

Cilbir: Turkish Poached Egg / Garlic Labneh / Chilli / Coriander

Finally, after many years, Bangalore finally has a restaurant that has blown me away. NĀVU Project was born out of Kanishka Sharma’s Supper Club, a platform where she followed her culinary muse and collaborated with chefs to give fearlessly explore their ideas over an intimate meal that they created together. After Pallavi finished her stint at Fava/Caperberry, Kanishka invited her to cook a meal at Supper Club. Pallavi cooked one meal, and then another and soon they realised that something about them just fit. From their opposite backgrounds (one raised in Delhi, the other Bangalore. One a trained chef, the other an autodidact) to their shared interests in travel and music and discovery, it just seemed harmonious and so NĀVU Project was born. About a month ago, they took a full time space at Bangalore International Centre, taking over their cafe/restaurant space. I waited a few weeks for things to settle and then visited them thrice before writing because I hate it when people are quick to judge a place on the basis of one meal or when a place has just opened. 

Chilli Cheese Tartine with Sourdough, Cheddar, some brilliant House Mustard and Coriander 

Having eaten at several of their pop ups as well as their lockdown delivery specials, I knew the food would be interesting and well executed and worth checking out. But in the interests of full disclosure I didn’t think it would be extraordinary because while I always liked NĀVU Project’s Supper Clubs, I didn’t think they were exceptional or pathbreaking. To be fair, I think it’s very rare to find exceptional food in single night pop ups, as we’ve seen with all the global culinary stars who have done mediocre pop ups in India the last few years. But the challenges of the format just make it harder to showcase the chef’s brilliance, from the sourcing of ingredients to the ability to try and refine dishes over time. There are intrinsic limitations that come with trying to create perfection for one night rather than go through the daily rigour of a restaurant. 

Grilled Mackerel/Cauliflower Mash/Onions/Raisins 

The food at the NĀVU Project restaurant however was at a different level altogether. To say that I was blown away is an understatement. This is clean, fresh, subtle cooking that reminds me of Los Angeles more than any other city. The influences are eclectic, from Japanese to Turkish to Malleshwaram. Nothing is overflavoured. Everything is harmonious. It’s a smallish menu so you know that every thing that goes on the menu deserves to be there and that there is no attempt to sit and please everyone by offering mediocre crap just because it’s “what people want”. Most important, it feels like the chefs are having fun with the food, creating food that reflects their spirit and personalities rather than trying to play it safe or trying to follow some unwritten rules. 

Pumpkin Barley Risotto and Marinated Feta

I find that most new restaurants have a fear of failure. A chef has a great idea but is forced to find a way to dumb it down and make it more “acceptable” so that people are not thrown by it in any way. Navu Project approaches its food from exactly the opposite perspective. They take a simple dish like gnocchi or cheese toast and say how can I do something that is fun and creative and interesting with it, that takes the flavour up several notches, that introduces surprise to the familiar. I’ve not had food with such zing and coherence, cooked with such fearlessness in Bangalore in a long, long time. It’s taken half a decade. But Bangalore finally has a new restaurant that has swept me off my feet and that makes me proud.