#blahvsfood goes to Noon

Sprouted finger millet tortillas with prawn 

Noon is the non-vegan, Kashmiri inspired place started by Chef Vanika Choudhary of Sequel. 

Before I get to talking about the food at Noon, let me start by saying that the drinks by Nikhil Sood are exceptional. He is one of India’s best bartenders and sometimes it’s hard gaining a reputation for drinks in a food forward place, especially one that is focused on clean cooking. So I wanted to begin by just highlighting the drinks which are worth visiting for by themselves. 

The food was excellent, proof that food that is clean and relatively healthy doesn’t have to be boring. The Kashmiri influence is reflected in the techniques more than the dishes, with extensive use of pickling, marination, brining, ageing and curing. 

Buckwheat and black garlic tartlets 

For me this approach of creating a bridge between Kashmir and more global food felt interesting and fresh, different from the reimagining of Kashmiri dishes and produce that Prateek Sadhu pioneered. At the same time the food feels cohesive, never stumbling into the quicksand of “fusion” that often happens when different culinary schools and approaches come in contact with each other in a “modern” context. 

I was impressed with both the creativity and the courage Chef Choudhary demonstrated in conceptualising the dishes. To my knowledge, no one has ever put garum on a daily menu in an Indian restaurant before. Or taken Kashmiri influences and married it seamlessly with things like Kokum or pomelo, or used amaranth for a twist on a classic Hollandaise to smoothen the funkiness of fermentation. 

This is food that feels new, intelligent, and well done. It may not have the hype or buzz of some of the other new places that have opened but it shows more innovation, quality and potential than most other restaurants I’ve eaten in recently. This is a restaurant and a chef to track closely and eat with often. 

I ate (in the restaurant’s words): 

Buckwheat and black garlic tartlets- The tart is made with buckwheat and filled with black garlic and goat cheese and topped with chioggia beets and black garlic which is aged for 90 days.

Chargrilled tiger prawns- Tiger prawns marinated in kaffir lime, galangal and lemongrass and the cooked over charcoal.

King trumpet mushrooms- Mushrooms marinated in Kokum kefir and lacto fermented coconut yogurt and cooked over charcoal and served over a bed of pomelo for a nice citrusy bitter touch.

Rainbow trout- Himachali Rainbow trout pan seared and served with a side of Gutti aloo and tepache glazed carrots. You have it with amaranth hollandaise and a roasted prawn head garum which is fermented for 4 months.

Sprouted finger millet tortillas with an Avocado and raw mango salsa with starfruits and kanji spiced shallots which are fermented for 10 days and the prawns are glazed with coconut and kokum kefir.

Raw cacao and sea salt ice cream- served with a black rhasbhari and strawberry granita and cacao bark which is tempered in house and some lacto fermented blue berries.