Final weekend at Navu 1.0

This weekend saw Bangalore’s beloved Navu serve its final meal before temporarily shuttering doors before they reopen in a new location in a newer, different avatar. 

The meal focused on the future rather than the past, a glimpse into what we can expect to see emerge from the chrysalis… and from the little that we saw, it feels like Kanishka and Pallavi have begun the process of spreading their wings and creating a level of bold, imaginative food Bangalore has never seen before. 

When I look at how much this restaurant has grown over the last year and a half. It is a restaurant that was born of uncertainty, in the middle of a pandemic, at an events venue that had never hosted a full time kitchen, without the opportunity to research and try things or market or create consistency of staff or brand or process. But for whatever reason, it resonated with this city. The food wasn’t always perfectly consistent. But it was new and creative, it did casual contemporary food better than anything else in the city, and there was a freshness to their culinary approach that we hadn’t seen in a new restaurant in Bangalore since Toast and Tonic first opened almost a decade ago. 

Over the last eighteen months though, this restaurant seems to have improved with every passing month, hitting its stride with a surety and confidence that amazed me, banging out dish after dish that became instant classics in our city, from the roast chicken and fried chicken sandwich to the cauliflower Creme brûlée. 

Bone / Bone Marrow / Bourbon 

The food they previewed this weekend leaves me with the certainty that when they reopen, they won’t just be seen as one of Bangalore’s best restaurants but as one of the best in the country. Very few restaurants are able to marry technique, flavour, influence and inspiration to create plates that startle you with their creativity and leave you drooling with the taste of the dishes. To do this in the context of fun, casual cooking and fun drinking is an act that only the likes of Bombay Canteen, O’Pedro and Comorin have pulled off so far. 

Purple cabbage Gazpacho. Mustard ice cream/sauerkraut/cucumber 

Bangalore was the birthplace of Fatty Bao and Monkey Bar and Toast and Tonic. But ever since the genius of Manu Chandra moved on from launching new ideas in this city, it has stagnated. Yes we’ve had a few great restaurants like Bengalooru Oota Company. But a place that’s sexy and cool, a place that has that perfect synthesis of food, drink, vibe, space and energy, a place that doesn’t make me tell my friends how I wish we had an Americano or a Comorin like place in the city and not just microbreweries and cafés and local bars. We’ve not had a place like that in close to a decade. 

Carpaccio. Navu Sanbizu/English cucumber/Golden Sesame 

The wait is over people. The meal I had this weekend makes me believe that Navu 2.0 will be that place and more. It’s going to be a game-changer. 

Agnolotti del Plin. Rabbit and Rabbit Juice.

Custard tart with garum and caramel/salted egg chocolate