Indian Accent Popup at JW Marriott with Soul Company

This weekend saw the first Indian Accent pop up in Bangalore and it was a wonderful celebration of the dishes that make it one of India’s best loved restaurants. 

I make it a point to eat at Indian Accent every year and when I do, my goal is to always eat the new dishes on the menu because those are the dishes where you realise that Manish Mehrotra continues to be creative and relevant today and not just playing the greatest hits like a classic rock band. 

But I also know that I am not representative of most diners. People have been going to Bukhara for the same dishes for half a century and will continue to do so for decades to come. Because it is an institution whose menu represents more than food. It’s an expression of memories, nostalgia, celebration and emotion and when people order those dishes they are transported to a special place without any diminishing of flavour or quality over time. The experience of the present is at one with the memory of the past and that’s what makes the restaurant a legendary institution. 

The legendary pork ribs 

Indian Accent is as much of an institution as Bukhara and some of its dishes like the pork ribs or Daulat ki chaat can now never be removed from the menu. They are more than dishes. They are milestones in India’s culinary journey. They may not be an expression of Manish as a chef today but they are dishes that have influenced every chef cooking Indian food in the last decade. 

So in some ways it was lovely for me to eat Manish’s food at a popup because it allowed me to go back to the classics and celebrate them once again. And that’s why the popup worked for me in a way that very few do. Because it was comfortable enough to not be about trying to be cool or new or relevant. It was a celebration of Indian Accent and Manish Mehrotra. For those of us who have been eating there since 2009, it reminded us that Manish for all his success has never been the cool, hip, chef du jour. He is and has always been the chef who takes all that talent and creativity to try and create food that gives you happiness, and fills you with joy. And that’s something he does better than anyone else in Indian food. 

We ate:

• Blue cheese naan 
• Summer corn shorba
• 
  
  Churan ka karela with rice peppers / quinoa dahi vada with Chilean cherries / pani Puri with five waters 
• 
  
  Kanyakumari crab, Sago Pongal, crispy green beans (as well as the vegetarian version with pumpkin bitterballen)
• 
  
  Murg malai, gobingbhog and mushroom Payesh with summer truffle (and an even better vegetarian version with stuffed morel)
• Beetroot and peanut butter chop, goat cheese, Khandvi 
• Meetha achar pork ribs with sour green apple 
• 
  
  Braised lamb shank, aab ghosht, potato butter chicken kukcha, fenugreek butter 
• Baked paneer, tomato Chaman, kohlrabi with wild mushroom kulcha and truffle oil drizzle 
• Black dal 
• Anar avocado raita 
• 
  
  Masala peanut soft serve with Lonavla chikki
• 
  
  Doodh jalebi
• 
  
  Aamras, homemade coconut jaggery cassata, raspberry