I really didn’t expect it… but Moglu is my favourite new restaurant in Bangalore in the last year.

Tangy moorukootan ramen bowl

I didn’t want to go to Moglu because the idea of a cuisine agnostic vegetarian restaurant started by a couple with zero F&B background didn’t excite me at all. I only went because Sonalika Pawar and Varsha from her team at Bold and Beyond were insistent and persuasive. 

Gochujang marinated and grilled eggplant 

But I’m so glad I went because to me, this is the best new restaurant I’ve been to in Bangalore since the emergence of Sarposh/Navu/Naru/Farm Lore/Araku a few years ago. Better food than any restaurant that has opened in Bangalore in the last year with only Klaa kitchen being in the ballpark. 

Massaged kale, beets, paneer 

The salads were ok on the day I went but everything else was lovely. Creative and original dishes that really celebrated vegetables. And wonderful, flavourful, clean, cooking with a high degree of sophistication and technical ability. 

Tropical spinach coconut and lentil soup 

There is a spinach soup that is a take on the Palghat “molagootal” that is so warm and comforting, it’s like spending a monsoon afternoon with a Tamil grandmother. 

The Brussels sprouts are perfectly cooked, super lightly sautéed so that they stay firm on the inside with great bite and a slight char. So in the course of two dishes you went from Palghat to Los Angeles without any sort of cognitive dissonance. 

Mushroom dumplings in vegan dashi 

I recommend almost every dish I ate. The mushroom dishes are spectacular as soon as you venture beyond button mushrooms. The gochujang-tahini paste they make is addictive. The seasonal poached pear dessert is like a perfect, light, airy summer dessert.  

Cabbage steak

But the masterpiece is the cabbage steak. Marinated, braised and then grilled in ghee before serving with a coconut lime sauce, this is a flavour and textural marvel. The cabbage is cooked in ghee and the ghee flavour is uniform and deep inside every leaf and every layer and not just coating the surface. 

Poached pear 

I assumed the person behind this dish would be a trained chef with years of experience. But Kiran only started cooking professionally at age 40 after a 1 year stint at the Instituteof Culinary Education in New York. Before that he had a PHD in computational fluid dynamics and spent the last two decades in America and Saudi Arabia specialising in writing and scaling algorithms for massive supercomputers. His partner Ankita is a graduate in from LSR with a masters in political science from JNU who spent her early year with the Indian Revenue Service. They only started Moglu after selling their AI based startup and earning the freedom to pursue their creative dreams. But their innate intelligence, creativity, attention to detail is reflected in the food they have developed and the restaurant they have created. 

Mushroom dumplings 

This is a super exciting new restaurant. I can’t recommend it enough and I’ll be there a lot over the next year. 

Spicy cabbage salad

I ate:

• Button Mushroom dumplings in a shitake mushroom dashi with rice noodles and King oyster mushrooms.  
• Tropical spinach and coconut lentil soup. A take on spinach “molagootal”. Garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds, tamarind ginger reduction. Served with an uttapam meets okinamiyani toast. 
• Kale, beets and paneer salad with toasted sweet potato, pickled onions, toasted seeds, pomegranate, balsamic lemon vinaigrette 
• Spicy cabbage salad: Marinated red and napa cabbage with Thai chilli and lemon vinaigrette. With fresh avocado and orange segments. 
• Crispy Brussels sprouts coated in balsamic reduction. Garnished with toasted pepitas, caramelised onions and grated Parmesan cheese 
• Grilled marinated eggplant with umami glaze, spice mix dust, tahini gochujang dressing. Garnished with pomegranates, chives, chilli oil. 
• Mushroom dumplings with button mushrooms, carrots and celery. Served with 3 sauces: chilli oil, miso-gochujang-tahini, ginger-tamarind reduction 
• Beetroot and pumpkin carpaccio dressed with avocado purée, fermented Bydagi,chilli aioli and lemon vinegar. With capers, pickled beets, dill, guacamole and pickled onions.
• Tangy moorukootan ramen bowl. A tangy broth made with tomato, coconut and yoghurt. Garnished with shoyu glazed onion petals, crispy beans and toasted lentils. 
• Cabbage steak marinated, braised and grilled and served with lime coconut sauce and black kavuni rice. Garnished with miso glazed shallots, braised carrots and micro greens 
• Poached pear: Grape poached pear, saffron diplomat, marinated plum grapes, candied pecans, raspberry coulis, sour Cherry compote 

Crispy Brussels sprouts