#blahvsfood goes Pendulo, the most interesting new restaurant in Delhi since Inja.

You keep hearing that tasting menus are dead. But other than The Table and Navu, most of India’s hottest restaurants are tasting menus. Naar, Masque, Papas, Inja, Ekaa, Farm Lore… all among India’s best restaurants and all tasting menus. 

If there is a new place that clearly has the potential to join that group, it’s Pendulo. A collaboration between Megha Kohli and Noah Louis Barnes, it is a beautiful restaurant at Mehrauli (where Cho used to be) that looks at Mexican food through an Indian lens. 

Noah is the chef at Delhi’s beloved Miss Margarita (along with Comal and Juju, one of the only three really good Mexican restaurants in India). Megha may have made her name with Levantine food but she became a superstar with her mastery of Indian food. Her regional thalis built her a massive reputation and her recent Indian bowl cookbook was a stupendous success. 

At first glance Pendulo lays itself open to the same scepticism that Inja did when it first opened. I remember the mocking comments about “What is Indo Japanese?”. Thankfully, Pendulo doesn’t try and force fit the two cuisines into some random fusion thing. If anything, I would say this is first and foremost a Mexican tasting menu. What it does is ask more fundamental questions… what is the point of a Mexican restaurant in India? How does being in India inform and impact the food that is served? Is there potential for the cuisine to be interpreted through Indian produce and techniques and traditions in a way that feels new and fresh?

When Japanese chefs started cooking French food at places like Quintessence and L’Effervescence, these are the same questions they asked and it’s what gave them not just originality but cohesiveness. 

Awadhi Lamb Barbacoa

 

These are the same questions that the food at Pendulo asks? Does it answer all these questions successfully? No of course not. There are some courses like the mole course that I just didn’t get. I had all three versions. An Awadhi lamb, a jackfruit and chicken, all cooked Barbacoa style. But while the moles were lovely, and despite the beautifully fragrant Gobindobhog rice it came with, the dish didn’t come together for me.

Similarly, the menu as a whole could do with some editing. I would cut either the quesadilla or the taco course because they are too similar for a tasting menu. And as we get to the second half of the meal, I think it could do with a lighter, airier course to provide a respite from the meaty heaviness of most of the dishes. 

But here’s the thing. Most those great Indian restaurants I mentioned took earlier a few menus to hit their stride. Inja, Masque, Farm Lore all had first menus that were either inconsistent in their cooking on in how the creative vision translated fully and consistently across dishes. The only exceptions were Papas, Naar (both of which I discount because they were the culmination of the creative vision of two of India’s greatest ever chefs) and Ekaa by Niyati Rao.

Charred Elotes

In the context of how tasting menus are living, breathing things that take time to hit their stride, I found Pendulo exceptional. There is a charred elotes course, three young ears of corn with three different Indian salts and three different Indian limes. Simple but so thoughtful in the way they bring out the connection between bhutta and elotes without overdoing a thing. 

Mojo de ajo lobster 

Avocado naan 

There is a lobster mojo de ajo course with mango habanero salsa (or a habanero mango  salsa course with sliced lamb) where the cook on the lobster is perfect. But what is even better is the avocado kulcha that it comes with, a bread so deliciously indulgent that it blows my mind that no one has thought of it before. 

Potato taquito

Dhungaar avocado aguachile

Tuna shorba aguachile

I loved the subtlety and consideration with this the Indian infuences are revealed. A tuna aguachile with a tigre de leche tomato shorba that added umami and warmth to the dish. Or a vegetarian version where the avocado was smoked dhungaar style, while kalonji and star anise were added to the aguachile to give it layers of smoke and subtle spice. A potato taquito had the potato treated like a Bombay style batata vada and the heat was more thecha than jalapeño. 

Bottle masala chicken taco

Tellichery pepper mutton Birria

The tacos showcased the seamless integration of Indian influences best. The chicken version comes with East Indian Bottle Masala while the take on a lamb birria comes with Tellicherry Pepper Mutton and a Lamb Consommé so deep and intense, I could make a meal by just drinking a bowl of it. Both meats were incredibly cooked and undeniably Indian, familiar and authentic in their flavours. But at no point did it feel like a force fit. It felt and tasted like a real Mexican taco, and opened my eyes to how there is a point of congruence between the two cuisines that goes far beyond the rajma/beans stereotype. 

Is Pendulo perfect? No. But it is one of the best first menus of any tasting menu restaurant that I’ve seen in India. As Megha and Noah develop and grow their shared vision, as they edit and refine, as they double down on their ideas and imagination, Pendulo has the potential to be one of India’s very best restaurants. The quality of ideas and technique that I saw makes me certain that it will happen sooner rather than later, that we won’t have to wait for years for the restaurant to start creating a buzz internationally. 

For me, this is the most interesting, original and exciting new restaurant in Delhi since Inja. So well done Megha, Noah and the founder Sahil Baweja.  You’ve won yourself a big fan and supporter in me.

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The menu (we ate multiple options in severak courses so I could try different proteins and vegetables):

Course 1: Horchata shot reimagined 

Course 2 :

Indian grain nachos : Guacamole, Smoked Tomato Salsa, Chili Garlic Adobo, Pico De Gallo Air

Course 3 : charred elotes: Grilled Corn, Limes Of India, Tajin Spice, Bhang Seed Salt, Lehsun Salt

Course 4 : Dhungaar avocado aguachile: Coal Smoked Avocado, Kalonji, Star Anise Sirka Onion, Burani Yogurt, Burnt Garlic Crisps

Course 4 : tuna shorba agua chile : Tuna, Tigers Milk Infused Tomato Shorba, Cucumber,

Raw Mango, Young Coconut

Course 5:

Crab tostada reverso : Inverted Tostada With A Punch Of Goan Rechado Spice Pico De Galo, Crispy Corn Tortilla, Chipotle Jelly.

Onion Gel, Tangerine Air, Sour Cream, Tangerine Segments

Course 5 :

reshampatti chicken quesadilla: Reshampatti Spiced Grilled Corn-Fed Chicken, Refried Black Beans, Avocado, Pickled Onions, Jalapeno, Fermented Hot Sauce, Dehydrated Chicken Skin Crumb, Mozzarella Cheese

Course 5 : Batata Vada taquioto: Mumbai Street Style Potato, Crispy Tortilla, Smoked Tomato Salsa. Sour Cream, Coriander Verde, Cheese & Chilli Crisp, Salted Green Chilli

Course 6 :

habanero mango pasanda : Smoked, Char Grilled, Sliced Baby Lamb, Yogurt And Mulato Chili Marinade,

Bone Marrow Salsa, Mango Habanero Salsa, Avocado Kulcha

Course 6: mojo de ajo lobster : Apple Wood Smoked Lobster Tail, Chipotle Garlic Emulsion,

Jalapeno, Mango Habanero Salsa

Avocado kulcha : accompaniment to course 6

Course 7 :

THECHA CHICKEN BHARWAN CHILI 

Thecha Marinated Corn-Fed Chicken, Passion Fruit Salsa, Jalapeno, Avocado Crema, Refried Beans, Himalayan Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, Peanut & Jaggery Chikki

Course 7 :

BHARWAN CHILI & SOUR CREAM 

Oaxacan Cheese, Aloo Chokha, Refried Black Eyed Peas. Passion Fruit Salsa, Sour Cream, Peanut & Jaggery Chikki

Course 8 : BOTTLE MASALA CHICKEN TACO 

East Indian Bottle Masala, Grilled Corn-Fed Chicken, Salsa Matcha, Refried Beans, Habanero Aioli

Course 8 : TELLICHERY PEPPER MUTTON BIRRIA 

Tellicherry Pepper Mutton, Mozzarella Cheese, Jalapeno, Lamb Consommé

Course 9 :

KODAVA PORK & WATERMELON PICKLE 

Pandi Pulled Pork, Fermented Watermelon Rind Pickle, Crispy Pork Skin,

Coriander Salsa, Burnt Garlic Crema, Charred Pineapple,

Tomato Salsa, Refried Beans

Course 10: Lemon Sorbet

Course 11 : AWADHI LAMB BARBACOA (as well as chicken and jackfruit versions)

Slow-Cooked Lamb Barbacoa Style, Avocado Crema, Cilantro Lime

Gobindobhog Rice & Chickpea Yellow Mole

WEST GODAVARI CHOCOLATE FLAN 

Indian Craft Chocolate, 60% Dark Chocolate, Horchata Rocks, Orange Caramel

Special thanks to Sandeep Bhardwaj for his excellent service and great knowledge