#blahvsfood: Kasper’s, Mumbai is already one of India’s best restaurants.

Two dishes into my meal, I realised that Kaspers is a restaurant that defies logic. A four month old restaurant shouldn’t be in the conversation as one of India’s best restaurants. But Kaspers most definitely belongs in that conversation. It’s up there with The Table and Kikli and Navu as the best à la carte menus in India. 

Kasper’s a lively, packed little space, a place that feels both intimate and buzzing, where you walk in and you feel a jolt of energy, an expectation of a good time. And that’s exactly what you get with both the food and drinks. I find Will Aghajanian a genius of a chef, and part of his genius comes from the confidence and lack of “showing off” with which he creates dishes. His creativity doesn’t manifest itself in big ideas but in little details. There’s no pressure to come up with a dish that no one has ever thought of. But there are creative flourishes, minor improvisations, that come together to create dishes and flavours that feel completely original, that feel effortless despite being the product of deep thought and imagination. 

Sea bream tartare

The Sea bream tartare, everyone’s favourite dish is a great example. It’s a tartare with lemon, butter and capers… as classic as it gets. But the butter is a brown butter, bringing a sweet, nutty richness, an almost caramel like note humming through the dish. And the capers are deep fried and crunchy, taking what is a grown up dish and transforming it into something childlike and joyful. 

Tandoori quail eggs pretending to be escargot

For me this sense of fun is Will’s signature and his greatest gift. You could already see it at The Table but that is a restaurant with a fanatical audience… every change feels heretical and it’s hard to paint outside the lines without breaking some hearts. At Kasper’s there are no restraints… so every dish feels like it had its origin story in a moment where Will’s head went “this might be fun!” and he just ran with the thought. 

Vegetable and chèvre mosaic with Cantabrian anchovies 

There’s this yummy anchovy starter, with vegetables and chèvre, where you suddenly realise it is plated to look like the mosaic tiles on the floor. There is a dish called “Tandoori quail eggs pretending to be escargot” where quail eggs are served in an escargot pan, with a green tandoori sauce impersonating escargot butter. And Will’s take on a surf and turf shows up as raw tuna and cured beef in a subtle amd stunning Blue fin tuna with buffalo cecina dish. 

Sometimes it feels like the already large menu at Kasper’s wasn’t enough for all the ideas that Will has and so we get a blackboard that has over twenty five specials, more than enough for a full restaurant in itself. 

Tandoori crab donostiarra

On the day I went, the specials included the aforementioned quail eggs but also an intriguing sounding Tandoori crab. I knew it wouldn’t be a Goa shack crab but I definitely didn’t expect a crab in tandoori marinade that had run away to San Sebastián and returned all dressed up Donostaria style with garlic and chilli and (I think) a hint of parley and olive oil. 

Calves brain piella

And then there were the dishes that just showed impeccable technique and a mastery of flavour. A firm, juicy tiger prawn with a kind of bouillabaisse jus made with prawn head and saffron rouille. The flawlessly crispy, caramelised soccarat that showed up on top of the calf brain piella instead of the bottom. And most of all, in the perfection of Will’s pasta.

Orachetti with wood ear mushrooms 

I said after my last meal at The Table, that Will makes the best pasta I’ve ever had in India (only chef Matteo Arvonio comes close). Kasper’s only reinforces that belief with an extensive pasta section, as impressive as the one at The Table. The tiny bites of orachetti with the funkiness and intensity of wood ear mushrooms, a slillet baked pasta in an nduja vodka sauce… both pastas were compelling, original and cooked absolutely flawlessly. 

Clotted Buffalo cream with pumpkin and sesame 

Before we get to the desserts I also wanted to highlight one of the best takes on a cheese board I’ve had in ages. Buffalo cream is slow cooked till a skin forms, and the skin is then scooped off with honey and slow candied pumpkin creating a wonderfully balanced, not too sweet, not too cheesy treat that, for me, is better than dessert. And it comes with a nutty sesame focaccia that really needs to be sold on its own. 

Mezcal and pineapple trifle 

I was honestly too stuffed to do justice to dessert but they were so damn tasty and I still ended up trying three 🙈. A gooey hot fudge profiterole which Will described as Sunday stoner food but no stoner food has dark chocolate this intense. There’s a pineapple trifle that’s light and reminds me on the versions I had growing up, but it’s doused in mezcal so it has a smoky booziness that gives it a seriously adult dimension. And finally a Creme caramel with hints of nutmeg and amaretto, adding notes of spice and mystery to another classic retro dessert. 

If you read these descriptions, you may not fully appreciate the genius of this menu. If anything some of these dishes sound like throwbacks. Creme caramel. Pineapple trifle. Tandoori crab. Surf and turf. But you need to go and eat at Kasper’s to understand Will’s alchemical magic. He takes what looks familiar and almost common, and adds flourishes that create a sense of wonder and surprise, that leave you with a feeling of happiness and joy. It’s almost a Willy Wonka like approach, and executed with a degree of consistency that’s startling. That’s what makes Kasper’s one of the best restaurants in the country. It’s what makes Will one of the very best chefs in India. And it’s another testament to Gauri Devidayal and Jay Yousef’s unmatched ability to revolutionise India’s dining scene by simply showing us how to do things better, through evolution rather than revolution, but resulting in restaurants that are iconic and transformative. Kasper’s is yet another example. 

We ate:

• Vegetable and chèvre mosiac with Cantabrian anchovies. 
• Tandoori quail eggs pretending to be escargot
• Sea bream tartare with mierniere vinaigrette. 
• Blue fin tuna with buffalo cecina
• tandoori crab donostiarra
• Mud crab with Bengali dijonaise and lambs brain
• Tiger prawns with boullabase jus
• Calves brain piella: Crispy piella meets ossobucco with gremolatta
• Orachetti with wood ear mushrooms
• Pasta alla patra: Nduja vodka sauce baked pasta on a skillet. 
• Clotted Buffalo cream with pumpkin and sesame
• Hot fudge profitorolle
• Amaretto and nutmeg creme caramel
• Mezcal and pineapple trifle