Blue frog's Bombay flavour

To my mind, one of the finest restaurants in Mumbai is, paradoxically, not a restaurant at all, but a night club, Blue Frog in Lower Parel. 

This institution was incubated by highly evolved and successful professionals and music lovers who thought that this great city deserves a platform for live music and a location where artists of international repute can come and perform. 

The space is designed by Kapil Gupta, giving a feeling of intimacy and space at the same time. Initially, the food was handled by Rahul Akerkar and the offering included comfort food such as burgers and pasta. But recently things on the food front has changed, and for the better.

Shreela Mathai, one of the promoters, is a serious foodie and has taken great interest in conceiving the menu and has been assisted by a talented and innovative young chef, Mrigank Singh who used to be at the Olive in Delhi. 

Blue Frog has introduced a new menu and there are a number of very clever and inspired dishes on it, marking it out as a significant addition to the city’s high-end dining experiences. It also has one of the best crafted wine lists in the city.

Among the starters, I particularly enjoyed the baked brie on multigrain “khari” puffs served with chilled pineapple compose. 

This was so witty and so delightfully old Bombay. So was the Bombay Duck beer batter fried with the exotic touch of a Wasabi mayo and soy ginger.

I also enjoyed the Kerala kala mari, simply fried in olive oil, garlic and curry leaves. The killer dish though was the fennel smoked mackerel. Smoked fish other than the smoked salmon is rarely served, and to take the humble bhangda and smoke it with fennel is the height of inspiration.

The great thing about the dishes I have highlighted is the very Bombay flavour, as if the conceiver of the menu is hinting at and purveying a warm nostalgia.  It is also seriously delicious.  There were some pedestrian dishes like the chicken wings and the steamed Thai chicken balls which had a rubber like texture and taste.

As the chef is from Lucknow, there is a galouti kebab on the menu as well. 

The array of salads is possibly the best in the city and outclasses the Indigo and the Indigo Deli by their sheer variety and innovation. I had the warm salad in whole mustard crispy iceberg lettuce and wilted spinach with tofu and artichokes in a mustard, olive oil and honey dressing. It was absolutely delightful. 

In the main courses, I sampled a little of the cauliflower and potato gnocchi — charred cauliflower and potato gnocchi with lemongrass butter. This worked rather well. On the non vegetarian side, I had two exceptional dishes — mustard steamed fish combined with a tamarind drizzle and coconut chilli red rice. 

My mustard fish was a little undercooked but the wow factor in this dish was the crispy red rice which acted as an excellent foil to the steamed fish. There was also a crab soufflé which was served alongside an orange, feta rocket salad. The soufflé was perfection personified.

This food is so intoxicating that it can seriously distract you from the music. This may not be intentional, but when you instill so much passion it must have a consequence.