Zora, Ishanya Mall.

The onset of monsoon brings along with it cooler temperatures and pleasant breeze and that makes the beautiful al fresco section of Zora more accessible for a leisurely meal. It's strewn with white furniture and is dimly lit, perfect for intimate dinners over long conversations. The indoor section is a little more ornate with lanterns, sofas and the works but steers clear of Indian restaurant decor cliches in keeping with the Modern Indian cuisine the restaurant serves.

Bhut Jhalokia Tandoori Chicken

Fortunately, a different interpretation of the cuisine does not result in annihilation of spices or flavours. The Spicy Lotus Chips were sufficiently crispy and tangy to go with a chilled pint, but the Spicy Okra Salad could go a little easy on the aamchur vinaigrette which overpowered everything else. Ditto for the perfectly pasty textured Mushroom Galouti, where any hint of mushrooms was drowned under the heavy spices, which seemed a tad unnecessary in the presence of a spunky red pepper achaar the kebabs are served with. Fans of heat might find favour with the Bhut Jhalokia Tandoori Chicken which is deceptively mild at first only to deliver a sharp punch moments later - I was dousing the fire in my mouth with a frozen Kumquat and Rose Daiquiri {mocktail} for atleast 5 minutes after just a small bite. 

Indian Summer Soup

Butter Chicken Lasagna

The Bombay Sapphire Prawns is a new addition to the menu and my bet is that these 'prawn pakodas' will be quite a hit in this pleasant weather. The Indian Summer Soup {with chicken} and Mushroom Broccoli Soup came next and I loved the clear, fragrant broth of the former. Now being a bit of a purist, even the thought of a Butter Chicken Lasagna or Sukha Tawa Chicken with Buttermilk Waffles riles me up but I'm happy to report that atleast the Lasagna works. It's served in an earthen pot with alternating layers of smoky butter chicken and thin pasta sheets with torched cheese on top which adds an addictive burnt aroma to the dish. Only the crispy masala roti left me a little......perplexed......because the idea of eating roti with pasta certainly doesn't appeal to me. Maybe a refreshing salad on the side would be better to counter the richness of the main dish? I didn't mind the concept of an Indian curry being served with waffles but the waffles itself were sweet and the curry wasn't spicy enough to bring enough savouriness to the dish. Also, the meat hadn't absorbed any flavours from the ingredients of the curry and gave the impression of being cooked separately.

Beetroot Tikki with Makhani Sauce

Old Monk Chocolate Cake

The Beetroot Tikki with Makhani Sauce is probably the most unique and tastiest vegetarian version of makhanwala available in the city. Meaty, slightly sweet tikkis are slathered with that stellar makhani sauce and served with roomali rotis. The Old Monk Chocolate Cake was properly gooey and boozy and preferable to the more popular Chocolate Pani Puri, a DIY dish, that was mainly let down by a runny chocolate sauce. A richer sauce would've undoubtedly added more heft to the dessert. They also make in-house sodas from which the Elderflower one is particularly unmissable.

{The bloggers table was hosted by Zora}