Nadodi Pop Up @ Conrad Bengaluru

At Nadodi- KL, you have the opportunity of experiencing traditional food from the southern lands of the Indian sub-continent - Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka with a modern twist. 

I completely agree when they say “We harness completely contemporary techniques and retrofit an age old traditional recipe with modernity. This can result in surprising discoveries and an absolutely fresh perspective on familiar cuisine tropes that must be experienced and savoured to be believed.”

So when we heard that Team Nadodi was doing a Pop-up at the Conrad Bangalore, we grabbed the opportunity to experience the culinary delight in our very own namma Benguluru.

Bisibelabath & Curd rice

Mushroom Masala

Smoked Salmon infused gin with
fennel-basil distillate Vodka

Comfortably settled and seated at our table we started our 11-mile journey. First on our table was a combination of Curd rice – rice crisps sprinkled with curd powder and tempered with mustard seeds. Bisibelabath – small dumplings sprinkled with sambar powder and finally Mushroom masala that was served in small cups. 

This was complimented by a very refreshing cocktail – Smoked Salmon infused tanquery gin with fennel-basil distillate in Ketel One Vodka.

Jackfruit seed Pie Tie &
Chicken Chettinad Burger

Sambar Icecream along with
Caviar & Kalaki

On the second mile, we were served a Jackfruit seed Pie Tie which was refreshing and crunchy – nice textures, Chicken Chettinad burger that was a mini chicken patty served in between macaroons, Sambar ice-cream that had a hint of sambar in a cone that was so cute. The Caviar and Kalaki was interesting, something that I ate for the first time. This course was paired with Pierre Delize Mousseux Blanc de Blancs.

On mile 3 and 4, on our table was an interesting serving of King Crab, river prawns and daikon paired with a nice Rose. This was followed up with Scallops with raw mango curry.  Both mile 3 & 4 with paired with a nice Rose. 

Alaskan King Crab with River Prawn

Scallops with Raw Mango

Boekenhoutskloof
The Wolftrap, Rose

At the 5th mile, we were in for a treat with Red Beet. This dish had 4 forms of beet that included a kind of mini sorbet. We also got a little break to rekindle our appetites. I like sweetness and the soft ice that came with this dish.

Red Beet

Akshar the mixologist joined us at our table and was talking about the our experiences and  recommended  the Drumstick Cocktail. I really loved the moringa flavoured vodka with tonic. 

 With Askhar from Nandodi.

The Drumstick Vodka Tonic

 Akshar then took us through the journey with one of his specialities...Nandodi Rasam. This was rasam served with Vodka and topped with hot foam. An amazing experience of a chilled vodka and warm foam coming through at the same time. My fried on the table loved it so much, said he could drink this all night. 

Nandodi Rasan

Nandodi Rasan with the foam

Mile 7 we went head on with the fish head curry served with king fish and topped with crisp strips of red cabbage. This was really nice and enjoyed the course but felt the temperature at which it was served could have been higher. It probably turned cold during service. 

Fish Head Curry

This was followed by the " Humble Broth" which was strips of chicken served in rasam which was made with the first press of tomato which gave it a nice subtle flavour. 

Humble broth

From the time I read the menu I was waiting for this milestone - No 9. Lamb & Habanero. I simply loved the lamb. the meat was juicy, tender and full of flavour. It was paired was a lovely Pont Du Rhone. We inquired on the source of the lamb and found out that with was sourced from New Zealand.

Lamb & Habanero

Cruising into our course no 10 with the end to our evening coming in sight, we were served Nadodi Glob with was a Lobster truffle sodhi served on passion fruit sambol along with red rice spring hoppers. Again a fantastic dish.

Nadodi Globe

We ended our gourmet delight with Mind of a coconut which was Pradhaman Ice cream served along with palkova and coffee. I personally enjoyed the pradhaman ice cream.

Mind of a Coconut

Chocolate with sompapdi

Two sides to a coin: While we had a fantastic gourmet experience, the over all service was extremely slow. It was slow to the extent that the entire experience was getting disjointed with long wait times. A meal that should have been completed in around two hours lasted over four hours.

On a lighter note, one of the hotel personal came over to our table and said the delay is because the chef's are making the dishes a-la-minute, I felt like responding it seems more like a-la-hour (ghanta).

Secondly, a message to the hotel management. They seemed to have been hosting a PR event during this evening but the whole restaurant seemed to have been converted  into a private party making the place very loud and intrusive leaving scant respect for paying customers like us. Needless to say our table was given the last priority on being served. The lady waiting our table was excellent and the delay was more because of focus / mis-focus elsewhere. One left the hotel wondering if it was worth the high cover charge paid for the evening.

Thanking Chef Sricharan alumni of WGSHA and the Nadodi team for the gourmet delight they put up...

Autographs -Team Nadodi

with Kartick 

#diningtales