First published in Bangalore Mirror.
“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” Thus goes the quote, and it should apply to any dish. But with the advantage of hindsight, I think we should have started with the Murgh Hussaini Shorba or at least tried the Kadhi Pakora later – the former for chicken soup’s bestselling association with the soul, and the latter for the restaurant’s name. They probably contained the soul connection that we missed in our entire meal. In fact, such was the standard of the fare that, several times during the meal, an (almost) homonym flashed through my mind – kadi. It means ‘bite’ in Tamil and Malayalam and also has a genre of jokes named after it. The next few paragraphs should provide ample explanation of why this thought crossed my mind!
Soul Kadhi is housed in the same building as ‘Under the Mango Tree‘. (link has a location map) It’s a small lane but you should find a place to park without much difficulty. Valet parking exists too. The decor is friendly enough, and those winnows on the ceiling are a nice touch. The music was all 90s Bollywood evoking bouts of nostalgia. Just loud enough to be heard clearly, but subtle enough to allow conversation.
Though there were soups in the menu, and some chaats as well, the starters sounded more promising and provided more options. So we began with the Banarasi Seekh Kabab. Soul – holy city – auspicious start, you know. Though presented well, they turned out to be like cutlets in taste, and some parts were burnt as well. The overall crumbliness didn’t help either. The Tangari Kabab had a marinade that wasn’t really bad, but its interiors hadn’t been introduced to the masala. In fact the interiors didn’t seem to have been introduced to cooking in general. The Murgh Gilafi Seekh was particularly bland and the mint chutney didn’t seem interested enough to save it either. By this time, we were ready for a fight, and the Pind Baluchi Tikka proved a worthy opponent. It put up a solid battle against our collective ravaging canines and proved to be a tough opponent! Despite its faults, the Mahi Tikka Ajvaini stayed true to its origins. The fish was salty enough for us to believe that sea water had actually seeped into its very soul.
In the main course, the Mushroom Makai Hara Pyaaz tried to turn the tide with its creamy gravy, and gave us hope, but the Dhaba Dal managed to set fire to the bridges with its overbearing fried garlic flavour soon after. We were sceptical about the Bombay Chicken, given that other almost-flying have been misrepresented. It did turn out to be chicken, but brought with it the entire dynasty of tang flavours! The Gosht Taar was probably the saving grace of the main course, with its silken gravy, well cooked meat and mildly spicy flavours. Next up was the Dum Jhinga Anari, which seemed so eager to get to our table that it did not even bother to cook itself! The roti basket had nothing extraordinary to offer, and the last dish to make it to the table was the Gosht ki Biryani, a dish spoiled by its overzealous affection for garam masala.
On paper, there were many dessert options, but the only dishes available were Gulab Jamun and Gajar ka Halwa. Thankfully, the meal had a sweet ending, literally and otherwise. The Gulam Jamun was nothing extraordinary, but it gave no reason for complaint. The Gajar ka Halwa went one step further and was actually good – the right consistency, sweetness and the perfect amount of ghee.
I was told that the lunch buffet on weekdays was really popular with the office crowd, but nothing that we tasted was stellar enough to bring us back. Judging by the quality of the food, there is indeed quite some soul searching the restaurant has to do before it can earn some laurels.
Soul Kadhi, #3, Laurel Lane, Richmond Town , Ph: 080 22111112/3/4