Damu's Heritage Dine - A unique culinary experience!

To be honest, our over all dining experience at Arunachal Pradesh was nothing much to write home about. That was until we came across Damu's heritage dining which kind of blew us apart. This indigenous dine in housed almost in the middle of nowhere nestled somewhere along the interiors of the charming Chug Valley simply won our heart's over.

This fine dining restaurant prides on artisanal Monpa cuisine which is largely cultivated in house and consists of a pastiche of items made from millet, barley, buckwheat et al. The food is served as a set course meal and for once being vegetarian didn't make you feel out of place. The food tasted fresh and felt totally organic. The ambience gave a very radiant and colourful swirl. It was a boutique style restaurant housed across 2 floors with one of the floors making you witness the fresh greenery at the outset whereas the upper floor had a better design but was within a closed frontier.

We chose the open green space and began our foray with an item termed as 'Phursingh Gombu' which is a traditional dish made from corn flour dough shaped like tartlets with a juciy black lacquer overflowing over it. The black liquid tasted a bit bizarre but felt very unique and kind of medicinal. I guess you need to get acquired to such a taste but nevertheless it was quite an experience.

Next up we devoured a delightful green soup made up of tonnes of herbs where we could literally see swoons of those greeny leaves engulfing our liquid soup. This one felt extremely soothing and comforting being so rich in taste. On the main course section we also got to try a noodles made out of buckwheat. It almost appeared like being crusty on the outset but was anything but that. It was flavourful and went well with the accompanying salad.

The 2 dishes which were outright standouts happened to be the millet based momos and the green leafy tacos submerged with kidney beans aplenty. Both these were simply lip smacking awesome and felt so nice on the palette. The spinach effect pulverised it to a notch high above everything else.

We were also served rice which appeared a little thicker than normal which went well with the kidney bean lentil gravy. We were given a similar version of the rice as a sweet laced with a touch of jaggery. Apart from this we also had a shot of millet based pancake with sweeteners dolloped on top.

More than the taste of the food, this fine dining escapade was more to do with the experience which just hit home and felt so comforting and heart warming. We were taken care of magnificently well and explained about the finer points of each and every dish along with also knowing about the history and tradition of such a cuisine. On the whole it was a delectable experience which one should not miss especially when traversing across this neck of the woods.

Deconstructed Cafe - Experimenting to the hilt!

 In a time where restaurant's blatantly copy ideas from existing well known chains/outlets and camouflage as their own, Deconstructed Cafe has completely beaten off from the trodden path and created a unique niche for themselves. It looks a simple concept from the outside with tried and tested items being presented in a different and almost topsy turvy manner by changing the form but to pull it off without compromising on the core taste requires tremendous efforts. I'm not sure where they are in their endeavour currently but just the attempt to go their own way recreating and giving a varied touch to well loved food by presenting it in a distinctive fashion deserves the plaudits.

We were here on a weekday evening and the first thing which impressed me was when i took a cursory glance at the menu. It was detailed with pin point information as to what goes into the making of the item. It was really well described and gave a fair idea of what to expect. The place as such is located in a small 2 storey complex and the surrounding atmosphere is classy without being too over the top. They had lot of exciting stuff and it was interesting to have a crack at some of their signature fare.

In the drinks section, I did have a sip at most of em but what really impressed me was the cupcake milkshake. It was beautifully presented with a big piece of the cake rotated and perched at the top. The particles of the cupcake were distilled in the drink and the taste was vehement. I have enjoyed having red velvet flavoured cup cake in stand alone form but having in a milkshake avatar was quite something else. Apart from this, the popcorn milkshake also was very well rolled up with the essence of the buttered corn perfectly captured in the milky drink. The brownie shake as well as the peanut butter were also pretty good but they were more on expected lines and nothing vastly different from the rest of the crop.

The starters had bulky samosas stuffed inside with a juicy layer of chilli cheese mix. This was a cheesy delight with it being interspersed in large quantity​ inside the triangular piece. It was a little chewy but being the quintessential cheese grown lover, I slurped this one up big time. The cocktail burger was a complete surprise. It was sans the bread bun itself and instead cute crusted fried idlies acted as the ersatz holding a patty done out of beetroot and touched up with a dollop of chilli dip and placed on top with an olive. The cajun panneer was well presented but had large contents of salt which diluted the taste somewhat. The bread items viz mushroom toast as well as the spaghetti sandwich were strictly okay. There wasn't anything really worth raving about them either in form, taste or presentation. The sushi though was a stunner. I must admit being a vegetarian having never liked any sushi offerings but this one with rice softened and flavoured gave it a lovely taste. The spring rolls however failed to appease. Served in wafer thin paper cups, they were just not firm enough to hold the stuffings and nothing to write home about on the veggie inside portion as well.

The starters were more of hit and miss but the main course punched the target on most counts. The puffed spinach and ricotta pie slightly torn up from the middle layer was slathered with a powering portion of pesto and I absolutely enjoyed it. The spiced Aloo pickle Paratha was more of the routine stuff but the taste was good especially the dry Dal Makhni gravy which went really well with the paratha. The deconstructed burger was completely off the customary form and this one was more of a big sized stuffed oval bun containing fillings inside. The potato masala as well as the ricotta mushroom were both decent in taste but nothing of the kind to bowl you over. The deconstructed pizza came in a twisted rolled outlook with the ingredients spread across which was pretty interesting. My favourite among the lot was the Deconstructed Dhokla. They made a delectable paste out of the khaman dhokla and garnished it with crispy mini bread pieces making it feel like a fondue and it was served artistically in a cycled carrier. I immensely enjoyed dipping and eating the buns soaked in dhokla sauce. This was truly a work of fusion done right.

In the desserts, we had 2 sets of ice creams viz the chocoffeine which basically comes with a mix of chocolate and coffee and the citric burst with a twang of tang and jujups with citric fruits by the side. The former was pretty average but the latter won the brownie points big time. It had a remarkably nice taste to it with the tangy essence and sticky jujups intermingling really well with the ice cream. We ended our dinner sojourn with the very berry cheese cake. This was transformed with the blue berry sauce placed at one corner, the cake in a creamy moth taking the center position and crumbed pieces of bread at the other end. It worked wonders as when combined it tasted really well and ended our dinner sojourn on a favourable note.

Overall, it was a very interesting experience. They got some things right with the work of fusion being done up in a really innovative way and also ensuring the taste doesn't get botched up. But on some areas, they played it a little too cheeky which didn't go down well and it also begged the question of what was actually intended.

The service was sharp with hardly much waiting time. The rates seem a little steep with some items touching the higher end of the spectrum. The decor is pleasing and it infuses a comfortable fine dining style. Adumbrating on the big picture, Deconstructed Cafe was overall a win for me. They are into experimental fusion where they do not have too much precedence and it's fair enough not to expect everything to come out perfect in every way to the 'T'. I strongly feel they have some interesting head turners on the menu already sorted out and with a little amelioration, they should only be improving further going forward. Deconstructed is different not just to grab eye balls but is in essence different for a reason. Kudos for venturing out on to this diverse field of fusion food and bringing out varied experimental cuisine to the shores of Chennai.

IR Experiments - Concept Oriented and Technical Wizardry!

With respect to Ilaiyaraaja compositions, it's not just about the aural listening experience which is always a delight but also on the detailing and technical mastery woven around a number which makes the experience so very special especially if you're a lover of music. As there is an IR composition for every mood and feeling, there is also an IR song touching upon virtually every musical concept in existence. That is an extreme speciality and a hallmark with respect to his music. You invariable learn so many new things through his musical embellishments.

Apart from the core of the song, it's always been breathtaking to see the intricacies swirled around his masterful compositions and is always a joy to experience his experiments, techniques and concepts. Sharing a few of the ideas that the Maestro has deployed through his music

1) Counterpoints
2) Trills
3) Tremolos
4) Fugue
5) Fusion
6) Bass Guitar
7) Graha Bedham
8) Ragamalika
9) Alien Notes pattern
10) Remix/Inspirations
11) Chromatics
12) Vivadhi Ragas
13) Tala Patterns
14) Arpegios/Broken Chords
15) Scale Changes
16) Genres/Styles
17) Capella
18) Choir/Chorus
19) Harmony/SATB
20) Call and Response

The above are just a few techniques I can think of and in no way is closed ended and exhaustive. If you know how a particular musical form works and when you infer the same in IR's music, it's a pleasure and finding of another level. Whether it's western classical or Indian classical, the man has mastered the art of producing stunning layers of pieces ensuing that it's within the boundary of musical definition.

If you want to experience music at it's deepest, it makes best sense to jump into the sea and explore the ocean that is Ilaiyaraaja!