Restaurant review: Zordaar serves up authentic Indian fare

If you take for granted that the food’s good, the service decent and the ambience reminiscent of a memory, what’s the thing that will make or break the success of a restaurant opening?

I’d say location. And if that’s the key to a scrumptious gathering, the new Indian restaurant Zordaar, located in Millennium Barsha, is on the right track. The spot opened last month to a crowded house. The wait staff all bustled to serve guests as live entertainment rang out in the background.

The vibe was nostalgic, kind of like a wedding gallery.

When we did find our seats, the food arrived in quick succession – it was just as well, it was already touching 8’ o clock and the grumbles from our bellies were quite evident.

Zordaar bills itself as a spot for bold Indian flavours, a place where regional delicacies are in the spotlight; and that’s not wrong. Reportedly the menu is long, with around 69 dishes from 16 districts in India.

For us, the meal began with nibbles; paneer tikka and chicken tikka, both of which were packed with flavour (and heat) and marinated well enough to be tender bites.

Then came the crispy fried chicken - kind of like KFC, but the Indian version.

There was also an unusual papri chaat offering, with an avocado-like layer on the crisp layer of fried bread.

Then came the pani puri – those little balls stuffed with potato and (sometimes chickpeas) that must be doused in tangy water before being eaten in a single bite. Eating pani puri, also known as gol guppa or puchka, depending on which state you are in, in India, is pretty much a competitive act; you haven’t really tried this chaat untill you’ve gulped down several, slurped up the leftover spicy water and done it in competition with someone (usually a friend or sibling). The mark of a good serving is not remembering how many you’ve consumed even as your nose threatens to drip in a most non-attractive manner and your ears gush out a silent prayer for relief.

At Zordaar, we were given singluar puffs (don’t hold it against them, there were too many of us to really go all-out; I’m sure on a normal day, you could wallop more than your fair share). My only grouse is, the crispy balls were placed on top of the small glasses of water, so if you left it sitting too long, you were condemning yourself to a rather soggy bite. That said, the water was on point.

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