Keeping with the need of times: Refurbished Machan dishes out jungle theme

Redoing an iconic restaurant is a bit like adding a modern twist to a classic dish. It demands a delicate balance — a dash of newness that doesn’t compromise on the comfort and familiarity of the old. For Machan, the 24x7 jungle-themed restaurant at the Taj Mahal hotel in New Delhi, the revamp, which began in July last year, was much about preserving the conviviality that has attracted loyal patrons since 1978. And the restaurant, which reopened earlier this month, has managed to achieve that.
 

The forest motif is omnipresent, but the details are subtler and niftier. The tusks and antlers have been replaced by hunting scenes, with the leafy wallpapers carrying minute details like hidden tigers for guests to spot. Much of the interiors are made up of cane, with two giant canopies in the centre designed to look like trees. The corners are embellished with terracotta masks crafted by artisans from West Bengal. And the lanterns suspended from the ceiling continue to survive from the original design, albeit in a slightly different shape.
 

Machan’s refurbishment is part of a wider facelift plan that is estimated to cost the hotel Rs 250 crore over three years.

The ambition to retain some of this heritage was why British architect David Edwards, an old hand who has been involved in many Taj properties in the past, was chosen to lead the restoration project, the restaurant’s first since 2002.
 

The khaki and green staff uniforms, for instance, are reminiscent of the attire worn by British-era forest guards. The backs of shirts are adorned with antlers and servers roam around wearing cravats with tiger and leopard patterns. All of which is enhanced by the view outside: The tall trees beyond the glass panes offer an experience eerily similar to what you’d expect when seated on an actual machan, the term for a raised hunting platform after which the restaurant is named.
 

A restaurant’s oddball personality is often an attraction, but it is always defined by its food. Over the years, Machan has stood out for its comfort food, and old classics such as fish and chips, chicken Monte Carlo — corn-fed chicken napped with an olive sauce and served with spaghetti — and Bull’s Eye, a chocolate dessert made up of cake and vanilla ice cream and drowned in copious amounts of chocolate sauce. But the restaurant has always taken its forest theme seriously and that’s why the menu boasts some exciting new additions, most notably “Ocean Turns Purple”, a recreation of the seabed constructed with butter-cooked sea bass, a salad of warm mushrooms and purple potatoes.
 

“The idea is to draw inspiration from jungles all over the world — take what’s best in a region and incorporate into our dishes,” says sous chef Siddhartha Saharoy. The man behind the revamped menu is Executive Chef Arun Sundararaj, who spent months fine-tuning the details and educating his staff. Perhaps the biggest change on the new menu is Machan’s decision to entirely do away with buffets — for both breakfast and lunch. The elaborate breakfast trails on offer — which range from South Indian to Asian — more than make up for that.
 

But here, too, Machan has been careful to not tweak too much: The famous midnight menu of soup and coffee, nominally priced at Rs 5, still exists and continues to be popular among old-timers. “Over the last 42 years, anybody who has ordered from the midnight menu will have some story or the other to tell you. We wanted to keep that romance intact,” says Saharoy.
 

At Machan, no meal is considered complete without its famous freshly brewed Kona coffee. Interestingly, the coffee is named so because it was initially served from a kona, or corner, at the restaurant. For years, guests referred to it like that and the name stuck.
 

Food prices, meanwhile, have largely remained unchanged, but the generous portion sizes ensure that Machan is somewhat affordable by five-star standards, something that was clearly kept in mind while setting the new menu.
 

Unlike some restaurants, places such as Machan are lucky to enjoy a devoted customer base, one of the reasons why it is half full during lunchtime even on a Tuesday. Naturally, it does better over weekends and the servers say the response since the reopening has been heartening.
 

Safety on the menu
 

In keeping with the need of the times, Machan too has switched to digital menus; tables are fitted with removable glass partitions; and customers are encouraged to sanitise their hands often. The aluminum cutlery comes in paper packing and permanent tablemats have been replaced with disposable ones. All of which may seem a tad tawdry for a five-star hotel, but Machan manages to retain the aesthetic of old in spite of having to enforce hygiene protocols that do not necessarily represent luxury dining. It further helps that most of the restaurant staff has been living in the hotel itself for the past several weeks, an extra push towards enhanced safety.
 

Additionally, in line with World Health Organisation guidelines, it has installed a filtration system to control the inflow of PM10, PM2.5 and PM1. The minor details also include a terrarium plant on each table, which is known for its air purification qualities.