Drama on my platter at Nautanki in Ahmedabad

Nautanki in Ahmedabad offers a rare gastronomical experience but needs to do more

Nautanki-Gastronomical Drama — the name piques my interest even before I set foot into the newest restaurant in town. Indeed, the place does not disappoint in terms of the sheer nautanki (drama) it creates on my plate.

Nautanki is the latest offering from Handmade Restaurants & Hospitality founded by Parvez Mohammad and Asad Syed (who came to Ahmedabad seven  years ago from Dubai). It has come up a stone’s throw from the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad on what is considered “jinxed” property — the reason being that this lovely two-storey bungalow has already seen two popular hospitality brands close down in quick succession. Mohammad brushes aside the superstition and announces that he loves to open his restaurants on “jinxed” properties.

The restaurant isn’t open to public yet. Entry is through invitation or reservation. I arrive at 7:30 pm, dressed formally as advised by the staff when I booked my table. The restaurant currently has two time slots for dinner and the guests are treated to a nine-course meal (a test menu) over two hours. The place is tastefully done, with one section in peacock blue and the other themed after a European street café.  

The gastronomical adventure begins with lime- and mint-soaked water. Then comes amuse-bouche, an appetiser that turns out to be the popular Gujarati refresher chaas served on a ceramic soup spoon. I mistake it for egg yolk floating on my “dip” and carefully explore it with a piece of maska bun (another local favourite) when the restaurant staff advise me to gulp the entire thing down in one go. I go with the flow and yes, the chaas, which has been tweaked with enzymes, tastes great. The best part is the explosion of the rich flavours of roasted cumin seeds floating in the liquid.

The menu has bits of Gujarat all over it, from fafra served with couscous garnished with prawns to khaman dipped in liquid nitrogen

The stage is set for more adventures in molecular gastronomy, where it’s left to the chef’s imagination to take risks that stand out as differentiators. Chef Saurav Modi, who is from a fine dine restaurant in Bandra in Mumbai, has, however, chosen to play safe and has picked dishes and flavours that would go well with Gujarati sensibilities.

The menu has bits of Gujarat all over it, from fafra served with couscous garnished with prawns to khaman dipped in liquid nitrogen. My cucumber-based drink, called CO2, arrives along with the salad. Then comes the soup, which is poured out of a very Arabian vessel on a flat plate that has mouth-watering pathori macchhi (fish cooked over stone) sitting in it.

The restaurant’s next salvo is what it calls the “theatrical drama”, which is played out on an artistically-designed chaat trolley. The presenter tries a few tricks like dipping the dehydrated khamans in liquid nitrogen (I sheepishly ask if it’s safe to sample that) and then mixing it with the usual sauces. The result, alas, is nothing spectacular; it tastes just like regular street-side mixed chaat.

I go through a host of dishes, not all of them impressive. For example, the flavours of lamb chops dipped in mango murabba, one of the starters, don’t quite blend. I get to choose two starters and obviously, samundri seak (minced sea food cooked in a clay pot) gets my vote. The dish disappoints; it’s a shammi kebab of sorts but with a strong sea fish odour.  

Between courses, Nautanki presents mint lemonade with a dash of fuming liquid nitrogen as a palette cleanser. The dishes that stand out in the main course are the prawn chettinad kulcha and anda bhurji kulcha. The others — truffle lamb shank, shredded butter chicken and prawn Kolhapur — don’t quite score. Dessert is mohanthaal cheese cake (traditional sweet turned into a cake) and paan crème brûlées, both of which are just about a fair attempt.

Mohammed assures me that this is a test menu and will change after customer feedback. Handmade Restaurants has brought Mediterranean cuisine to the city for the first time. But in Ahmedabad, where non-vegetarian fine dining is a rarity, Nautanki is a gamble. Even today, around seven in ten customers have opted for a vegetarian buffet. Endnote:

A buffet costs Rs 1,800 with taxes