“Passionately Delhi” is how the management describes the TAPPA experience. I found the layout of the restaurant is bright and inviting with a feeling of a lot of extra space. The ambience and decor invoke a feeling of nostalgia and you would love the lazy, comfortable and relaxed environment. The casual character of the restaurant easily helps in the transition from it being a day time bistro to a night-time bar. Innovative Indian cuisine takes centre-stage though, and its at the heart of it all. “We are proud to launch a brand new property in Delhi that will elevate the existing F&B industry in the city into the future but play up on nostalgia” says Rohit Aggarwal, Director, Lite Bite Foods.
The cocktail menu has signature preparations like the “Intermission”, a mix of dark rum, coke, Vanilla ice cram and salted caramel popcorn. Quite nice, its an interesting take on the ice cream float of yesteryears. The “Talli Botanist” with Gin, jamun and black salt seemed promising as well but l have saved it for next time. As far as the food is concerned, I loved the eclectic menu. It quite varied and has something to suit every palate. I had the pleasure of Chef Kavinder Singh personally taking me through the menu and throwing some light on how famous Indian delicacies have been given a progressive twist.
We tried a variety of preparations but my picks were the “Kaladi kulcha” made with red beans and Kashmiri cheese, small “dosa rolls” served with goat cheese and green tomato chutney, the “Pide pizza” and “Chipolata sausages” with hoisin and honey glaze served with black garlic toast. My favourite dish though was the “Water buffalo chilli fry” served on an appam with lemon podi aioli. Perfectly done, well spiced and garnished with an egg and thin coconut slices, it was an explosion of wonderful flavours in the mouth. For the mains, I tried the “Neo Changezi chicken” with “Chur Chur” naan.
A different take on the changezi preparation, it was a homely non tangy preparation with good chunks of tandoor baked chicken. I must confess though that I prefer the traditional spicy, tangy and greasy preparations from the walled city. For the dessert, we chose to share a dark chocolate and litchi fudge which served as an apt ending to a nice meal. Overall, it was a good dining experience. The staff is warm, well trained and “service with a smile” is the motto which seems to have been inculcated in the psyche. Good new entrant to the F&B market of Delhi.