The sound of a bell ringing down the street, children racing out of their homes with coins in hand, gola carts lined up on evenings and the orange cone that rarely survived the walk home – ice cream has always been tied to sweet memories of the past.
Today, however, Bengaluru is giving it a different identity, with scoops that lean into smoky, tangy and savoury flavours instead. At Nila, founderchef Rahul Sharma’s smoked Malabar tamarind ice popsicle is served with a sweet and sour tamarind pickle as part of a 12-course tasting menu. “Guests are often taken by surprise because tamarind is probably the last flavour they expect to find in an ice cream course. While people are usually open to experimenting with savoury dishes, they play it safe with dessert. Watching them take that first bite has been an experience it itself. It has definitely made people more confident about trying flavours they may not have considered otherwise,” he says.
Adding a known ingredient in an unfamiliar form has encouraged diners to step outside their comfort zone.
Mustard plays an equally unconventional role at Nāvu. Co-founders Kanishka Sharma and Pallavi Menon have transformed it into a fermented ice cream that sits over fresh, cooked and house-pickled cherry tomatoes. As the quenelle melts, it gradually becomes the dressing, changing the flavour of the salad with every bite. “Serving mustard this way changes how you experience it, adding freshness, temperature and texture in a way a conventional dressing couldn’t. People often ask whether it’s an appetiser or a savoury dessert, but we don’t really think about it in those terms,” says Kanishka.
A breakfast favourite inspired the next experiment. At Raddison Blu Bengaluru Outer Ring Road, executive chef Mayur Ramachandran turned the classic bacon and maple into an ice cream, relying on smoke, salt and sweetness. He shares, “Ice cream in most places is still treated as something sweet to close a meal, rather than a dish that can carry real flavour development. I wanted to challenge that. Meat, in particular, is almost never considered in the dessert course.”
He further recalls an experimental ice cream that didn’t work as expected, sharing, “A lavender and blue cheese ice cream we tested didn’t hold together. The floral notes clashed instead of softening the intensity of blue cheese, and the result felt confused. It was a useful lesson that not every bold pairing translates well once you bring in the cold.”
Ramachandran believes diners are now willing to treat ice cream with the same curiosity they reserve for the rest of the menu. “Chocolate and vanilla will always have a place but the space around them is opening up,” he concludes.