Dhansoo is a uniquely north Indian word meaning fantastic or awesome. While riffing off that, Dhansoo Café, the new modern Indian restaurant at the culinary collective that is Sangam Courtyard, doesn’t play favourites, with its menu branching out to all regions of the country.
Coming from the pedigreed stable of Café Delhi Heights run by the Batra family, with interiors framed by full-length windows at one end, the restaurant offers a full view of the outside world, which you can happily ignore in order to gorge on the selection of dishes on the food menu. And yes, there’s a full bar menu as well.
The menu’s non-vegetarian parts are helpfully divided by type (poultry, meats, and seafood) and no section of society is ignored. It’s deliciously democratic, in fact.
We learn this while making the acquaintance of our starters, comprising Chettinad Pulled Chicken, Koliwada Fried Bhetki, Tenderloin Chapli Kabab, and Pork Seekh. There’s also a vegetarian Japani Samosa so we can’t be accused of playing favorites.
Starting from the end, the samosa presents an interesting visual, comprising a bow-tie shaped puff pastry, which breaks remarkably easily in the middle to split into two. The stuffing is typical in taste to that found at your favourite chat wallah, but is texturally mousse-like, rather than stolidly chunky. The seekh, coming studded with fried bacon bits is sublime with its accompanying mango jeera chutney, providing a splash of summer in a gloomy winter.
The tenderloin kebab is firmer in texture and more direct in flavour, not needing any accoutrements to state its case. Generously sized and spiced, each piece makes for more than a mouthful, keeping in tone with the current political climate.
The fried fish comes brackish and battered, not trying to hide its salt water origins. Accompanied by a smashed chilli thecha (relish for snobs), and a Jackson Pollock-like splatter of tart mustard, these are fillets you can safely swipe right on. The pulled chicken is just that, with shredded and gorgeously marinated chicken populating our plate, and then palate.
Given that we’ve given more emphasis to our baser instincts thus far, we decide to be slightly more cerebral and go with a Bheja Masala for our mains. We also get a BBC (British Roast Butter Chicken) for old time’s sake, with the preparation harking back to the days of the Raj and the subsequent creation of the butter chicken, post the Partition.
Paired with naan bread, the chicken is anything but dreadful, with red-roasted poultry pieces curried in classic butter chicken gravy (surely a tip of the hat to the storied Batra banquets’ Punjabi élan), while the bheja is the absolute opposite, a delicate coddling of brains and spices, begging to be scooped up until nary a neuron remains.
Going with the flow by this point we get the Delhi Belly (actually an almond halwa quiche) and the Churri for dessert. The former comes masquerading as a western slice of pie, which tastes exactly like the halwa from your grandmother’s kitchen. And speaking of childhood memories, the churri is just that, a pastiche of roti, ghee, and sugar, which comes served in a contemporary aesthetic. Dhansoo indeed.
Meal for two: Rs 2000 (including taxes)
At: Sangam Courtyard, RK Puram