Ambience: We walked into Michelin-star chef Suvir Saran’s newest restaurant House of Celeste on a weekday night to find a near-empty place. Perhaps the word is still to catch on given the restaurant opened merely three months ago. A small open-area seating led to two large decadent halls. We sat close to the bar, which was open and the mixologist put on quite a show for the guests.
Food & Beverage: After a two-hour journey from Delhi to reach the restaurant located in Gurugram we were absolutely famished. But the entrée did not disappoint and set the note for the rest of the evening. The Masala Pebbles—a modern take on pani puris—and Delhi’s Cloud Nine which was a melt-in-mouth version of dahi chaat had us smiling from ear to ear. The Fruit and Stem Galauti made from smoky jackfruit almost made us turn vegans. Served with mint raita and mixed with raw banana and lotus stem this was easily our favourite dish.
We moved on to the recommended flatbreads—Garlic Confit and Spinach Sourdough Flatbread and Chicken Tikka Flat Bread—both of which were warm, juicy and served with garlic aioli. We washed them down with the gin-based Kala Khatta cocktail and a vodka-based Celestial Scandal. For the mains we opted for the Mutton Ghee Roast, which came with a poached egg. We wiped our plate clean with a sheermal. The deal was sealed with a small scoop of popcorn icecream on cookie dough.
Service: Perhaps, due to few patrons that night we were given complete attention and found no lag in service. On meeting the sous chef, we were told that Saran and his team were testing and poking around in the kitchen to create something new and would continue to add items to the menu. That’s incentive enough for us to return.
Meal for two: Rs 2,000+taxes (without alcohol)