A seafood restaurant in Mumbai isn’t exactly an earth-shattering concept. But what will turn Zorawar Kalra’s newest venture, R2O, into a magnet for the city’s well-heeled and well-fed is that this particular seafood restaurant is cuisine agnostic. It merely worships at the altar of great taste.
The Champagne bar is the first sign of what to expect. Our 7-course tasting menu has each course paired with a specific bubbly: Moet Chandon, Louis Roederer, Bollinger Brut Special Cuvee and more populate the racks. Even if you know your way around a flute, trust the sommelier — many of these dishes you’ll be tasting for the first time and it’s not worth wasting a sip.
Start your food journey off the old-fashioned way with rock oysters (sourced from Kochi) and caviar. Then jump to lightspeed as you sample the modernist salad Nicoise, a highly technical dish wrought with the wonders of molecular gastronomy. It’s a delight to squeeze the dressing out of the pipette over the dehydrated tuna, a mini MasterChef moment for amateurs.
Rock oysters served with caviar
The leek and crab soup that came next, served in a bowl large enough to drown in, draped the palate like butter-flavoured velvet. It was old school goodness, and proved the R2O chefs enjoyed the tightrope walk between earthy soul food and modern wizardry. Like the sinus-opening Malabar crab curry served with fluffy Malay parota, contrasted with sushi taco served stuffed with avocado and cream cheese.
Seared tuna with olive tapenade and potato crisps
Even if you’re on a strict no-sugar diet, we would recommend giving yourself a cheat day to sample the black truffle with gold leaf, that combines the flavours of coconut, truffle and dark chocolate into a singular mouth orgasm.
You’ll welcome the extra calories…
R2O opens on June 25. First floor, Palladium Mall, Lower Parel, Mumbai
