Always different, ever evolving and popular, Indus Indian restaurant (near the dog-leg bend on Suk Soi 26) has kept things fresh in its 11 years' operating to-date, accruing ample awards along the way.
Now with new chef Anil Kumar working closely with owner/World's 50 Best food critic Sid Sehgal, Indus is shifting into creative overdrive again with subtly tweaked decor, new a la carte dishes and a fancy tasting menu which Night Out was privileged to preview.
Starting with a playful amuse bouche, proceeding through a light teasing 1st appetizer to an appetizer with more Raja-esque fanfare, into creative, textured surf & turf concepts to defiantly ingenious mains and concluding in a flourish of floral notes, it resonates with a French degustation menu while yet being distinctively Indian.
Our amuse bouche was a "Bhel", mango cream in a crisp semolina puff dusted with kaffir lime and garnished with an edible flower. This is Chef Anil's take on a popular Indian street-food snack.
Soup -- "Makai Pudina" -- began as sautéed corn ears, mint oil and micro greens artfully arranged in the bottom of a bowl to which fresh corn & milk seasoned with cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and dried mint powder was slowly poured.
The spiciness more commonly associated with Indian cuisine kicked in with the second appetizer -- Scallop Kalimirch -- a chutney of organic sundried tomato, fried garlic and chilli surrounding a succulent scallop sautéed in black pepper.
The next two dishes -- one shrimp, one chicken -- were equally easily related to.
The ‘methi' in Methi Malai Jhinga, the prawn dish, is a dried spice from Kasur that is picked before fully ripe, then sun-dried and powdered to create a seasoning, along with cream, ginger, garlic paste and yellow chilli powder, for the tandoor-roasted prawn served over a smoky broccoli puree.
Bharwan Murgh Seena, was a chicken breast stuffed with caramelised onion and cheese and seasoned with young ginger, fresh mint and Indian spices, served over a smoky beetroot puree.
The pièce de resistance among the savouries was a painstakingly prepared Hyderabadi Murgh Dum Biryani. First you marinate the chicken or mutton, then lay it in the bottom of a large clay pot, then layer parboiled rice and spice on top, finish with saffron, seal and cook slowly. When you pop the top, the long grains of basmati rice are soft and separate, the chicken buttery.
Besides these, Laal Maas is a robust red mutton curry, Alubukhara Kofta is all about the Californian dried plum, combined with dried cashew nuts, yogurt and mild spices, that make the smooth creamy gravy, and Palak Paneer offers fresh spinach gently sautéed with cottage cheese, fried garlic and cumin seed. All go exceedingly well with warm truffled naan.
Not everything on the Indus menu -- or in Indian cuisine generally -- is pungently spicy: there's no chilli in the new crab curry and precious little in the new smoked lobster dish, for instance.
Desserts are equally to-die-for.
Gil-e-firdaus "pot of heaven" is a delicious bottle gourd pudding.
Kalakand Cheesecake blends crumbled cottage cheese and condensed milk with mascarpone cheese, then dusts with crunchy wheat flakes.
Lego-like ice blocks infused with Darjeeling tea and condensed milk is an idealised Kulfi.
Gil e bahisth, a fine pulp of rice, almond paste, condensed milk powder, rose water and saffron, is as full of eastern promise as all the aforesaid.
Design-wise, spot the new-look stripped down parquet floor, Instagram-friendly overhead lighting and dark cobalt blue walls to which Indus' superb art collection has been redeployed.
Next up: a new Sunday Brunch menu is on the way, so stay tuned.
Indus, #71 Sukhumvit Soi. 26. Tel. 0-258-4900. www.indusbangkok.com.
