The newly-opened Roost Bistro offers a varied menu. Iknoor Kaur sampled the fare and found out that chefs have worked hard on the preparation and presentation
A walk down the tainted lanes of Hauz Khas Village leads you to a multi-coloured room adorning a fancy look. The best feature of the place is the poster-perfect green view from its windows. The newly-opened Roost Bistro can be simply described as a ready-to-go restaurant serving dishes from most parts of the world. There’s something from almost every cuisine to draw you towards the place and on our visit to the restaurant we discovered that it is one of the most reasonably-priced joints in the vicinity. Just a month-old outlet is still finding its regulars. But we guess that won’t be difficult for a place which has stayed away from the cliches.
We began our meal with the prawns with a ‘pinch of salt’. They are tequila soaked prawns with a pinch of sea salt. The dish is served with lime and inside the shell of a prawn. The saute is a perfect blend of flavours from different parts of the world. While it is slightly tangy to taste at first, the aftertaste leaves you wanting for more.
Their starters also has bacon wrapped chicken tikkas. It is a platter of chicken tikkas neatly rolled in bacon and stir-fried. Roost Bistro likes to call it their “chef’s recommendation and an in-house original”. The starters do have other components like chicken satay with peanut sauce, lemon and thyme stuffed fresh mushrooms and wild mushroom bruschetta.
The main course was just right. With the right amount of seasoning, the dishes were perfect. If you like to experiment, we’d suggest go for the continental section. Traditionally, the grilled fish steak was as expected, but a twist to it made this dish unique. The chilli lemon sauce accompanying the fish made it taste good. Tangy, full of flavours and cooked to perfection — it was exactly what the palate needed after sampling their starters. The stuffed chicken breast was best of the lot. It was marinated chicken stuffed with mushroom and cheese cooked in red wine. The flavours were nicely embedded in the flesh and the breast was easy to cut into.
What came as a disappointment were the masala crusted New Zealand lamb chops with mint and sherry. The meat was extremely chewy and the flavours were all mixed up. It also left an uneasy aftertaste.
For vegetarians the fettuccine in chilli saffron is a good pick and is served with exotic vegetables like broccoli, avocado and yellow chillies.You can choose some refreshing mocktails like kaffirr lime mojito and chunky orange which are slightly hatke from their usual concoctions.The dessert section is not much of an eye catcher. Chocolate brownie with ice-cream is all one can pick at present because their bakery is still not set up.
The manager of the restaurant, Ved Prakash Aditya hopes that their liquor license, which is coming soon, should help shoot up their clientele. For a place like Hauz Khas Village, that may just work as the selling point. However, if you are in a mood for a nice chilled out meal, Roost Bistro makes for a good stopover even without the alcohol.