From fried Mars bars to traditional dal chawal with a twist, the month-old High 5 Cafe is on a mission to treat your food buds with some culinary awesomeness. Vaishnavi Singh reports
Walking through the vibrantly bustling streets of Hauz Khas village, one can miss the tiny entrance of the High 5 Cafe, situated on the first floor in the heart of the Village, but its interiors make up for the all searching and walking around. Built in place of an art gallery that occupied the space earlier, one can find its remnants all over the place — on the walls and the ceilings — lending the place an old world charm. Boasting of being a cafe by day and transforming into a lounge by night, owners of this first venture Prashant Karan and Apar Mathur tell us that their aim is to take people on a journey to satisfy their sense of sight, sound, smell, taste and feel. “High 5 is the first step towards being a restaurateur. It is not just a café, it’s a meeting place, a point where art meets the enthusiast. It’s a forum to exchange ideas from around the world”, Prashant adds.
As soon as we entered the cafe, we were welcomed by the impressive bar offering various concoctions to satisfy every craving of the customer. We were seated near the arched Victorian style window overlooking the terrace, on plush couches. The terrace is a beautiful space with a capacity of around 25 seats where one can relax and enjoy the evenings in complete freedom. We started our food experience with the pink panther mocktail and the virgin mojito which proved to be refreshingly fresh and cool in the sultry Delhi heat.
Since we were spoiled for choice, we asked chef Parminder to guide us. The first to arrive were the nachos salsa. They were prepared beautifully with the nachos still crisp, tossed in a spicy jalapeno mix with fresh tomatoes, olives and kidney beans, with dollops of melted mozzarella and parmesan cheese oozing over them. They were accompanied by freshly prepared salsa verde sauce and mayonnaise.
The next dish to arrive on the table was chilli mushroom. The crispy and tangy mushrooms prepared with great care had us asking for more. “The mushrooms are coated in a corn flour base to add the crunch and then they are deep fried in ginger— garlic oil, soya sauce and vinegar along with spring onions, onions, and all three bell peppers”, the chef enlightened us.
High 5 wants its customers to go home happy and well fed and their versatile kitchen set-up does the job. They dish up finger-licking varieties transcending cuisines from traditional Indian (various genres) to Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Thai, and Oriental.
Taking an experimentative route, we asked for the asian soy and sesame dressing salad. With Paul lekakis and Queen blaring in the background, adding another charm to this one-month-old venture, our salad arrived. It was the perfect balance of sweet and sour, with neither taste overpowering the other. Its simple preparation requires the right amount of chilli sauce and palm sugar sprinkled with sesame seeds.
The cafe features a separate section in their menu by the famous food consultant Osama Jalali who has curated his personal favourites that an adventurous foodie can try. For the non vegetarians the menu offers chicken tikka lollipop, the galouti burger and Osama’s pick, coffee honey chicken.
For the mains, we ordered the spicy peri peri pasta which is like a fire bomb in your mouth. It starts slow and then leaves you with a fiery aftertaste. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop us from devouring the entire plate of this pasta. “The sauce which serves as the base for this pasta requires a long and tedious process to prepare”, the chef shared. with us. Red bell peppers are oven roasted and blended with fresh red chillies. This sieved paste is then mixed with olive oil, garlic paste and vinegar and garden fresh herbs like oregano, rosemary and thyme. Then a gracious amount of black pepper, paprika powder and peri peri spice mix is added to this sauce which in the end is tossed with boiled penne and seasonal vegetables to make this mouth watering dish.
The ambience of the cafe has kept in trend with the latest fad of graffiti. The stark white walls are covered in artful graffiti giving the place a chic feel. Tu toh bhai hai yaar, ganna chala de and similar quotes shaped like a beer bottle line the main graffiti wall of the establishment. Happily reading these quotes and enjoying ourselves while waiting for our next dish, we were also told that the main floor is transformed into a dance place at nights. Weekends are reserved for DJ nights while Friday night is reserved for Sufi music. There is also a plan to launch a karaoke night for the people to show off their musical prowess and unwind.
We broke this discussion as soon as our next dish, dal chawal, listed in Osama’s menu arrived. Served in a deep dish, this dal chawal offers one a twist. The dal is made by a mix of two legumes and garnished with the Chef’s special tadka. Offered with papad and South Indian pakoras, the two accompaniments add another dimension to the dish uplifting the whole experience. The chef reveals the secret of the pakoras to us. “The pakoras are filled with a salty mixed pickle and coated in panko batter to give a crunchy outer covering”, he tells us.
After having a variety of scintillating savoury delicacies, we could not deny our sweet tooth the chance to try the fried Mars bar which had us all waiting in anticipation with its delightful name. The dessert arrived with the aroma of salted caramel in the air creating. Served on an ice cream stick, and dipped in hot chocolate sauce, the first bite had our taste buds dancing with its sheer deliciousness. A crunchy deep fried layer of flour, butter and baking powder coats the chocolate, giving the dish a twist by adding another texture to it.
Owner Prashant shares “We aim to give Delhiites a perfect blend of entertainment, food and ambience and plan to take the lounging experience to a whole new level”, he signs off.