Orza, an influenced Indian restaurant, has nuanced flavours and fresh tastes, says Saimi Sattar
It looked like a thin-crust pizza as it made its way to the table. But the taste, well, that was far more complex and nuanced than the Italian offering. To begin with, there was no hint of cheese — something that is more than often used to camouflage the less than fresh ingredients and average taste. With a super thin base that was crisp and spices which unleashed a smasgoboard of flavours, the lahmacun or lahmajoun is a Turkish variant of the dish. It was a flat bread topped with carrots, mushrooms and zucchini and unlike a pizza, the vegetables were a veritable mix, chopped very fine, almost minced.
I was at Orza, an influenced-Indian cuisine restaurant that has opened recently at the Ansal Plaza. The menu of Orza borrows from the epicurean offerings of Iran, Avadh and Kashmir — the regions whose cuisine has greatly influenced Indian food. Influenced here implies serving dishes of the countries from which successive people migrated and made the country their home. The lahmacun is a welcome dish served to every customer who comes to the restaurant.
But let me just go back in time. Ansal Plaza was the first major mall that opened in the capital way back in 1999. As swankier places came up, it had fallen by the wayside — till last year when the restaurant scene started hotting up the place. Now, it has some of the choicest offerings — both stand alones and franchises.
Coming back to Orza, the decor with its wooden walls, comfortable, laidback seating and muted lighting was inviting. With 48 covers, the restaurant’s decor is a mix of clean, modern lines combined with nostalgia in the form of ceramic and earthenware jars filled with spices placed in niches and corners. As inviting as the place looked, I, along with a companion decided to dine there.
We ordered two starters — the vegetarian Beetroot and yoghurt kebab and the non vegetarian Jujeh kebab and both of them were excellent. The Beetroot and yoghurt kebab was crisp outside and melted in the mouth as the first bite was in. The sweetness of the beetroot was the perfect foil for the sour hung curd which it enveloped inside. Served with a creamy dip, the dish upped our expectation for the remaining fare.
The Jujeh kebab lived up to it if not exceeded it. The chicken was succulent, juicy and flavoursome. Unlike the chicken tikka which is overloaded with spices, this had simple, clean flavours — which work. With just a hint of sumac, the dish has been elevated several notches.
For the main course, we had Kandhari mutton which is mutton shank slowly braised with onion, tomatoes and garam masala which was served with Tamiri roti. The appearance was what caught out attention. A singular shank balanced on fried onion rings looked inviting. While I found it a little under spiced, my companion loved the flavours.
The whiff that emanated from the Berry pulao as soon as we lifted the cover, made us want to dig in immediately. The dish from Persia where rice is cooked with berries, saffron and caramelised onion did not disapoint.
We rounded off the evening with Bastani Akbar mashti (Saffron ice cream), a perfect end to an almost perfect meal.