In a nutshell:

We had an extraordinary culinary & overall experience at this fun filled new restaurant in Cyber Hub

Address & other details:  Farzi Cafe

Meal for 2: Rs. 1000 onwards

Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster.

Short Description – in case u r in a hurry:

Came to know of Farzi café for the first time while passing by – The façade was covered (as the restaurant was under fit-out), but I saw something interesting from the side of the cover. So the inquisitive I peeped in. It looked very grand. The name Farzi was up by that time but I did not quite understand the context of the name.

Few days later I got an invite by their Marketing Manager to attend the Grand opening (a press/ blogger’s meet). I politely refused the invite stating that ‘in principle I do not review any place on invite. I only go to a restaurant in anonymity as a normal guest, pay the full bill & then only write about it’.

Went to Farzi this week. Really spent a cumulative 6 hours in 2 visits. Enjoyed every minute of it……..

The name Farzi means ‘fake’. The food here sounds like something but when it is served, it is not exactly that – it might look like that but might b made with something else. There r many unexpected twists in each dish…… Hence the name Farzi.

Quoting the website of the café  – ‘The word “Farzi” can have many connotations, but at Farzi Café, it has just one, “creating an illusion” with its cuisine. Focused at the gourmet diner as well as the youth of India, Farzi Café – the modern Indian bistro, is best described as a gourmet experience amalgamating traditional global cuisine, with Indian influences, contemporary presentations, culinary styles and ambiance. It is a place where guests can enjoy fine food. It is a quirky, yet chic, Indian café concept, where guests experience the finest of modern Indian food using elements of molecular gastronomy for showcasing some of the iconic dishes from around the world in a way that’s never been seen before, all at affordable price points. Infusing a generous dose of Indian flavours, Farzi Café presents Indian cuisine where culinary art meets the alchemy of modern presentations and cooking techniques like molecular gastronomy to absorb the guest into the ultimate gastronomic illusion.’

In case molecular Gastronomy sounded like Greek to u, pls click here.

To read my most memorable Molecular gastronomy experience pls click here.

The interiors , as I mentioned are Grand. All wood & Glass décor. There is a live music section in the central area. There r seats beside the bar. There r of course normal seating in 2 / 4 / 6.

There were quirky things all around & loads of quirky stuff written in the menu card, the table mats etc. Even the loo had something very quirky.

The menu card was fun to read. It was almost like a comic book. The vast variety of ‘pick me up’ options were quite bewildering to start with, & it was here that our server came to our rescue.

The menu card had interesting options like Karela calamari (a veg dish with calamari ring lookalikes made from karela), a veg dilli style burger called Gupta burger etc.

In general, there is less attention paid by servers. One has to really wave hands hysterically to get attention (if u want something in the middle of the meal / water refill etc). The way I had to wave my hand on one occasion reminded me of the way the stranded boy in blue lagoon was waiving when he saw a ship coming towards them.

However once u speak to them, the servers r a class apart. U don’t get that quality in too many places any more. Our server (day 1) was full of smiles, emphatic, confident, helped in selection & also a great chap to hv a quick chat with – actually way too good. Similar experience in day 2 as well.

Day 1 – We asked for water. Person went back. Water never came. This happened thrice!!!! We finally bought kinley from a paan wallah outside Cyber Hub after leaving the restaurant.

The servers wore old fashioned gallus pants and suddenly that looked cool & retro. They were also wired up –I guess to interact with the kitchen.

On another table, this is what I overheard  – The guys sitting there had ordered pulled pork sandwich . The server came back after some time and said ‘the bun is not as per our standards.  So we will not b able to serve the sandwich. Kindly choose something else like ….. Loved this. This is what differentiates the extraorinary from the ordinary….

Food was really good in general and the passion to constantly create excellent food showed up. The server said the concept was ‘small portions of food’ so that one cud taste a lot of items. That suited us well.

Detailed Description – In case u have the Time to NJOY reading:

Day 1:

Litchi farzi desire was an excellent drink. Lichi comes almost as an aftertaste but the magic of other ingredients is unbelievable. What a balance of tastes and flavours . Enjoyably Tangy. Loved it. Rate it 4.75/5. Amazing feat for a mock tail.

Farzi ok – a fresh orange vanilla drink. Very balanced sweet and sour, flavours of orange and subtle aftertaste of vanilla. Kaffir lime cud b seen bit cud not b felt. Still Rate it 4.5/5

As we sat after ordering, we were served a complimentary Amuse bouche – mishti doi liquid inside a thin film almost shaped like an egg. Pop it into the mouth and it just bursts out. Wow.

The amuse bouche was served on a black plate that emitted thick white fumes. Server said it was mishti doi. Wud hv been better had he not said that. Surprise wud hv been even more. Rate it 4.5/5 not just for the taste but for the overall feeling.

For starters we had Mini raj kachoris with crisp okra and foam reduction. Server suggested that we taste all of the ingredients individually and then all together. Great idea. Loved each of the ingredients individually and overall as it is.

In the center was a diff mushy part that tasted great but we cud not make out what it was. Server told us the secret after we finished the dish ….. Pumpkin. Wow. Takes huge calibre to make pumpkin taste so good.

The okra was fried a bit early. So it was not that crispy but not bad either. Again rate it 4.25/5

We moved on to Chilly Duck samosa – It was brilliant to look at and also in terms of first bite. The crust of samosa exactly as it is, Peking duck kind of sauce on the top of the samosa and roasted duck meat in the middle. The Indian ness of the samosa was Truely Indian and the chineseness of the duck and sauce were Truely Chinese. Salute to this ‘Indi chini Bhai Bhai’ dish. Rate it 4.5/5.

Next dish we ordered was Chini paratha with duck liver maska. It turned out to b a desi paratha with a firang twist. My eyes shut in pleasure as I bit into the paratha area that had duck liver on top. Mind blowing good.

Not exotic but rustic and extraordinary layery paratha made with Desi ghee. Charred ends of the paratha were enjoyable – bot burnt but perfectly burnt. Of course the paratha was topped with chini while making….. Outstanding. Rate it 4.75/5.

We next ordered Rishta reduction pork ribs. This dish was good but the rishta reduction did not much taste like my favorite Kashmiri meat dish rishta. The curry was good on its own. It was quite an experience to smell Indian curry in a pork rib dish. The pork was outstanding. One of the best softest flavorful and tastiest pork that I have recently had in delhi ncr. Rate the reduction 3/5 and pork 4.5/5. Overall rating averages out to 3.75/5.

For dessert we started with Parle g cheesecake with saffron rabri. Yes, u heard it right. Someone actually had the idea to put humble parle G biscuits into a dessert!!!!!

The Cheesecake was excellent. Rabri was really very good – thick creamy rabri. Cadbury’s Gems were sprinkled all over. The idea was to dunk the parle G into the rabri & eat it like we used to……… Childhood memories indeed. Rate it 4.25/5

Around this time the Chef was doing a round & we ended up having a small chat with him. He gave us a small complimentary portion of Rooh afza creme brûlée.

Yes, Rooh Afza, the red rose syrup. The dish was not over sweeeeeet like usual rooh afza. It was Rich, velvety & perfectly sweet while having flavors of Rooh Afza. Brulee ensured there was a burnt flavor. Top of it was kiwi falooda. Loved it all. Rate it 4.5/5

As we asked for the bill, a book came to our table. As we opened the book, it turned out to b a box with something very curious inside it – Candy floss ‘gujia’ with paanasala inside. What an idea sirjee….. Floored. Loved the taste & feel. Rate it 4.5/5

During the meal we had also ordered Apple fizz drink. However that never came – inspired of having wired up servers who talk to kitchen real time. At the time of giving the cheque, one person asked ‘ Oh did u order an apple fizz’?. We said it was too late and had to leave. So gave it a pass.

Day 2:

We started day 2 with Karela calamari – Lookalikes of calamari rings fried & topped with a sauce. It had similar consistency as chilly honey potato. The rings were crunchy but topped with sticky thick liquid.  The dish was Tangy overall – sweet tamarind chutney gave sweetness and sourness , kalounji, sesame seeds. As expected of karela, there was a mild bitter aftertaste – very enjoyable & nice dish. Almost as good as the chilly honey aloo version but with less calories (karela has less calories) if u choose to ignore the deep frying. Rate it 4.25/5

Next came Tandoori butter chicken bun with green chilly mayo. It had steamed bun that was super soft , had mild fermented feel. The ony other place where I have had such good inhouse bun recently is Pintxo

.

The butter chicken & green chilly mayo filling was excellent. Both the dry gravy and the soft yumm chicken piece were very enjoyable. As perfect as it cud get. Rate it 4.5/5

On day 2 we again ordered Apple Jack. This time we were lucky that it arrived. Apple jack turned out to b the surprisingly ordinary beverage in this extraordinary restaurant. It was just unidirectional apple concentrate on which soda was poured on the table.  No twist in the tale. Rate it 2.5/5

We also had Italian smooch. It was enjoyable. Flavorful drink with twists &turns. Rate it 4/5.

For main course we ordered Chorizo pulao. It was simply awesome . Garlic flavor, flavor of chorizo in the rice, thin green chillies, sunny side up, freshly crushed pepper, really nice rice that we enjoyed having just as it is, without the chorizo and also with the chorizo. Full of flavor rice. Rate it 4.75/5.

For main course we also had Rajasthani kadhi with ghee pulao and onion rings. The Onion rings were made with besan batter – Not the firang way. In place of pakori the onion rings were served.

Outstanding kadhi. Am sure it is as good in many homes but this is surely very good by commercial standards. Not too thick not too thin. Good balance of salt and sour.

Freshly cut Green chillies were adding flavor to the rice. Rate it 4.5/5.

For dessert we went for Nasik oranges and kaffir lime aire. It was served inside ‘containers’ made from real empty orange peel. The contents were just foam with flavor of Orange & Kaffir lime. It was like having the jhaag…………….. Loved it. But wud not recommend it to all but crazy hardcore experimentative foodies like me. Rate it 4/5.

Overall rating of food & beverages at Farzi café averages out to 4.3/5. Takes massive calibre to reach that rating inspite if having so many dishes.

I am definitely going there again. What’s going on in ur mind? Write in…..