FRENCH CONNECTION

MUSTARD

Just when you wonder what’s common between French and Bengali cuisine, the owners of the newly opened restaurant Mustard explain that it is indeed the spicy mustard that brings the two diverse cuisines together. Both types of cooking rely on few ingredients in a dish and let the tiny spice add that pungent twist. The décor reflects the old world charm of Bengal with cane chairs and a kantha embroidery wall piece and blends that with plush upholstery that has a distinct French touch. The peach ceiling-to-floor arched windows and shuttered doors complete the French look giving the restaurant a fine-dine ambience with no distraction from the mall in which it stands. With a French chef and a Bengali chef planning the menu, the food is a mélange of flavours and styles with mustard enjoying a place of pride on the table. The Mouillette Olives Tapenades is a good way to start the meal with a delicious homemade tapenade. The Bengali Banglar Ghorowa Niramish Thala is a mezze platter with four dips of which two have dried shrimps in them.

For an authentic taste of Bengali regional cuisine, try the banana blossom kebabs, smoked paneer and the Heritage Bengali Platter

that serves a Baqarkhani roti with traditional dips and accompaniments. The kasundi chicken and pork cubes are other popular dishes on the menu here.

FRANCE TO MUMBAI Get a taste of the French flavours with the baked mussels, scallops, lobster Thermidor and cuttlefish inspired by the Basques.

REGIONAL FLAVOURS Mustard has brought in lesser-known recipes from Bengali homes such as the Sikh dhaba-inspired chicken bharta, a country chicken curry which the boatmen used to cook and a Bangladeshi tyangra fish curry with a dash of milk.

PRICE `2,000 for two

AT Atria, Worli