Main entrance to restaurant
Interior of Dining Room

Above: Main entrance to restaurant
Below: Interior of Dining Room

Right off the bat, I have to admit that I went to Cavatina with the somewhat unfair expectation of Chef Prateek Sadhu’s standard of food at restaurant NAAR, and as much as I tried, and do believe successfully managed to shift my perspective, am not sure I can call this an altogether balanced review …

… Moreover, given how little I tasted with respect to the number of dishes, since the ‘degustation’ menu that day did not appeal to me for a first experience of Cavatina, it certainly isn’t going to be a comprehensive assessment.

Mini-Bread Basket with Coconut Curry dip
Smoked Aubergine Dip and Tomato Concasse

Above: Mini-Bread Basket with Coconut Curry dip,
Smoked Aubergine Dip and Tomato Concasse

That said, would I, with all due humility, pronounce this a culinary must do? The answer is a resounding YES, and personally I would go back again just for the coconut curry dip that is served with the complimentary mini-bread basket.

We (me and my mother, who has an equally, if not more exacting palate than mine) started with a small plate titled ‘Cavatina Chirut’: Filo pastry-like cigars stuffed with prawns & Goan chorizo, served with a ‘bimbli’ jalapeno relish that resembled an Asian sweet chili dipping sauce, which whilst neither original nor especially delicate and sophisticated, was absolutely and unequivocally delicious, the smoky and piquant Goan chorizo stealing the show as it tends to do …

Cavatina Chirut, Bimbli Jalapeno Relish

Above: Cavatina Chirut, Bimbli Jalapeno Relish

… Next up a second small plate of crab cutlets, described on the menu as ‘Betel Rock Crabmeat cakes in a Canacona Chili masala, avocado, mango mole and tobiko’, which actually tasted and smelt of crab, and that was perhaps the only striking feature of this dish, although I suspect it would leave many Indians cold, since crabmeat is mostly enjoyed as a ‘placebo’, with neither pronounced bouquet nor pungent shell fish flavor, and usually smothered with either a white sauce or highly ‘spirited’ curry.

Crabmeat Cakes, Canacona Chili Masala, avocado, mango mole, tobiko
Crabmeat Cakes, Canacona Chili Masala, avocado, mango mole, tobiko

Above: Crabmeat Cakes, Canacona Chili Masala, avocado, mango mole, tobiko

I myself am not much of a fan of crab cutlets, for the crabmeat is usually mashed or minced to the degree of baby food, just as these were, then coated in breadcrumbs, either baked or fried and garnished with a mango mole and tobiko, both of which quite frankly did little for the dish. However, it was beautifully served and as I mentioned at the start, if you have a taste for the particular perfume and taste of the crustacean, then it can be quite a treat; I personally would do a version of the Venetian ‘Baccala Mantecato’, i.e. whipped salt cod, thereby transforming the crab-meat into a textured mousse like structure, lightly spiced with the canacona chili masala, sprinkled with toasted breadcrumbs and crowned with some tobiko … in fact, I think I am going to try some kind of version of this myself at home.

Hay Smoked Mackerel, Garlic Croute, Balsamic Aioli, Raw Mango Pickle
Hay Smoked Mackerel, Garlic Croute, Balsamic Aioli, Raw Mango Pickle

Above: Hay Smoked Mackerel,
Garlic Croute, Balsamic Aioli,
Raw Mango Pickle

And then the third and final small plate of Hay smoked mackerel, for which I had the greatest expectation and it turned out to be a monumental disappointment, the mackerel over-smoked and thus slightly bitter & dried out, the balsamic aioli far too parsimonious and the raw mango pickle garnish entirely incoherent … indeed one can’t help but compare this one to Prateek Sadhu’s dirty ‘trout’ toast and hope that Chef Martins follows in his footsteps to improve his mackerel version.

And then at last came an absolutely stunning dish, a main course titled ‘Prawns who drank the Feni’, flambeed at the table and served with red rice … a theatrical production of what is essentially a classical dish in many respects, blissfully free of awkward contemporary touches and incongruous tastes; in short, a delicious coconut milk based prawn curry, which could easily be drunk with a straw, and ultimately bears testament to the virtues of traditional recipes …

Prawns who Drank the Feni
Prawns who Drank the Feni
Prawns who Drank the Feni

Above: Prawns who Drank the Feni

… Of the Bebinca dessert that was a duet of bebinca – one of them bruleed – and served with a coconut ice cream, I will simply say that one shouldn’t try and fix what ain’t broke, for there is nothing that can compete with a classic Bebinca …

Duet of Bebinca, Coconut Ice cream

Above: Duet of Bebinca, Coconut Ice cream

… But I will be going back, for I suspect there are many more gems on the menu to discover, and for those dishes that have a great forehand but a weak follow-through, I trust it is only a matter of time before Chef Martins bridges the gap.

THE END