SpiceKlub
"Molecular Gastronomy" is an culinary art where science, food and art comes together and leads to a array of cooking techniques and mind blowing techniques of presenting dishes. Its part of food science that attempts to explore the chemical and physical transformations . It mainly consists of 7 cooking techniques including "Sous-vide" meaning under vacuum, flash frozen (using liquid nitrogen), Faux Caviar, Deconstructed, Edible paper, Powdered food and foams. One chef who brings in lot of flare and passion towards this food science and avid follower of British Chef Heston Blumenthal and people who want to know him more, google up, his love or this culinary science is beyond your imaginations.
Now bring this extraordinary food science concept in the most happening city , you not only notch your game but is taking food landscape of this most happening city to whole another level and I should thank SM Group to do exactly that by owner MR. Ranjith & his skilled Chef & Menu Curator Mr. Pramod. Spice Klub is part of SM Group who also owns Quattro and Desi Klub which are in the same building in happening Jubilee Hills. Already Quattro has made the right noises in food landscape in Hyderabad with its innovative molecular gastronomy into culinary experience and Spice Klub brings that to Indian Cuisine and as they right have marketed "Desi Flavors..Videshi Techniques"
#FoodieSquad was invited by Management to review their place and we were so glad we did as the place deserves a mention to bring the art itself. Ambiance is quite stellar with spacious dining space and also quirky wooden tables for small packs and a nice look over the buzzing traffic. The place has centrally located bar which dishes some amazing mocktails which we will see below in detailed review but food the presentation and the thought process scores clearly in a class apart style.
Note: This review experience is based on Management Invite and was on the house & review shared is honest and unbiased in the interest of fellow readers and foodies.
We had a preset menu for our session and we started off some amazing mocktails in flavors as well as presentation.
We started off with Detox Water with mint and lemon in it which by itself was very healthy and definitely refreshing though food pandas like me wont be big fans of it. It was interesting to taste the same.
Coconut Water with Assorted Caviar brings in Faux Caviar Technique into it where by spherification technique, gels are made into small balls to resemble real caviar. Coconut water flash frozen pieces served with assorted rose water caviar in a quite interesting shaped glass set the tone for the night and its freshness and surprise melt down of pieces into liquid threw us out right away. Amazing freshness though I felt the real coconut water feel was missing a tad.
Kokum Margarita with Chilli Caviar was another revelation to bring in sweet, tangy flavors together and with kokum base, the chilli caviar made a perfect balance you need for a drink. Technique used is flash frozen and definitely the frozen margarita technique worked for this flavor - MUST TRY .
Mango On the Rocks was the star of the night which using flash Frozen technique mango pulp was frozen into pieces and on pouring mango pulp and mixed, it turned into a mango duet which they aptly term "a drink you can eat" and is a definite block buster.
With drinks amazing us already, we went into finger bite and little did we know we were in for a delightful journey in each dish.
Papads of India is a conglomeration of all types of papads and if you a finger food guy you will love this as it keeps you pick and crunch all out. Nice rendition of a simple snack into a dish format.
Vada Pav brings in Edible Paper technique into picture. While it looks simple, the way its instructed to be eaten lets you know how simple yet innovative the dish is conceived. While all ingredients are regular including mint sauce, weet sauce , the vada masala flavor is now inside edible paper which when sandwiched between your pav and had blasts in your mind to picture a perfect vada pav. It more of an experience than anything - MUST TRY.
Aloo Burwaan a dish that anyone who likes potato and cheese and its serving style is also impressive. Cheese and vpeppers nicely mixed to make it guey and wrapped inside potato layer and grilled over a conventional mini grill type setting. The dish packed cheese flavors for sure but we had issues scrapping it from the grill which was an inconvenience and can be looked it. Yes, the dish is messy to eat and yes I liked it .
Corn Tikk another simple and well served dish gave a crunchy tikkis of corn and a nice mint topping and corn seeds. The dish could have WOWed me as it looked a normal dish from the menu but yes it had flavors though.
Pani Puri now you can think what's innovative in pani puri, its in the blood line of any street food lover anywhere in India.as Yes they are not bringing a re-invention but a different rendition of it. Puris served separately the imli chutney is loaded inside a medical syringe and the pani water is loaded into a test tube and served inside dry ice. You marry them and load with the nuts and add imli sauce over it from syringe and when you have it with a drink shot of pani, you know your flavors are bang on but experience is different. Not gonna WOW you but its fun to play on a staple of Indian Cuisine - MUST TRY.
Hazari Paneer Tikka was looking like your typical paneer tikka but the coating looked very interesting. Cooked again on a min grill setup, the paneers were completely wrapped with onion, and other spices wrap and cooked to perfection. I loved the paneer as it was aptly soft but somehow didn't get the concept of the onion based spice wrap as it didn't really elevate the flavor of the dish.
Palak cheese Cigars comes on the shocking surprise of the night. The dish exactly like a fine dining mirchi bhajji and one first bite, you are fooled to the earth. Served alongside with chilli sauce in a cute hawkins cooker which was very cute and innovative, the dish is actually an ideology of serving an Italian dish in an Indian wrapping. Batter fried spinach wraps with spiced spinach and cheese was an amazing dish to relish as it just melted inside and crispy outside and nothing else could have made this dish go WOW in the table. Brilliance - MUST TRY.
Galouti Kebab was again well prepared and served. While the meat variant is itself difficult one to make and deliver in terms of smoothness of meat but spice levels matching, the veg variant definitely impressed us big time and the single piece portions were nice idea and a good dish.
Papdi Chaat is something that any chaat lover would die for and this dish when served first raised eyebrows all over. How can they serve it this way and on tasting, we went Really?? I mean in a good way. The dish was conceived again in a different way by using coriander foam (Foam technique) and cream yogurt flash frozen using liquid nitrogen and when all had it together with your eyes closed I doubt anyone can differentiate with the original version. Amazing dish as well - MUST TRY.
Deconstructed Dhokla was another star of the night to bring in the first of its kind dish in my experience using Deconstruction technique (If you deconstruct a sand castle, you knock it down. This same idea applies to deconstructed dishes, which feature separate building blocks instead of having everything combined. Deconstructed dishes allow the diner to construct a customized experience in his or her mouth. Made with a fermented batter derived from rice and split chickpeas, the dish was made and presented in a ingredient form with flash frozen dhokla into more of upma format and on conceiving it with the coriander foam -and having it all together it truly gives its original taste. Khaman Dhokla served in true SpiceKlub Style.
You just don't realize after so having many dishes that WOW we had a veggie journey without losing my meat appetite and I relished almost all of them and I could say WOW a veggie place is impressing me in another levels. We were literally full and then came a final touch in terms of 6 varieties of naans and amazing curries .
Dal Kabila was definitely an amazing dal dish thought looked something normal in every house hold there was something unique about it as it well with every variant of roti/naan served.
Tandoor Gobi Masala looks exactly like a chicken curry dish and completely deceived us all in serving style. Well cooked tandoori gobi drenched in some amazing Indian curry masala curry made it another relishing dish as well. A special mention on the roties as every one were amazing and went well with curries.
Hearing a lot about their desserts we were nothing but kids jumping around after those dishes to just visualize them as we spoke. The dishes came down and knocked us down on every level. Forget the flavors the conception deserves a big round of applause and though they are pocket bombers , I say its more of an experience than a regular munch of desserts. .
Bubbling Kulfi be ready to digest the fact that its 525+ and you are all to judge a dessert costing almost a meal in few places but yet this is an experience and an idea to imagine a regular kulfi in another way. The kuldi was flash frozen and made into cubes served over a dry ice bed which makes it smoky and catchy. Served into an assortment of toppings, caramel sauce, rabdi , chocolate sauce, blueberry and rose caviar. I personally loved the rose caviar balls mixed well with the kulfi cubes and after sometime when you mesh you really get the consistency of kulfi and when had is a pure bliss <3 Yes its a bomb but a good one Try :) - MUST TRY.
Flower Pot a dish definitely that scores 100/100 for presentation . Rasmalai and saffron mousse infused inside a Belgian couverture Chocolate pot Topped with Chocolate soil, served over a bed of pistachio soil this dish made me go WOW and on relishing it, felt the mousse and the belgian chocolate flavor didn't really marry well as I expected it to be. Both are very dominating flavors. The chocolate pot and soil also overtook the mousse and was not to my palate tasting. I could definitely commend the Cef to experiment it in different way to elevate the flavors.
Service & Hospitality:
Ops Manager Dilip & Chef Pramod were responsive to our feedback at the end of the meal and courteous to be with us thought it was an almost full house even on a weekday. Service was prompt and the stewards could know the dishes served. I could see right away one area for improvement is they can get stewards trained regularly to be confident on the dish and the ingredients as in such places and such an intrinsic experimental menu, it would help them in engaging with customers into an experience mode than just dining and paying bill kind of stuff. I would expect the steward to engage me if I was in such place and it could be a game changer aspect for me which I cannot demand or expect in any other normal dining places.
Owner Ranjit has definitely invested the right balance on decor and food and the place has definitely made a mark in the food scenes of buzzing Hyderabad and if they make the consistency and food experience as their top priorities they should be in the winning league.
Cheese Cherry Pineapple Delight scored clean shot in everything. Pineapple mousse perfectly baked inside cheese cubes and served with Italian Cherry ice cream and also pine apple pulp frozen into shavings and also tints of caramel sauce drizzled all over. The dish is a perfect example of an innovative dish has to be conceived where each component is apt and the combination elevates the dish to another level. The cheese cubes pastry was so flaky that it just crumbled while the mousse inside it was killer along with small pineapple pieces. The Amarena blueberry cherry ice cream was also so refreshing and overall THIS IS A DEFINITE BLOCKBUSTER Dessert and every one loved this one in particular. - MUST TRY.
As we wrapped up the dinner , we were surprised with another amazing dessert which is a spectacle to watch - Paan Mousse paan based mousse stuffed inside traditional betel leaves in pan style and drizzled with white chocolate, you might think nothing fancy about it.Hold on as they pour liquid nitrogen to flash freeze right in front of you and on having it you can breath smoke like a dragon and its fun :) Again this dish is a bomb 395+ and might make you think more but yes its an experience and would recommend if you want something different and refreshing
Verdict:
Spice Klub is definitely not regular place for fine dining experience but brings in molecular gastronomy into table which is pretty new into Hyderabad food scenes. Menu is definitely exhaustive thought being a vegetarian place, it offers something for everyone and also covers most of the choices. Indian Cuisine served in international standard is their USP but still I feel their pricing of salads and appetizers ranging from 250 - 400 + and main courses from 300+ and definitely their star attraction desserts around 400-600+ is a ting to consider upon for a regular customer to hop into this place. Its definitely on steep side but along with the price , comes an experience tagged with it and I wish if anyone who wants diversity in cuisine in Hyderabad should visit it and will be definitely a worthy try. Whatever said the team has to be applauded for bringing in something new and innovative to Hyderabad and has elevated the game plan for food landscape here. Lets see what else i in store for our Hyderabad :)
Note: This review experience is based on Management Invite and was on the house & review shared is honest and unbiased in the interest of fellow readers and foodies.