New menu review: Globetrotting foodies get a new haven

And now their all-day dining restaurant Six ‘O’ One has a new menu in place. The menu is largely inspired by their executive chef Ashutosh Nerlekar, who has been around the globe. His love for South American and Mexican cuisine sees the addition of tamales and arepas to the menu. For all the meat lovers out there, there is a whole new section of grills in this menu, offering guests a variety of options. 

On Thursday, as the restaurant launched the new menu, we sampled some of their new fares. We started the meal with a spicy chicken tortilla soup in a Mexican cornbread bowl. The flavourful broth with bits of bell-pepper and chicken was a perfect for a slightly sour throat and when the waiter poured it on a Mexican cornbread bowl with much flourish, we loved the sense of theatre. One can have the bits of the cornbread bowl along with the soup which essentially become croutons. We also ordered a simple vegetarian Caesar salad but it turned out to be a pretty looking dish. The presentation was absolutely stunning and it even had an additional cheese cracker. The crunch of the veggies, soft deliciousness of the cheese and the crispiness of the cracker was a fine medley of textures and flavours. 

Chef Ashutosh was thrilled to serve us the arepas, a street food from South America. We sampled a vegetarian arepa where beans, avocado and chimi churri (a sauce) was sandwiched between two small flat breads. Although South American flavours are closest to Indian food when you compare global cuisine, the are pas didn’t match our expectations. Street food is all about crackling and robust flavours, the arepas we had were mediocre.

But what we really couldn’t stop raving about where these delicious little ‘chidlis’ served on a skewer. These were tiny gunpowder tossed idlis with topping of yellow cheddar. The fiery gunpowder and the mellow cheese surprisingly were a deadly combination. We popped in quite a few. For the main course, we tried the Indian dishes including gosht dum biriyani, idicha kozhi curry and fish mango curry. We also sampled some dal makhni and palak paneer. 601’s signature Hyderabadi biriyani with succulent mutton pieces made our day and we’re happy that it’s still served in small pots that are perfect for individual servings. The non-vegetarian curries were tasty and authentic. We specially loved the Kerala style creamy fish curry with hints of mango. The dal makhni was also equally creamy and perfectly rendered. But the palak paneer turned out to be a damp squib. If you have had the north Indian specialty, you would definitely feel disappointed.

While there was an array of desserts, what really stood out was there warm chocolate Devil’s cake. A mildly warm chocolate lava cupcake with caramel sauce injected with a small syringe made us squirm with joy as we relished every bite. 

Cuisine: Multi-cuisine 

Contact: 044 4267 6300 

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars