Enjoy North Indian, Persian and Middle Eastern cuisine at this Santacruz eatery

With the monsoon at our doorstep the city is a hot box On a sticky evening last week it posed a serious threat A sudden downpour thunders into Mumbairsquos first premonsoon showers This nip in the weather has activated our appetite Wersquore in time for an early seating at Osttaad a Persian Middle Eastern and North Indian finedine that once held space in Lower Parel during the pandemic and relaunched in Santacruz two weeks agoLamb kagarcha goshtSpread across a spacious al fresco and indoor section the 150seater has modern finedine deacutecor with a playful opulence of jhoomar and jalis balanced with muted tonesWe get a scrumptious head start with the raw banana and pulled jackfruit shashlik Rs 425 which is spiced with Turkish chilli pepper called Urfa They are served on skewers with a side of tangy Afghani chutney prepared from raw tomatoes and mint chutney The texture is of a fine galouti where the meat eaters take greedy bites tooA bowl of Samarkand chicken with Afghan taftan PicsSatej ShindeLal chapur stuffed paneer tikka takes a Peshawari twist adding a filling of pine nuts and mint green pesto Rs 475 We raise a toast to welcome the monsoon gods with two drinks from the special cocktails priced at Rs 675 Both arrive at the table in overhyped fanfare of smoked gastronomy which we wish bars would drop Tashkent twilight is whiskey spiked with cinnamon and spices The after taste is that of an apple pie the star ingredient mdash whiskey mdash is a noshow Disappointed we turn to the red wine sangria with Iranian berries The cherrywood smoke has burnt the flavours and we manage only a few forced sips We decide to focus only on the food for the rest of the evening Murgh pashtooni seekh Rs 395 is the standout dish of how a great kitchen programme can lend to classic dishes Soft minced chicken falls like an defeated army under our knife and a spice of ajwain and house mix lends a robust taste without being spicy or overpoweringRaw banana and jackfruit skewerFor the mains we choose fermented Afghan taftan Rs 295 The bread is a piece of craft An original recipe from Afghanistan the dough is pressed to form indents by hand We pair it with damboli Rs 495 a sauteacuteed vegetable dish cooked with ginger and spices that tastes like a welldone tawa sabzi The murgh Samarkand R495 slowcooked succulent boneless chicken is cured in star anise and yellow chilli Each gravy dish with chicken doesnrsquot have to be a butter chicken clone and this one leads by example It is confidently mild fragrant and light on the stomach The kagarcha gosht R625 is braised lamb in dum with saffron and ghee The smoked finish lends it a charcoal sweetness The meat dishes deserve a second helping The 24hour cooked black dal Ostaad ersquo Adasi Rs 525 has a palatable spice but lacks salt to help unfurl the flavoursSangria with Iranian berriesWe end our meal with honeyed sheermal Rs 255 its nutty cloak is too scrawny for our liking We compare it to the sheermal of Purani Dilli where we observed a cook add overly generous layers of pista dust and almonds slivers In this version we found the centre a bit too doughy Overall the authentic fare is intelligently crafted and shines across the board making up for the lacklustre bar menuThe interiors are ornate with vintage themed deacutecor and taverninspired wallpapers as well as decorative ceramicsOsttaadAT Savoy Chambers ground floor Linking Road next to Porsche Showroom Hasmukh Nagar Santacruz WestTIME 12 pm to 130 amCALL 9833741741atOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params