Mumbai's Plural food review: Restaurant experiments with local produce to create South East Asian delicacies

Hidden in one of the bylanes of Kalaghoda, Plural is a vegetarian restaurant that boasts of a Vietnamese dominated South-East Asian menu, of course with a twist.

Vedant Shah, founder of Plural, loves his food and it is no surprise that despite his degree in Industrial Engineering he decided to start a restaurant. “The cuisine was a personal choice derived from the trend two years ago,” Vedant informs. “South-East Asian cuisine, Pan Asian cuisine has been popular since a few years now. I wanted to serve that, but with a twist. Adding Vietnamese was a step towards that. Using local produce to create unique offerings a step beyond.” The menu, however, also sees a couple of Italian and Middle-Eastern dishes with an Asian twist.

It's, probably, thanks to his sensibilities and preferences that Vedant chose the restaurant to be vegetarian. Sustainability and environment consciousness is seen across the board in Plural – interiors, bar, and food.

One finds liberal use of lemongrass and peanuts in the dishes, as expected in the chosen cuisine. Lemongrass infusions are used in signature cocktails as well. The Run of Dill is a refreshing cocktail that serves as a palate cleanser between courses as well. As the name suggests, it has dill. Martini Bianco is infused with dill and mixed with gin, laced with lemongrass, celery infused sake and finished with basil oil.

There is a choice of soups, but the Asian Gazpacho is an intriguing version of the famous Spanish cold soup. Watermelon replaces cucumber and galangal, kaffir lime and lemongrass find a place in this Asian version. Tasty, zesty and mildly spicy. If you want something less flavourful, opt for the pumpkin or mushroom soup.

Chef Tarun Bhatia pleasantly surprises me with customised Kale and Quinoa Salad. He replaces the normal dressing with ‘larb’ vinaigrette as my peanut allergy prevents me from tasting their Larb Roulade. The salad taste leaves me wanting more, but I have to control as there’s lots coming to the table, and I have only one stomach.

Next is the Vietnamese Pizza 2.0. Thin, rice paper crust topped with romesco sauce, tofu, olives, pickled jalapenos and finished with dollops of bird eye chilli sauce. If you don’t like extra spicy stuff, please tell them to avoid the bird chilli sauce. The textures of this dish are amazing. You have crunch and then the smoothness of tofu takes over. The pickled jalapeno and olive pungency stays as you finish the nearly melt in the mouth (thanks to the crust) bite. You should also try the classic Vietnamese Summer Roll – thin rice paper rolls of fresh veggies served with the Nuoc Cham Dip. Refreshing and tasty mix of textures.

“We have consciously worked on textures of each dish,” reveals Vedant. Their Banh Xeo is an example of their innovation. They use black rice crepes instead of traditional gram flour. “Black rice is more local, that’s the main reason behind the choice. That it enhances the taste by giving it an additional texture is a bonus,” says Chef Bhatia. He is so right. Crepes stuffed with veggies, served with lemon and Nuoc Cham Dip delight your palate. Don’t forget to squeeze a little lemon on it before dipping it in the Nuoc Cham.

Their Contemporary menu is quite interesting. Homemade Pumpkin Gnocchi filled with silken tofu served on the bed of kale and carrot pesto, topped with charred scallion is a must try. The Seared Brussel Sprouts can floor even a non-sprout eater. They saute the sprouts twice after skinning them – once in Nam Prik and once in Nam Jim. Fried skins are used as garnish along with threads of scallion and fresh herbs. Don’t forget to ask for the Hummus of the month. This month’s hummus was made from sweet potato and dressed with chilli oil, sesame, and charred scallions. Served with lavash and veggies, it was little spicy, but addictive.

There are a variety of dim sums, baos, tacos and Banh Mis available on the menu. You can give the Banh Mis a slip. Do try the Asian Green Dim Sums and Artichoke Baos. But leave space for the mains. The choice of mains, kind of, spoils you with too many good choices. And portions are quite big.

Their Bibimbap comes with a Korean Chilli Dip. The jasmine rice with sprouts, kimchi and veggie mix enthralls the palate with the sheer textural choice that it offers. Kimchi Fried Rice is a perfect blend of jasmine rice and traditional kimchi and comes with a choice of egg or no egg on the top. Go for the Chao Ga Congee if you love it simple and bland. Their signature Roasted Cauliflower with cashew and sambal glaze served with sumac mint yogurt, roasted almonds and herbs is also another ‘go to’ dish.

Their signature dessert is Peanut Fudge Cake, which unfortunately I couldn’t taste. But the Vanilla Panacotta is delectable. However, they should do away with the charcoal dust as it doesn’t do any favours to the subtle textures and taste of the panacotta topped with passion fruit compote.

With Shravan setting in from tomorrow, and a two month long this year, vegetarian options will surely be welcome to many. Keep Plural as one of the top priorities.

Average cost for two: Rs. 2000