Le Cirque Signature

The Leela Mumbai

Text: Mohan Krishnan

Le Cirque New York was the French fine-dining restaurant in the city that never sleeps. The founder Sirio Maccioni helped launch the careers of the great Daniel Boulud, David Bouley and a host of others. In addition to great food, it had a whimsical circus-themed décor on the walls, and with little porcelain figures on the table. We ate at Le Cirque in 2000, when it was at the New York Palace Hotel. There was always a long line of stretch limos waiting outside.

Le Cirque was brought to India by Captain Nair, legendary hotelier and founder of The Leela chain. Many Indian chefs learned about Italian and French fine-dining, and owed their exposure to ingredients like caviar, truffles, foie gras, and the finest wines to their stint at Le Cirque in Delhi.

The Bombay restaurant sits perched on the 8th floor of the hotel, and has had earlier Italian cuisine avatars – Fiorella and Stella. You walk in, past the stacked wine racks, very aware that you are stepping into high-end luxury, with dramatic lighting, and the circus theme reflected in the exquisite “wire art” on the walls, and a quirky monkey on the table.

The wine cellar has “only” 252 offerings. If you’re an “oligarch”, there’s Château Pétrus for Rs. 5.9 lakhs, taxes extra. For us mere mortals, there are options that won’t require an EMI plan. We had a young, fresh, crisp New Zealand white, that settled down nicely after a little breathing, and worked well with our food.

We began with the Pecorino Cheese Crème Brûlée. A hit. Classic crème brûlée crust. We tapped it, and it cracked neatly. Superb cheese flavour below, savoury with just a hint of sweet, from the Balsamic reduction. The real sugar high came from the red onion marmalade. I licked the last mouthful off my spoon, with some regret.

For years, I have mourned the closing of the Zodiac Grill at the Taj, Bombay, because my go-to starter was the Camembert Dariole, followed by the Cajun Pomfret. The Cheese Crème Brûlée at The Leela is right up there with the Dariole. Different dish, savoury and sweet, same sublime experience.

Now, the super hit. Fresh Burratina with organic honey-glazed cherry tomatoes. It’s the first Burrata I have had in a Bombay restaurant; soft, buttery, and you didn’t have to carve your way through a thickish rubbery outer layer. Creamy, on a bed of lime green basil oil, gentle morsels of sea salt. The cherry tomatoes were garden fresh, and the honey glaze gave it an extra pop.

We spoke to Executive Chef Aungshuman Chakraborty, who said that they source their Burrata from Gujarat, using a vendor who produces it on point, and to their exacting brief. The effort has paid off. The secret seems to be to get great Burrata and bring it up to the right temperature, not sling it out of the fridge.

He also told us that there is a balance, between sourcing the best local ingredients and importing black truffles or scallops, in order to maintain quality that is up to their standards.

On to the pastas. The Lobster Tripoline, came with a delicate foam, a delicious cream and cherry tomato sauce, and nuggets of delicately cooked lobster with a hint of a crispy outer layer.

The Black Truffle Rigatoni came with another delicious cream sauce. The truffle from Italy was as advertised – I was hoping that they would dramatically bring the actual truffle to the table and shave it on to the pasta. Maybe next time.

Both pastas looked beautiful, and invited pigging out. Phew. The mains were yet to come.

The Pan-seared Pomfret Meuniere with herb butter sauce was delicate, but did not have the drama of what had come before. I felt I could have had it anywhere. The poached asparagus was crisp and delicate, cut easily, and had a pleasant mouth feel.

The Balsamic-glazed Aussie Lamb Chop had delicious flavour, the Pinot Noir jus added the right hit of gooey richness. We asked for medium rare, it was more medium well. Maybe we had chatted too long before tucking in. Meat does keep cooking, long after it’s off the flame. Note to myself. Zip that lip.

The desserts provided a satisfying finale. The Baked Alaska looked like a pretty porcupine with spikes, and had an artist’s palette of colour splashed in tasty little dabs all over the plate. The tiramisu in a glass was classic.

We waddled out, in a happy haze, and made our way back to SoBo. Bombay airport now resembles a city, with an ample choice of good hotels and fine-dining. It’s good to see The Leela and Le Cirque hold their own – stalwarts who’ve kept pace, and evolved.