ITP Indian Travel Places: Food, Travel, Tourism Business Events and Trade Shows
Restaurant Name: Kakapo, Mehrauli, New Delhi
Phone: +919899118943, +919899118944
Address: House 5/5, 2nd Floor, Ward 1, Kalka Das Marg, Mehrauli, New Delhi 110030 India
Time: 12:00 noon – 01:00 AM
Meals for two: Rs. 2,000
Cuisines: Continental, Sushi, Asian, Desserts
Facilities: Home Delivery, Indoor Seating, Table booking recommended
Kakapo, Mehrauli, New Delhi: Decor
Post lockdown, the entire restaurant industry of Delhi seems to have moved to Mehrauli. Whereas the rest of the city see rather conservative figures, especially at lunch time, here, in the dozen or so restaurants, cafes and bars, you will encounter full houses at both meals, so do be prepared. The good news is that open spaces and outdoor seating are more prevalent here than in any other part of town, even though the sheer volume of diners makes up for all the open-air terraces! It doesn’t help that Kakapo is run by very successful restauranteurs who operate Townhall, so Kakapo has run to full house ever since its inception. Conveniently, there’s an elevator to the second floor and the modest sized L-shaped verandah affords an allgreen expanse of the Green Belt, as far as the eye can stretch! Kakapo is the name of a rare bird native to New Zealand. The all glass walls, leatherite-covered chairs and terrazzo flooring look smart enough but do little to absorb noise: Required when there’s a full house!
Kakapo, Mehrauli, New Delhi: Food
Stick to the Asian dishes and you won’t go wrong. My motoyaki consisting of a scallop and minced crab topped with togarashi crumble (₹ 745) was a bite-sized beauty of a starter that was blow-torched at the table. Unlike its Californian counterpart, this one was served in a bowl rather than on an oyster shell, but the seafood-rich, multi-textured morsel was the sort of delicate, savoury starter you could expect in a Japanese chef-run eatery somewhere in Kyoto. Thai pomelo salad with black rice, tamarind, palm sugar, fried onions, bird’s eye chillies and cashew nuts (₹ 545) was expertly made with all the elements adding textural and visual appeal. Unagi and prawn sushi (₹ 1095) was a generous helping that would serve three or four people. The ingredients were chosen and blended expertly, and if I thought that the rice was too well-cooked, the restaurant’s clientele seem perfectly comfortable with it. I felt that the small plates menu could have been divided more efficiently into sections: As it is, it contains western and Asian choices as well as a lone Indian favourite.
Plus & Minus:
The Josper grilled rock lobster with lemon myrtle sauce (₹ 1,945) is excellent value for money. I was not, however, able to figure why there was a rather pedestrian fish and chips on a menu like this!
