The brand calls itself the paradise of armchair travellers. With high-end classy decor, Bombay Brasserie serves up food from all over the Indian sub-continent with a twist; mixing ingredients no one would think of and creating tastes that might confuse a foodie but still surprise them.

Bombay Brasserie has launched a new High-Chai Menu, which is served between 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm — comprising a range of snacks and munchies with ingredients sourced from across the nation. It serves up India on a plate!

Shikha Nath, culinary and brand manager, Bombay Brasserie, said that the inspiration came from the timing itself. “The whole menu was thought of as a filler. You see, the time from 3:30 to 7:30 pm is when most restaurants close before commencing the dinner service. We wanted to remain open all day,” she said. And thus the High-Chai Menu was born.

The speciality of the High-Chai Menu, however, is the Pauwa Cocktail — an interesting new range of cocktails, with flavours from Chennai to Patiala, served with bar snacks from different states. Nath said that these cocktails came about as they were exploring different ingredients from across the country like rose, curry leaves, mangoes and oranges.

The best of these cocktails is the Jaipur Gulabo. The vodka-based rosy drink is a play on the rose sherbet. Packed with just the right amount of sweetness and punch, the cocktail is easily the most well-balanced drink on the Pauwa menu. In addition, the Kollywood Pop (rum-based with lime) and Nagpuri Santra (vodka-based with orange and basil) are also worth mentioning.

As far as the food menu is concerned, there are two dishes that cannot be missed. First of them is the Irani Kheema Maska Pau. A twist on the traditional Mumbai Vada Pau, the filling is made with traditional Irani kheema from the streets of Mumbai and served with green chutney. It is one of the best kheema paus anyone can get in Kolkata.

The second dish is the Gunpowder Potatoes. One of the most exquisitely unique dishes, it is a bowl of cooked potatoes wrapped in spicy-sweet gunpowder, straight from the homes of Tamil Nadu. The curry leaves in the potatoes give the dish a beautiful southern flavour and the subtle sweetness in the spicy gunpowder balances the dish out perfectly.

Instead of pairing the classic gunpowder with the more common idlis, the High-Chai Menu goes for crisp potatoes. “It was all about the ingredients. We were looking for bold flavours and we just tried a one-off with the potatoes,” said Nath.

Other notable dishes are the Paneer Lifafa, which is essentially paneer mixed with herbs wrapped in an envelope; the Lal Qila Tikka Roll, a play on the famous kathi rolls in Kolkata mixed with beetroots and barbecued chicken pieces; and the Chowpatty Special Bhel.

The restaurant, located on the fifth floor of Quest Mall has classy plating and excellent service on top of the unique range of the menu. A meal for two (with alcohol) would cost around Rs 2,000.