Even with all the new restaurants opening a dime and dozen in the Capital, the food at most of them leaves much to be desired. With copy-paste recipes, the menus are hardly original and the worst part is that even with the copied recipes many times the food simply doesn't taste good! La Roca, at the vibrant Worldmark 1 at Aerocity comes as a breath of fresh air. Its vibe lends itself perfectly to a rocking nightspot, yet, enough attention has been given to the food. In keeping with the current trend, there is plenty of choice of international fare, a good balance of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options and almost everything we tried tasted good on the palate and satiated the senses.
The restaurant opened almost a year ago as a global tapas bar. While the food was good, it has now gone up several notches and instead of just tapas it includes an equally extensive choice of world cuisine. We start healthy with the beetroot and kale salad. It sits on a bed of creamy goat cheese and candied walnuts are chopped so fine that they add an almost surprising crunch to the bite. Skipping the usual sushi options, we opt for the enoki mushroom nigiri next. It turns out to be a delightful vegetarian nigiri. While the mushrooms themselves add a dramatic visual appeal, the crunch from a light tempura batter becomes the highlight of this dish. While we can be wary of raw seafood dishes like tartare at some restaurants, we give the tuna tartare a try here since it is highly recommended by our server. And it turns out to be a rockstar. Tuna marinated in a tangy mustard sauce is served on a creamy guacamole and finally topped with tobiko caviar. Tobiko caviar maybe the "poor man's caviar" but if it's the right quality it adds a wonderful crunch and taste of the sea.
While the food is great so far, we decide to the test the offerings at the bar as well. It boasts all-craft alcohol and largely fresh and natural mixers - instead of added sugar or synthetic syrups the cocktails are made with honey water and cold pressed juices. The bar menu is even more extensive than the food with an array of classic cocktails, sangria bar, signature shots, craft cocktails, signature cocktails and the entire gamut of spirits, aperitifs, wines and beer.
Continuing with our gastronomic journey with dishes from across the world, the parmesan and broccoli arancini is wonderfully crunchy, non-greasy and deliciously cheesy when you bite into it. The Indonesian sambal oelek chicken is grilled to perfection and served on freshly baked pita bread. Next, salmon skewers show that this Norwegian fish adapts wonderfully to Indian flavours and cooking techniques as well. Salmon cubes are smeared with kasundi and chilli paste and chargrilled, lending it a wonderful smokiness from the tandoor. And these are only the appetisers! With such a variety on offer, there literally is something for everyone even if you go in a large group. We barely have any space left, but for the sake of our readers we try just one main - chargrilled chicken served with a rich tomato gravy and roti. The menu says that it's an Indo-British classic but in essence it is a deconstructed butter chicken that'll leave you licking your fingers.
You can round off your meal with churros con chocolate or tres leches, a light and fluffy cake soaked in three kinds of milk.
La Roca, Lower Ground Floor, Worldmark 1, Aerocity, New Delhi.
Timings: 12 noon to 1am.
