The new year brings good news for seafood lovers! Yourroots, the BF Block eatery, has introduced a new menu to bring to your platter everything from crabs to calamari.
“We have been serving continental and Chinese cuisines ever since we opened mid-last year but customers had been repeatedly seeking seafood as it isn’t easily available in Salt Lake,” says Shibayan Mazumdar, one of the partners behind the venture.
So they have rolled out starters like Crispy Fried Calamari, Golden Fried Prawn and Goan Prawn Stuffed Squid (Rs 450). “For this last one, we’re stuffing minced prawn into baby squid tubes. The dish is hot and sweet, cooked with vindaloo spices,” says chef Tanmoy Ghosh.
The Fish Florentine is a take on lasagna with layers of spinach, cheese, bechamel sauce and slices of bekti. “It has a mild lime flavour,” says continental chef, Samiran Thanda.
They also serve whole Baked Crab, and upon request, remove the shell so you can relish it without using of hammers and pliers. “We had initially planned an aquarium out of which guests could have chosen the crabs and squids they wanted cooked, but it was taking up too much space,” says Mazumdar. “We might get it later.”
Don’t miss the Seafood Sizzler that brings together bekti, crab, squid and a handful of French Fries at Rs 480. The Mixed Grilled Sizzler is also a sumptuous fare with grilled prawns, bekti, chicken, herbed rice, sauteed vegetables and a sunny side up. “People of the township love exotic meats but are starved of choice. When we started out we were wondering whether or not to keep pork on our menu but now pork outsells even chicken! We're sure seafood will do well too,” Mazumdar says.
The restaurant is also bullish on single origin coffee, tea and mocktails using coffee and tea. “We’ve introduced coffee from Columbia, Sumatra and two places of Karnataka. We're keeping the highest quality beans and not only are customers relishing their cuppa here but are taking home customised blends too. Even other cafes and restaurants have started buying from us,” he says.
Among teas, they are keeping first and second flush Makaibari and Castleton, green tea (that’s rich in antioxidants and promotes weight loss), oolong tea (that rejuvenates like no other) and Irani tea (that is served with cream, non-sweetened condensed milk and seven- eight spices). They even have Kashmiri Kahwa —green tea with spices like saffron and dry fruits like almonds. “It's great to keep warm in winter,” Mazumdar says.
What's sad is that some customers can't appreciate their beverages the way they are supposed to be had. “They insist on having first flush with milk, which ruins the flavour. So we are pushing mocktails based on Oolong tea, Columbian coffee and even Japanese Matcha tea, that's one of the most expensive ones in the world,” he says. Matcha Latte costs Rs 280.
