Latest news with #EkBar
Calgary Herald
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Hum: Ek Bar trades tasting menus for dry ice, gold leaf and modern Indian dishes that wow
Article content Larger servings of curries here were all worth ordering again, ranging from the relatively mild Keralan cod moilee ($39) to the zingier Goan shrimp curry ($35) to the chili-forward but complex Northern Indian nihari lamb shank ($35) to my favourite, the dark, earthy and peppery oxtail curry ($34). Article content Can't go to an Indian restaurant without ordering butter chicken? Ek Bar's bells-and-whistles rendition ($29) might top your fave. Its white meat is atypically moist and definitely seasoned due to brining, while time in the tandoor adds a touch of smokiness to the chicken. The sauce is fresh, rich and full-on. Article content Designated 'chef Sarath's Hyderabadi biryani' on the menu, chicken biryani ($32) at Ek Bar is a carryover from Mohan's previous Ottawa restaurants, Vivaan and NH 44. Fans of the 35-year-old self-taught chef will be glad, as will fans of fluffy, delicious rice and vibrantly spiced chicken. Article content Article content Two desserts (each $18) by young pastry chef Diksha Verma made for strong finishes to our meals. Shahi tukda was almost tiramisu-like, with a rose- and cardamom syrup-soaked caramelized saffron brioche, vanilla-condensed milk crème and a pistachio crumble among its attractions. Entirely different, novel and beguiling was a plate of rose ice cream, powdered fennel seed sponge cake, and chocolate mousse flavoured by perfume-y betel leaf, with cherries, syrup and a white chocolate crumble to add some unifying sweetness. Article content Cocktails here, made by servers, were well-concocted, smooth and sophisticated. They, and beer, would be better picks than more perfunctory wine choices. Article content Article content Service was a little uneven. One server, while friendly and attentive, seemed a little undertrained, and our leftover biryani, which she'd packed, didn't make it back to us before we left. A different server did a better, more polished job. Article content Article content Ultimately, Ek Bar managed to erase my bias in favour of Kathā. I like them both a lot, but for their respective great dishes and aspirations. Article content Comparison aside, Ek Bar makes some excellent, distinguished food out of the gate and it has tremendous potential to be better still. Together, Bhagwani and Mohan could reach the culinary highs and prominence that Mohan couldn't on his own, and restaurant-lovers in Ottawa and beyond should take note.
Vancouver Sun
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Hum: Ek Bar trades tasting menus for dry ice, gold leaf and modern Indian dishes that wow
225 Preston St., 613-600-9201, Open: Sunday and Tuesday 4:30 to 10 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday 4:30 to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 4:30 to 11 p.m., closed Monday Prices: small plates $19 to $29; larger plates $29 to $39; cocktails $20 to $23 Access: Ramp to front door I went last week to Ek Bar, the modern Indian restaurant that opened in late May on Preston Street, biased ever so slightly against it. I wanted to like it less than Kath ā , the restaurant that it has replaced. I was a big fan of Kathā because its young chef-owner, Teegavarapu Sarath Mohan, was making a solid case for Indian fine dining with unique and intriguing tasting menus. But the restaurant, which Mohan opened in the fall of 2023, was arguably too rarified for its market and wasn't embraced by enough restaurant-goers in a city teeming with more traditional and more established South Asian restaurants. After 16 months in business, Mohan closed Kathā at the end of January this year. Discover the best of B.C.'s recipes, restaurants and wine. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of West Coast Table will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Ek Bar, however, is a sequel to Kathā that comes with plenty of intrigue of its own. Its food is elevated, if not tasting-menu fancy. Yes, butter chicken and chicken biryani are available, and they are both excellent. But Ek Bar's menu is much more curated than what's seen at more conventional Indian restaurants. It cherry-picks inspirations from the expanse of India's culinary diversity, and it prioritizes small plates, ideally shared by two people, over larger ones. More cosmopolitan items — goat tacos, naan pizzas, duck bao buns — take Indian flavours and influences to new places. But while tacos and pizza might sound downmarket, signifiers of luxury (truffles, caviar, gold leaf) dot some Ek Bar dishes. While Kathā offered wine pairings, Ek Bar proposes cocktails. Also, a top-to-bottom-to-kitchen renovation turned Kathā, which means 'story' in Sanskrit, into Ek Bar, which means 'once upon a time' in Hindi. Now, the walls are white, not black. The dining room that seats 36 feels not only brighter, but also more posh, thanks to soft, deluxe chairs and robin-egg blue banquettes. Where Kathā had a chef's counter in front of an open kitchen, Ek Bar has a four-seat bar hiding its kitchen. Perhaps most interestingly, Mohan runs the kitchen at Ek Bar, although it's not his concept. What happened? Toronto-based chef and restaurateur Hemant Bhagwani, a globe-trotting culinary industry veteran who has opened five dozen restaurants in multiple cities, met Mohan at a High Commission of India function in Ottawa in May 2024. After Bhagwani learned Mohan would be closing Kathā, he proposed that he take over its space, and the plan that led to Ek Bar was quickly put in motion. Also, Bhagwani proposed that Mohan take the helm in the kitchen. Now, Mohan has shares in Ek Bar, so that he and Bhagwani are co-owners and the menu, overseen by Bhagwani, involves input from both of them. During two dinners at Ek Bar, I had dishes that wowed me with bold flavours and obvious craftsmanship, plus a few dishes that, while good, needed small tweaks or maybe a bit more punchiness. Speaking of punchy flavours, it's worth noting that Ek Bar's dishes are made as Bhagwani and Mohan want them to be, not dialed up or down spice-wise to match a customer's preferences. My fellow diners and I liked the most assertively and even aggressively flavourful dishes, but if your palate prefers more subdued items, more power to you. At one dinner, raj kachori ($19) was a generous, invigorating starter. Inspired by chaat, a popular Indian street food, the dish consisted of two thin, crisp tarts filled with a mix of spiced potatoes, lentils, pickled pomegranate seeds and more, topped artfully with the three sauces that define chaat — sweetened yoghurt, tamarind sauce and cilantro-mint sauce. Each tart came paired with a deep-fried shell called pani puri, in which we poured, as directed, some potently spiced cilantro-mint water that made our palates stand at attention. In addition to its gustatory stimulations, that dish made an eye-popping entrance. It sat on a platter of dry ice, which our server turned into a smoke show with a pour of water. Bhagwani, who operated restaurants in Australia and Dubai in the 1990s before he came to Canada, isn't afraid of bringing some social-media-friendly theatricality to Ottawa. At my other dinner, six PEI oysters ($19) arrived with the same dry-ice flourish. Happily, the briny succulence of those Fiona's Fury specimens, bolstered by a well-calibrated curry leaf ponzu mignonette, justified the extravagance. Even without dry ice, all of Ek Bar's plates were gorgeous, such as its yellowtail nimbu pani ($24). This crudo takes it name and cue from an Indian spin on lemonade, something that Bhagwani told me he grew up drinking. Lacking that sentimental backstory, we still enjoyed the dish, but thought it needed to make a bigger, perhaps saltier, impression, especially in a city where the iconic tuna crudo at Supply and Demand sets the bar for raw fish dishes. We wanted to love the duck bao (two for $19) unreservedly. South Indian-flavoured duck confit in a Chinese steamed bun ought to be fantastic. Ek Bar's bao were tasty, but the meat was a little dry and the dish lacked a bit of acidic counterpoint. Maybe the cucumbers could have been pickled? I'm picking nits here, but bear in mind that in Ottawa, Gongfu Bao's buns cast a big shadow. We did like the beer chasers that came with the bao — a mini pairing, you could say. Wee beers also came with the shrimp balchao on deep-fried toast ($19), and they cleansed our palates nicely after the pungent pleasures of these shrimp-y morsels, which made me think of an Indian spin on Hong Kong prawn toast. But the award for best chaser goes to the savoury miso mushroom chai that offset some alluringly spiced corn 'kebabs' nestled in a bed of creamed corn ($19). A starkly plated but toothsome lamb chop ($21 for one) slathered with spices was a knockout, or even a triple knockout, given its three outstanding sauces — fenugreek, turmeric-laced Bengali mustard, and tamarind. Larger servings of curries here were all worth ordering again, ranging from the relatively mild Keralan cod moilee ($39) to the zingier Goan shrimp curry ($35) to the chili-forward but complex Northern Indian nihari lamb shank ($35) to my favourite, the dark, earthy and peppery oxtail curry ($34). Can't go to an Indian restaurant without ordering butter chicken? Ek Bar's bells-and-whistles rendition ($29) might top your fave. Its white meat is atypically moist and definitely seasoned due to brining, while time in the tandoor adds a touch of smokiness to the chicken. The sauce is fresh, rich and full-on. Designated 'chef Sarath's Hyderabadi biryani' on the menu, chicken biryani ($32) at Ek Bar is a carryover from Mohan's previous Ottawa restaurants, Vivaan and NH 44. Fans of the 35-year-old self-taught chef will be glad, as will fans of fluffy, delicious rice and vibrantly spiced chicken. Two desserts (each $18) by young pastry chef Diksha Verma made for strong finishes to our meals . Shahi tukda was almost tiramisu-like, with a rose- and cardamom syrup-soaked caramelized saffron brioche, vanilla-condensed milk crème and a pistachio crumble among its attractions. Entirely different, novel and beguiling was a plate of rose ice cream, powdered fennel seed sponge cake, and chocolate mousse flavoured by perfume-y betel leaf, with cherries, syrup and a white chocolate crumble to add some unifying sweetness. Cocktails here, made by servers, were well-concocted, smooth and sophisticated. They, and beer, would be better picks than more perfunctory wine choices. Service was a little uneven. One server, while friendly and attentive, seemed a little undertrained, and our leftover biryani, which she'd packed, didn't make it back to us before we left. A different server did a better, more polished job. Ultimately, Ek Bar managed to erase my bias in favour of Kathā. I like them both a lot, but for their respective great dishes and aspirations. Comparison aside, Ek Bar makes some excellent, distinguished food out of the gate and it has tremendous potential to be better still. Together, Bhagwani and Mohan could reach the culinary highs and prominence that Mohan couldn't on his own, and restaurant-lovers in Ottawa and beyond should take note. phum@ For more smart picks and offbeat stories from around the city, subscribe to Out of Office , our weekly newsletter on local arts, food and things to do.
Ottawa Citizen
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Ottawa Citizen
Hum: Ek Bar trades tasting menus for dry ice, gold leaf and modern Indian dishes that wow
Article content Larger servings of curries here were all worth ordering again, ranging from the relatively mild Keralan cod moilee ($39) to the zingier Goan shrimp curry ($35) to the chili-forward but complex Northern Indian nihari lamb shank ($35) to my favourite, the dark, earthy and peppery oxtail curry ($34). Article content Article content Can't go to an Indian restaurant without ordering butter chicken? Ek Bar's bells-and-whistles rendition ($29) might top your fave. Its white meat is atypically moist and definitely seasoned due to brining, while time in the tandoor adds a touch of smokiness to the chicken. The sauce is fresh, rich and full-on. Article content Designated 'chef Sarath's Hyderabadi biryani' on the menu, chicken biryani ($32) at Ek Bar is a carryover from Mohan's previous Ottawa restaurants, Vivaan and NH 44. Fans of the 35-year-old self-taught chef will be glad, as will fans of fluffy, delicious rice and vibrantly spiced chicken. Article content Article content Two desserts (each $18) by young pastry chef Diksha Verma made for strong finishes to our meals. Shahi tukda was almost tiramisu-like, with a rose- and cardamom syrup-soaked caramelized saffron brioche, vanilla-condensed milk crème and a pistachio crumble among its attractions. Entirely different, novel and beguiling was a plate of rose ice cream, powdered fennel seed sponge cake, and chocolate mousse flavoured by perfume-y betel leaf, with cherries, syrup and a white chocolate crumble to add some unifying sweetness. Article content Article content Service was a little uneven. One server, while friendly and attentive, seemed a little undertrained, and our leftover biryani, which she'd packed, didn't make it back to us before we left. A different server did a better, more polished job. Article content Article content Ultimately, Ek Bar managed to erase my bias in favour of Kathā. I like them both a lot, but for their respective great dishes and aspirations.
