Tres — Restaurant in Delhi

Had a dinner for two with drinks and appetizer. Spent about Rs 8.5K ($100) including 10% Service Charge and VAT. The prices approach those of a mid-range US East Coast restaurant, so we would expect decent quality and fine service when in a Delhi setting at this cost.

The restaurant has an excellent bread basket, one of the better ones we have had in Delhi - served with a flavored spreading butter and a beetroot relish (salty and had a kick to it!) We enjoyed it enough to get a second basket.

We had the goat cheese bavarois as an appetizer which is served in a round plattter with a pattern and soft foamy bread, citrus and flaky bread paper. Quite nice and a good find in the Delhi restaurant scene.

Cocktails (Delhi 75 and Jagged Storm) were good. Delhi 75 is served with a half-coating of the glass using a flower-based powder, which was tasty accent to the flavors of the drink. Jagged Storm, supposed to have jaggery flavors, lacked a strong note of this element and was not as Caribbean-esque as the menu suggested. While we originally wanted red wine (a pinot noir) to pair with our meal, the wine by the glass selection is quite limited and features mostly mid- to low-quality wines which would not have graced a fine dining table in the US. The bottle of the wine we selected had been open a while and the taste was not worth the Rs 800/glass we would have paid. Perhaps Tres should consider a sommelier consultant or a better wine importer? They could do well to see how Smokehouse Deli serves good wine in Delhi by the glass at an affordable price.

For our mains, we had the salmon and the lamb shoulder. Both were well cooked and nicely presented. The potato puree served with the salmon had a strong tartar-based zest which was delicious. The lamb was tender and seemed as slow-cooked as advertised. The sauce was not overpowering and may be mild for an Indian palate. More sauce was however offered which is good for those who like their meat well flavored. The pokchoy the lamb was served with was nicely seared and had a salty zest to it. Overall, if you're looking for almost-fine Western-style dining, Tres nearly gets there. The servers are not as well trained as their uniforms and flourishes initially seem to suggest but this could improve with time. They miss out on the minor details (like refreshing the table water bottle, etc.).

Decor-wise it is nothing much but it will do. The music got a bit too loud during parts of the meal, which a fine dining establishment should avoid (if they must have music at all!). The small round tables are also tricky to manage with multiple plates, cutlery and stemware and quite a risk if you're also placing your phone somewhere!

I would consider revisiting to try some of their...

Located in Lodhi Colony, right near khan market, tres is a modern restaurant with unique take on modern dishes.

We dined on a Friday evening and pre booked a table for 2, for confirming your reservation you must pay 500₹ per head beforehand , which would alter be adjusted into your bill.

The restaurant itself is quite small and quaint with limited seating , one downside is it definitely feels a little cramped and claustrophobic, no privacy or peace as such.

The tables did not seem big enough to comfortably be able to dine , and could fit no more than 3 dishes at once.

The ambience was quite excellent, the music I was relaxed and did not hinder conversations, and was not overly loud. The lights were dim and perfect for the evening .

The service was kind and attentive, a little too much at times.

We started off with their complimentary bread basket which came with an assortment of freshly baked breads and whipped butter and a deliciously sweet beet root relish, we devoured it and took seconds while waiting for our mains to arrive.

We were focused on the food hence avoided drinks for the evening.

We got 4 mains to share, the morel risotto, salmon, chicken involintini and the tenderloin steak. The food was delicious and lived up to our expectations, however the cost of the dishes is quite steep, especially considering the small portions ,

The risotto was very good, topped with Parmesan crisp and lathered with white truffle oil, I was very dissapoint Ed that they no longer serve shaved black truffle on the dish, which was in fact the main reason I wanted to come to tres, a huge let down .

The salmon was very very small compared to the images I had seen on many of the reviews , and especially considering the price , the fillet could have been larger , but none the less very well cooked .

The chicken was a hit, perfectly succulent and juicy, served with puffed rice , satisfied our pallet.

Our favourite was the tenderloin steak, we asked for it to be cooked medium- well, and it turned out perfect, we were served 2 varieties of mustards and truffle sauce to accompany the steak which complimented the flavours of the meat.

The biggest disappointment was the dessert. For 1300₹ you get 3 , almost bite size servings of desserts, the sorbets half melted by the time it’s served to you, the gan ace barely visible under the huge pieces of oranges taking up the space on the plate instead of the actual dessert. Would definitely not recommend and tasting platters, go for the regular dessert,

Overall good experience with the food, even though it took far too long for few dishes to arrive. Would visit again but not getting dessert...

THE DRINK: The complimentary immunity boosting beverage was a pallet-tiggling mix of turmeric, ginger, pepper, honey and orange. The sweetness and tang of the citrus elements were in balanced harmony with the sharper spices the drink entaled. All in all, it made for a uniquely refreshing, tasty and healthy start to the meal. I also found it to be an unintentional pallet cleanser between courses.

BREAD BASKET: An assorted bread-basket was promptly placed at the table soon after the food order was taken. It was served with herbed butter and a sweet onion chutney rather than the standard balsamic and olive oil. All breads seem to be baked in-house. The multi-grain choosings were by far the best of the lot. As a picky bread-eater, I can say that none out of the four offerings were overly-bready breads. Apart from the afformentioned multi-grain bread, and to some extent the crusty exterior and chewy core of a second variety, the others in the basket were ordinary. It was thus, appropriately, on the house.

MAIN COURSE: The main course was an order of steak with truffle sauce and garlic tiger prawns with grilled smoke praprika and split yellow peas. The steak was not cooked evenly to the core as per my request for it to be medium-welldone. Having said that, the meat was supple and juicy. The truffle sauce gave it a slight edge over an ordinary tenderloin steak that is a staple at any European pub. The size and freshness of the tiger prawns were of a surprising standard considering the landlocked geography of Delhi. The uniqueness of the dish was exemplified by the base on which the prawns lay. The split yellow chickpeas, vegetable linguini and puffed wheat grains made for a wholesome yet light-palleted meal. However, the smoked paprika was lost amongst other competing flavours. The presentation and plating of both dishes were on point, and friends would be envious looking at your instagram shots of the food.

PEACH CAKE: The warm plum-cherry-ginger spiced crumble on which the caramelized peach cake lay was more eventful than the main cake itself. This, despite the fact that the crumble was neither warm as the name suggests, nor was the fruit in it fresh. The use of canned fruit is not beffiting of a restaurant of this calliber. The cake itself was akin to the skill of a home-maker's vanilla tea cake. The caramelization was also MIA. The saving grace, if any, was the home churnned smoked vanilla and pepper ice-cream which was way too little in anycase. The best part of the desert was the last bite of it that we washed down with an order of machhiato.

OVERALL: All in all, the two main courses made the experience...