Masque — Restaurant in Mumbai

I treated myself a little ahead of my 45th Birthday with a 10-course chef's tasting lunch menu booking at Masque.  It is India's first, very ingredient-driven fine dine restaurant that celebrates Indian cuisine through it's diverse tradition with modern innovative techniques and treatment to ingredients that are lesser known and native elements given a very international twist.

My first course was a crab puranpoli, served in a tart form with a crab mousse head, a delicious bite that set the note on what is to come.  The steamed prawn momo wrapped in a thin slice of jicama, the mexican turnip was superbly made, the crisp turnip against the sweet prawn center was absolutely stunning.  The charred corn in creamy makkai sauce with crispy mathri, topped with disintegrated pomello flesh.  As I scopped the sweet creamy corn base with charred corn grains adding to a smoky flavour, using the mathri, the bit was cut sharply by the sweet tartness of the pomello, a beautiful celebration of corn and a complete flavour bomb.  This was probably my most favourite among the first three courses I tasted.

True to the Mumbai tradition, the next course was a pani puri, but it had inspiration from the peruvian ceviche, contained cured baramundi cubes, with rosella with a sour Pani and crispy poori shells. It was a beautifully innovative dish that was fresh, refreshing and a very stunning take on the humble Pani poori elevating it to a global audience while surprising fellow Indians.

The barbecued pork cubes carefully covered in amaranth leaves on a bed of crispy coriander rice was a perfect play of textures and flavours, the charred meaty pork cubes were perfect and it was a stunning dish.

The Duck Pepper Fry Sausage lay on a bed of a delicious sauce, atop a mini Malabar Parotta, decorated with mustard greens.  To be eaten folded like a taco, it was a delicious explosion of flavours which had a wonderful hint of mustard.  It was a literal dance of flavours and textures on the palate and it just nailed this course, which I thought was possibly my favourite.

As a tradition, here in Masque, I was invited into the kitchen to not just observe the chefs in action, but to interact with one of the chefs who also handed me a palate cleanser of sorts, with a sorbet made with some kachi kairi, the raw mango, with thin squares of aam papad on top, and a coriander oil drizzle.  A fantastic palate cleanser, the sharp and tart sorbet prepared me for a wonderful set of courses to follow.

Back at my table, I was served my last course before dessert, in true traditional Indian style, a Thali.  A creamy savoury lamb bhutwa, a perfectly cooking ladyfish on a flavourful creamy grainy green sauce, with sesame seeds, a tandoori soft shell crab, served with ladi pav bread and a black garlic pulao, a perfectly amalgamation of flavours, texture truly representing the diversity of India in a matte gold kansa, bronze thali.

I kickstarted with the tandoori soft shell crab, that was such a delight to suck in all the flavours of the sea, with tandoori flavours perfectly infused.  The lady fish was just cooked right with flamed scales and with that grainy green sauce, it was absolute perfection, or so I thought till I tasted the lamb dish.

The lamb bhutwa a pahadi dish from the mountains of India, had wonderfully cooked lamb chunks in a neon yellow gravy which was simply a delight to indulge.  It was very rich and the ladi pav was a perfect weapon of choice to soak in all the meaty goodness of this course, The flavour on the black garlic pulao was so intense that I enjoyed it as it is

Final course dessert, aptly named Cacao was served in the empty half of a cocoa bean shell, filled with a chocolate mousse with a hard chocolate top, with a quenelle of intense chocolate ice cream, served on a bed of cacao nibs.

The meal here at Masque was a memory to cherish and an experience to remember...

Update March 18, 2025 Please just check out our other reviews of Masque as nothing has changed. This is still a terrific restaurant with very creative food with many unusual but complimentary ingredients. This last visit (March 15, 2025) the restaurant was very busy and we got off to a bit of a slow start but once we did it was great. Unfortunately we missed Mirelle the manager who was off that evening and is always charming and helpful. As in below, Hriday was his ever knowledgeable and fun self with the wines and Bipin was everywhere at once and hugely helpful. Shruti made our "kitchen" course memorable and I finally got the name of the bartender that makes the best martini in India, Zimik! We fly across 12.5 time zones to visit India and always go to Mumbai for the sole purpose of eating at Masque. A real treat for elegant and magical food and great wines. To all the crew at Masque: See you next March!!

Update February 8, 2024 We ate again last night at Masque and it was every bit as good and creative as the last time we were there. See below. Every course, every bite, every sip of wine was terrific from start to finish but for this review rather than talk about each course we decided to celebrate those who make it happen, out front and in the kitchen. We were a bit worried when Anshaj the previous GM moved on but we found that the very capable and engaging Manager, Mirelle, was every bit as good (with help from Asst Mgr Ishaan). Everything about the service is professional and choreographed perfectly. As mentioned below, Sommelier Hriday's wine pairings are exquisitely complementary to the food and he is great fun to chat with for wine lovers like ourselves. After being welcomed by Dianah, Bipin and Anil keep things moving smoothly out front. Viraj and Varad make sure the food arrives on time and is coordinated with the wine course. We are derelict in our duty in that we did not get the bartenders names, who make a mean martini. Now on to the unsung heroes in the kitchen. Our hats are off and all our appreciation goes out to Chef Varun, Chef Murali. Chef Sunny, Chef Anshul, Chef Aniket and Chef Ritika (whom I mistook for the always cheery and capable Tanvi). We thank you all for making Masque the greatest dining experience in Mumbai and maybe India. We fly to Mumbai for the sole reason of eating at Masque and have never regretted it.

February 28, 2023 Had dinner at Masque with an Indian mate of mine three nights ago. He had had their pop up meal in Bengaluru a while back and thought it was excellent. Our expectations were high as we flew to Mumbai for the sole purpose of eating at this restaurant. We were not disappointed. First off we were made to feel immediately welcome by Anshaj the GM and the Manager Mirelle. They were entirely engaging from start to finish to the point we bought an extra bottle of wine at the end of the meal so we could chat with them about food and wine and all things interesting. The food from start to finish was terrific. Every course had a blend of ingredients that complimented each other perfectly. Our favorites were Makkai Mathri, seaweed Ponkh, the BBQ pork and the lamb dish and the Xacuti with poached egg and ladi pao. We both got the wine pairing which we thought well selected and matched. I often don't get the pairing but was glad I did. For one course I thought another wine would pair better and I ordered that. The orange wine in the pairing turned out to be a much better choice. Hats off to Hriday the sommelier. Bringing guests into the kitchen for a course is a very nice touch where we were ably helped by Tanvi and Abhishek one of the chefs who later came to the table to explain a course. The whole experience from start to finish was terrific. Its expensive, if you are as fond of wine as we are, but the food itself is exceptional value and worth...

"Exceptional service, innovative and unique dishes, interesting cocktails, relaxing industrial ambience, and highly expensive!" ...

Food: Helmed by Mr. Prateek Sadhu (with stints at Alinea, Noma, etc.) in the past, this restaurant offers a true Michelin star experience! This is one of the finest and memorable culinary experiences one could possibly have in Mumbai or perhaps even India, thanks to the seasonal and ingredient-driven menu here! On this day, they showcased many elements from the cuisines of Kashmir/Ladakh and Kerala.

We had the Chef's 10-Course Tasting Menu (Non-Vegetarian). We also got 4 cocktails: 5 Pollen, Coral, Gamble, and Nekaseru. Each dish was presented beautifully. There was also one course which was supposed to be experienced at the kitchen. We got a good tour of the kitchen thanks to that!

The starters were: one with drumsticks, one with corn, and one with duck/achaar. I really loved the one with achaar and duck, it was a bit spicy and flavorful. We then had a cactus and cucumber salad.

We then were presented with tender BBQ Coorg Pork with crispy ambemohar rice at the top. Next on the menu was creamy kakka (clam meat) tortellinis in sour and spicy rasam. This was my friend's favourite on the menu! Next up was a Rajasthani king's treat with quail and a flaky parotta-like flatbread. This was my favourite on the menu. The crispy texture of the parotta complemented the soft and tender texture of quail. Delicious! At the kitchen, we had a humble preparation of pomelo, kokum, and ginger ale sorbet as our palate cleanser.

The last main was lamb, onion gravy, and sheermal, except in this case, the sheermal was more fluffy like a pav. The onion gravy though not fermented had the depth of a fermented one.

For desserts, we had one with mulberries and nendran bananas. The next dessert was for chocolate lovers: a brilliant chocolate ice cream infused with the aromatic gondhoraj or kaffir lime that transported me to Thailand briefly. The final dessert was hazelnut and Pondicherry dark chocolate kitkat and sea buckthorns with poppy seeds.

Out of the four cocktails, we especially loved the Nekaseru for its tartness thanks to the passion fruit in it. And we also loved the 5 Pollen (campari, hibiscus, sparkling rosé). ... Service: The best service I have seen so far! The staff were pretty knowledgeable, polite and friendly, interactive, and explained all the dishes enthusiastically. I had a lot of fun interacting with them. They even replaced the dish with drumsticks feeling it might have gotten soggy without us telling a word. ... Ambience: Very warm and relaxing, the décor screams industrial. Especially loved the music which was very mellow and elegant! They have two settings: one being regular and the other being meant for cocktails/drinks called 'The Living Room'. ... What could have been better for me: Highly expensive, could have been a little more affordable for the ordinary people. Burns a hole in your wallet! The portion size though understandable is small as well. Expected an oyster preparation or slightly more exotic albeit non-seasonal ingredients such as scallops or sea urchins! The cocktails are extremely expensive as well! No dining discounts/offers for those who booked a table directly by contacting the restaurant! Better to book your tables through EazyDiner for discounts. ...

Any serious foodie/gourmand who loves fine dining ought to visit this place! If you would like to experience something new, innovative, unique, and memorable, head here without a second thought! This restaurant has inspired me a lot and taught me a lot about regional ingredients and Indian food in general. Visiting Masque has made me want to visit other similar restaurants such as Indian Accent!

I will be back here one day, hungry and...