The French Wave

The entrance to Rara Avis is a discrete door hidden in a bustling street of Greater Kailash IIs M-block market.

The entrance to Rara Avis is a discrete door hidden in a bustling street of Greater Kailash IIs M-block market. The French eatery run by expats Jerome and Laurent is tiny,comprising a rubicund dining room,dimly lit,with soft jazz echoing through the space. The furniture is rustic wooden unpolished tables and wonderfully quaint chairs. Either Jerome or Laurent welcome you at the door and usher you to your seat.

For our first course,we decide to go with the Chaud and Froid Ocean,a warm seafood salad on a bed of cold lettuce and hot vinaigrette. The seafood consisted prawns (with tails intact) and baby octopus,while the greens comprised ice-berg,radicchio and rocket leaves. If you love seafood,as we do,this is a perfect starter for the summer. The prawns,octopi and lettuce,soaked in a lime vinaigrette,go perfectly well together. Our one reservation was the inclusion of rocket leaves,which perhaps become excessively bitter when combined with the octopus.

After fortifying our grey cells,we decide to harden our arteries and go for the Assiette Du Boucher,a platter comprising pork sausage,mutton sausage,pork chops,lamb chops,chicken breast and tenderloin,accompanied by merguez (think French ratatouille). The meats were accompanied by aioli,Louisiana hot sauce and French fries. The platter was delicious,each protein standing magnificently by itself. The pork products were particularly excellent. The mutton sausages were really spicy and went fabulously with the aioli. The tenderloin,perhaps as a nod to the Indian palate,was well done and quite good.

The final course is an Alssacienne Flammenkeuche,a variation of pizza or bread from the German speaking French region of Alsace. The classical dish comprises bacon,onions and cheese gratinated on a crisp bread. We relish it,even as we court cardiac arrest.

For dessert,we decide to stick to the basics and order a crème caramel,usually an acid test for a restaurants dessert section. Its so easy for the custard to collapse or to be excessively eggy,among several other things that can go wrong. Rara Avis gets everything right,the custard is delicate,subtly flavoured and the caramel caramelised to the tee. It was sweet,with just the slightest hint of bitterness.

All in all,while Rara Avis may not be much of a boon to vegetarians (there are about five veggie dishes),it is heaven-sent for the lovers of French cuisine.

Address: M-27,Second Floor,M-block Market,Greater Kailash II

Meal for two: Rs 2,200

Contact: 9811232992

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Rara Avis

The French Wave

The entrance to Rara Avis is a discrete door hidden in a bustling street of Greater Kailash IIs M-block market.

The entrance to Rara Avis is a discrete door hidden in a bustling street of Greater Kailash IIs M-block market.