Latoya

Latin American cuisine’s been fairly late to the cuisine party (competition) in Delhi. A tardy entry decades after the love for Asian and European food’s risen and fallen and risen again. But that’s all changed now, hasn’t it? We are now familiar with dishes beyond tacos. We know what a ceviche is and we may even be able to stomach the raw fish. 

Surfing the crest of this wave is Latoya at Eldeco Centre. The brainchild of  entrepreneur Saket Agarwal, Latoya brings together flavours from across Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Brazil among others, seamlessly perfected for the Indian palate, urging the diner to move beyond the familiar and step out of their comfort zone. 

Walk in and you’re immediately at ease. The wavy fabric ceiling, the earthy tones all around, the potted plants – everything is designed to make the place feel easy-breezy. The menu’s diverse, ranging from light salads to hearty grills and decadent desserts, with an equally impressive list of cocktails from the bar to pair with your food. 

The summer menu, in particular, explores recipes from the coasts of the Caribbean, with seasonal ingredients that are light, refreshing and serve as the perfect foil for the summer heat. Mangoes, melons and avocados are a common theme. 

The mango, avocado and cucumber salad – involving a luscious mango cumin dressing – is a divine beginning to any meal. So is the seabass, kokum and melon ceviche, where the freshness of the sea bass and the sweet summer melons is balanced with the tartness of the kokum leche de tigre (‘milk of the tiger’, a punchy citrusy dressing that serves to cure and marinate the seafood in a ceviche), served in bite size portions.

The shrimp and mango tacos were equally divine, perhaps the best thing I tasted, even – perfectly crispy batter-fried shrimp, with a habanero mango salsa and cut onions, served on one of the best tortillas I’ve had in the city. A moment for the masa tortilla, bythe way: this is not one of those flimsy flour variants that collapse quicker than you can say ‘feliz cumpleaños’. No, this is a proper corn tortilla, which tastes incredible and holds the taco together till the last bite. 

For those desirous of something a tad heartier, there is the Chicken A La Brasa – a sizeable portion of chicken, hot off the grill, seasoned with peruvian spices and chillies, and aji verde, a green jalapeño coriander sauce, with a side of grilled veggies and garlic butter rice. 

To pair with all of these summer menu exclusives, Latoya also has two excellent cocktails, though, in all fairness, they’re actually slushies from a slushie machine nestled behind the bar. There’s Spice It Up, a sublime blend of tequila, passion fruit, orange, tamarind and chilli, and then there’s By The Beach’, with tequila, mezcal, yuzu, coconut, watermelon, mint and citrus – the kind of drink which goes down so easy that you’re ordering thirds of it before you know it. 

For dessert, they’ve got the Alphonso Tres Leches, which one would be forgiven for assuming is a dessert that’s been hashed out by everyone who fancies themselves to be a pastry chef in town over the last year. The one here, however, surprised me. The vanilla sponge was soaked and layered with saffron creme and an alphonso mango compote, which came together quite wonderfully, with the slight acidity of the mangoes neutralising the sweetness of the vanilla and the saffron.