Rupali Dean

Mumbai’s dining scene never sits still, but some names hold timeless weight, and you likely don’t need to be told that Indian Accent is one of them.  Seated by the restaurant’s commanding floor to ceiling windows, we had front row seats to the Fountain of Joy’s playful pirouettes at the Dhirubhai Ambani Square. But the real affair, of course, unfolded indoors, dish by dish. Take their summer tasting menu, made especially to mark their three-year anniversary, at its BKC outpost in the stunning Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre. We tried it out, and it’s safe to say dinner here is still a slow unspooling of lovely surprises.  The courses at Indian Accent It’s a sensory narrative written in a language of melons, khus, raw mango, and even karela (bitter gourd). You know you’re in for something special when even the underdog of vegetables gets its time to shine.  The panna pakodi paired tart summer mango with a golden lentil fritter, while the Sholay, a reimagining of a Delhi classic, replaced street side potatoes with goat’s cheese. It’s a risk that could’ve gone wrong, but ends up tasting like a giddy secret you have to keep yourself from spreading the news too far about. And then, strangely, the papdi chaat is also something to look out for. Traditionally a street food staple, but here it arrives in an elegant tartlet shell. Crisp. Tangy. Cool, in that satisfying chaat way.  Just as the meal felt like it might slip into all too familiar territory, out came the lamb karela. We’