The new Nadodi is beautifully done up and features incredible views of the city skyline. — Photos: Nadodi
For months, gourmands of every stripe waited with bated breath for the relocation of six-year-old progressive Indian restaurant Nadodi to the swanky Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur.
At the beginning of June, that long-awaited dream finally came to fruition when Nadodi opened its doors in its brand-new location.
Nadodi 2.0 features gorgeous views of the KLCC park and the city skyline beyond and is immaculately turned out – a combination of rustic charm and modern sophistication prevailing throughout. A sprawling open kitchen gives diners a bird’s eye view of the inner workings of the culinary team. The entrance is also prologued by the eatery’s brand new cocktail bar and lounge, Ver, which matches the restaurant’s cultural values.
Yavhin hopes to put the cuisines of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka at the forefront of the food that he crafts at Nadodi.
The restaurant is owned and operated by the ever-growing Cinnamon Group, which owns eateries like Kikubari, Natalina Italian Kitchen and Aliyaa, to name a few. Helming the kitchen is chef de cuisine Yavhin Siriwardhana, a second-generation Malaysian Indian with Sri Lankan and Malayalee ties. New to the team is executive chef Mohammed Eliyaz who focuses on menu development.
Nadodi (which means “wanderer”) has always been centred on south Indian (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Sri Lankan cuisine, reimagined and reconfigured in brand new – often hugely innovative – ways. This is no child’s play as the kitchen team has no blueprint to work with – Nadodi’s hugely ambitious cuisine is its own in every way, shape and form.
So how do the chefs find inspiration for the menu?
“Usually, it is by reading up a lot on the culinary heritage of the regions that we honour, our own personal food influences and childhood memories of the food we grew up with at home that were full of flavour and the traditional cooking techniques passed down generations and of course visiting multiple places to eat and trying new food, to be able to find unique ways to marry the traditional with modern,” says Eliyaz.
Yavhin meanwhile visits local markets and farms to look for ingredients that aren’t often associated with Indian cuisine but can form the canvas upon which meals can be built.
To begin your culinary odyssey at Nadodi, try the 10-course Nostalgia menu (the menu changes every three months), priced at RM790++. You can (and should) opt for cocktail pairing (additional RM230++) to get a sense of Ver bar manager Apurav Bhatia’s singular ability to craft uniquely south Indian and Sri Lankan-influenced drinks to go with the meal.
Scallops and lentils make for incredibly complementary bedfellows in this ‘Who would have thunk?’ configuration.
Highlights from the menu include Street Staples, which features a miniaturised version of the classic idli and sambar. In this iteration, the idli is about the size of of a quail’s egg and tops a layer of sambar, which is rich and creamy and could possibly be the best sambar you’ve ever had – no offence to Indian aunties across the sub-continent. It’s also a very clever dish, giving you a gilded peek into your childhood without overwhelming your palate with a large portion.
The first cocktail pairing to go with the meal is simply called Moringa.
“We take gin and infuse it with moringa, curry leaves, coriander and some fenugreek for 24 hours, then we keep it in a cold brew for 48 hours, so it is a three-day journey to get the whole spirit,” says Apurav.
The result is a refreshing drink that has imbibed the essence of moringa down to a tee. A single sip will leave you feeling hopeful and energised and makes for the perfect opener to the meal.
Yesterday was devised in ode to a staple south Indian farmers' dish made using leftover rice.
Up next, on the meal front, is Yesterday, which makes use of leftover rice, in ode to a staple breakfast dish in south India.
Here, old rice is soaked for two days and blended with cream and yoghurt and this is layered atop shallots, garlic, cured chilli and dried chilli, sprinkled with Sri Lankan dried fish and accentuated with Indian gooseberry pickle. You are meant to stir everything together to enjoy the meal.
This is the spirit of home-spun fare, evoking nostalgia in every mouthful. The creamy rice has a light tang and this is countenanced by the chilli, garlic and dried fish, which add textural and flavour contrast. It’s a homey meal that draws on flavours and memories and does this very successfully in one tiny little dish.
Other highlights from the menu include Surf Garden, which features pan-seared Japanese scallops buttressing a layer of par-boiled Beluga lentils and yellow lentils cooked with herbs and spices. It sounds odd – it truly does – but my God, does it work!
The scallop is limbre and supple but still has a firm bite and a wonderfully crusty exterior. And while you might think the lentils would prove a distraction, they actually do the opposite, complementing the scallop with firm, focused pearly bites that give it a magical stardust appeal.
Antennae to tail makes use of every part of the Spanish carabinero in what proves to be an incredibly pleasurable meal.
Then there is the Antennae to Tail, which, as its name implies, makes use of every bit of the Spanish carabinero (prawn). Here, the prawn is surrounded by a thovaiyal made up of the head and shell of the prawn, alongside a tiny little dollop of calamansi gel. The prawn itself has been cooked to perfection and retains a silken smoothness and velvety mouthfeel that contrasts incredibly well with the thovaiyal, which has condensed every single ounce of flavour from the crustacean’s shells, lending a rich aquatic quality to the meal.
Apurav’s second cocktail pairs remarkably well through the middle of the meal. Called Dil Sarbathu, it is made up of gin, dill distillate, fermented cucumber and organic rum and is a tangy, fun affair that feels like it is the heart and soul of a lively party. The fermented cucumbers in particular add a memorable – almost acidic element – to the drink – that gives it a lovely finish.
Perhaps the most popular item on Nadodi’s menu – one that has proved a mainstay over the years is Nomad’s Globe, which features short grain rice biryani, a cashew mint salna and yoghurt clarification with carrot and pomegranate salad surrounded by murukku shards. The star here is the biryani, which is capped by quail meat, raisins, cashew nuts and fried onions in a meal that can only be described as true, pure bliss.
End your meal at Nadodi with a dessert called Palm Trees, an ode to the humble palm trees that dominate the sub-continent. Here, you will discover toddy ice cream, kopara sponge and palm crackling. This is a coconut-centric sweet treat that is delightful from start to finish. The ice cream has a lovely fermented quality to it and this is countenanced by the coconut-laced tropical notes speckled throughout this dessert, which immediately whisks your palate and imagination away on a tropical beach getaway.
To end the meal, the final cocktail showing is the Popcorn Martini, which features cognac dating back to 1731 alongside a caramel distillate. This is a strong, solid drink with a light-hearted element courtesy of the caramel and popcorn. The longer you let it sit, the more it develops flavours and intensity – the true measure of a good, satisfying drink.
Eliyaz says the team devises new menu creations by reading up on the regions that they honour and trawling through their own childhood memories.
The new Nadodi shows a clear continuance of the original ideals and ambitions of the original restaurant. Except now, the restaurant finally has an equally spectacular space to show off all these culinary motivations and guiding principles. And in keeping with this, the kitchen team seems to have upped their game, offering elevated new meals that make Nadodi 2.0 well worth repeat visits.
Moving forward, Yavhin says there is plenty more up his and Eliyaz’s sleeves to whet the appetites of discerning diners who identify with their particular brand of progressive Indian cuisine.
“I personally feel that the three regions that Nadodi honours (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sri Lanka) have so much more to offer, and my goal is to put that on the forefront and constantly educate and change the perception of south Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine,” says Yavhin.
Nadodi
Level 7A, Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur
145, Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 017-296 9520
Open Monday to Saturday: 6pm to 10pm
