1Q1 Buranchi ~ Gourmet Passport review

1Q1 Buranchi~ Gourmet Passport Dine with Rocky event

Buranchi is the Japanese word for Brunch and we recently had the opportunity to meet up with entrepreneur, cook book author and a raconteur of good tings in life, Rocky Mohan who I've known virtually for couple of years and am very fond of his Kashmiri Dum aloo recipe which is a staple in our household!

With the man himself, Rocky Mohan

His newest venture is the bible for gourmands, the Gourmet Passport app. While everything in life nowadays is driven by technology this Application is your one stop concierge service for all your dining needs. Carefully curated by Rocky and his team of experts ~ restaurants that offer truly exceptional dining options are part of this program. And that is how we landed at the cool and ultra hip new restaurant 1Q1 for their leisurely Sunday brunch of Pan Asian food with a special emphasis on Japanese cuisine.

Chef Mako Ravindran and entrepreneur Anirudh Kheny have put together a phenomenal menu that has something for everyone. Since I am vegetarian I tried all the vegetarian and vegan delights.

Steaming hot Dim Sum 

The dim sum were exquisite, super thin skinned dumplings were stuffed with a delicious assortment of vegetables and tofu and were served steaming hot with and assortment of dipping sauces. Next I tried the sushi, one of which was rolled with sweet crunchy pickled cucumber and was my favourite.

Varied Vegetarian Sushi, pickled ginger, fragrant umami Soy Sauce, Tofu Salad 

Classic Japanese fried dish ~ Tempura a light as air battered deep fried vegetables were perfectly crunchy coating and the beautifully julienned vegetables maintained their crispness while frying.

Vegetable Tempura and scallion flavoured dipping sauce 

The restaurant also served a Robatayaki (Japanese slow cooking grilling technique) Tofu in a sweet and sour glaze that was quite nice.

Braised Tofu in sweet and sour glaze

For the mains I ordered my all time favourite, Thai green curry with vegetables and steamed rice. The curry was perfectly spiced and had the beautiful creamy texture that one expects to eat with aromatic steamed Jasmine rice that was cooked just right, neither clumpy nor under done. I would have loved to have a few leaves of basil and Kaffir lime added to the gravy to give that authentic flavour and aroma, though. Finally the dessert spread was not too large but it hit all the right notes in term of sweetness. I tried simply delicious the Old Monk chocolate mousse an ode to the iconic Indian rum Old Monk which is was created by the family of Rocky Mohan of the Mohan-Meakin fame.

Old Monk Chocolate Mousse

The brunch was made even more delightful in the company of Bengaluru glitterati like the dapper Suresh Hinduja, elegant Chetan Kamani who made a very short appearance, charming Sheetal C, handsome Nitin Hajela, delightful Debolina and her husband, the lovely Namita, fascinating Swati, ravishing Deena, lovable Anita and her husband and so many more!

An old friend, the dapper Mr Suresh Hinduja 

Caroline Radhakrishnan an avid punner, baker, blogger along with Aslam Gafoor an iconic Bengaluru gourmand

With the fashionable Shalini and her husband

Deena, Me, Suresh, Namita, Caroline, Chetan, Rocky and Anita

This app is worth its weight in gold and if you need to find gourmet dining options in Delhi, Mumbai our own Uru, then download the app and start enjoying its benefits today, you wont be disappointed.