Newest European Eatery “QUALIA” Is Now Opened in Mumbai…

HospiBuz Desk

Chef Rahul Akerkar and his better half Malini Akerkar have recently opened their new 100 seater restaurant called “Qualia”, at the Lodha World One Towers, South Mumbai. The newest European themed Qualia Restaurant will serve modern cuisine with agnostic menu, which is made with an unexpected mixture of locally sourced ingredients. The cuisine will be perfectly balanced with sour and sweet flavours and off corse with a lot of heart too.

Head Chef of this restaurant Rahul Akerkar said, “Qualia means the quality of sensory experience. It is the quality of the essence of something. It perfectly encapsulates what we are trying to achieve. A lot of thought, detail and love have gone into this project of Qualia Restaurant. We want to offer a wholesome, sensory experience with the help of our food and beverage, the visuals, the touch and feel, the service. The name really summed up for us what we want Qualia to be all about”.

Akerkar also said, “When an artist creates a painting, they sometimes put elements together just because they look aesthetically pleasing. It’s the same for me as I work on a dish. If I’m creating, for example, a tuna dish, I have a sense what it tastes like. Thereafter it’s an evolutionary process about what would go well with the tuna and taste good".

The ingredients of Qualia Restaurant have been sourced from the different parts of the country like, cheese is coming from Gujarat, fish from Cochin and Chennai, rice from Assam and Jharkhand, artichokes from Hyderabad and much more.

The well directed menu of Qualia is divided into several sections. From the vegetable section, diners can enjoy the dishes made up of delightful local produce like Yellow Gazpacho which is made with sweet yellow tomatoes and further enlivened with pickled melon, jasmine and tarragon oil, Charred Pumpkin which is made with ricotta and Bhavnagri chill, preserved lemon and white bean puree, Spinach Cavatelli which is inspired by the fresh, green produce of spring, with snap peas and their tendrils.

The sea food cuisine of Qualia restaurant has a very wide variety of dishes in it for their diners. That will include Yellowfin Tuno Loin, which is a dish that is reminiscent of the exotic flavours of Kerala home cooked meal made with curry leaf and seasame rub, avocado pachadi and pickled beets, Grilled Octopus, which is made with goan chorizo, pickled okra and black eyed beans, Smoked Lady Fish, a delicate fish which is served with potato salad, radish and pickled quail eggs.

Qualia’s head Chef Rahul Akerkar also said, “Qualia is an extension of everything I’ve been working on for a long time now. I’ve looked at a lot of pickling and fermenting because they’re old traditions with plenty of health benefits and the ability to make a dish better. I like to look at Qualia the way one looks at pickling—ingredients that you pickle change over time just as my culinary journey has changed over the years".

You will also find a 20-foot long bar in this restaurant and this bar adds a unique and exotic flavor of drinks in the ambience of Qualia. The bar uses pure and fresh Ayurvedic herbs and some other ingredients in their drinks, nestles in jars above it, to be served for the customers. The grand bar of Qualia occupies one bay in the restaurant; bar consists of several high top tables and alcove seating which can easily accommodate a larger group of people.

Ranjeet Shirke, bar manager of Qualia Restaurant has created an astonishing and potent cocktails, which are seen in both the bar menu’s selection of Qualia House Cocktails and Vintage Cocktails. The beverage menu of Qualia follows the philosophy of the food menu – light, bright, palate-pleasing libations that feature both familiar, comforting ingredients, complete with garnishes and other elements that have undergone treatments like fermenting, pickling, and smoking.