Bandra gets a new dinner cocktail lounge, and here's all you need to know about it

By the time the first cocktails arrive the evening has found its rhythm The room is dim and intimate the music has a pulse and the table is filling with plates that refuse to stay within a single culinary geography A Japanese ingredient turns up in a Mediterranean dish a familiar flavour takes an unexpected detour There is no hurry to get through the courses The idea is to settle inThis is The Powder Room a new 45seater in Bandra created by Avik Chatterjee Director and CEO of Speciality Restaurants Limited Drawing on his travels across Africa it is conceived less as a formal restaurant than as a dinner party with friends where food cocktails music and conversation unfold at their own pace with a few surprises along the wayThe Afrojazz room interiors at the Powder room are a visual treat PicsThe Powder RoomThe menu by Chef Sahil Singh is MediterrAsian bringing together Mediterranean cooking with Asian ingredients and techniques The kitchen moves between the two without making a show of explaining every connectionThe meal begins with the cool silky Avocado Tartare followed by Sichuan Burrata where aromatic spice cuts through the cheesersquos richness Hamachi Tiradito brings delicate fish and citrus to the table while Tuna Loin keeps things clean and understated The small plates become more playful Croquettes de Champignons crackle before giving way to an earthy mushroom centre while the Truffle Potato MilleFeuille moves from crisp potato to buttery softness The Truffle Corn Pot Pie hides creamy trufflescented corn beneath golden pastry Warm Powder Bread and tender Lobster Rolls keep disappearing between coursesSICHUAN BURRATAThen come the unexpected combinations Lamb Cheese Burger Taquitos with juicy lamb and molten cheese Sesame Prawn Croissant where flaky pastry meets succulent prawn and toasted sesame and Chicken Parma Okonomiyaki a playful collision of chicken parm and Japanese street food HarissaMiso Chicken Skewers bring char and savoury heat while the Baked Chilean Seabass is delicate and buttery Truffle Mushroom Rice brings the savoury courses to a comforting close followed by a playful Berry Taco and a Valrhona Chocolate Fondant with a molten centreTRUFFLE POTATO MILLEFEUILLE AND BERRY TACOSldquoThe menu at The Powder Room explores the natural relationship between Mediterranean and Asian cuisinerdquo says Singh ldquoWe combine the character of Mediterranean cooking with the precision techniques and bold flavours of Asia Africa becomes the bridge between the two bringing an additional layer of spice fire and earthiness to the experiencerdquoThe drinks take a similarly wandering route Anonymous Food Labs the team behind The Lair and AABBCC in New Delhi has created the bar programme using ingredients such as clarified cherry tomato toasted shiitake whisky flower pepper mezcal pandan cacao butter and citrusCROQUETAS DE CHAMPIGNONSThe whiskybased cocktail is remarkably restrained with herbal liqueurs quietly sitting beneath the spirit rather than allowing it to dominate The Coiba takes a bolder route with tequila at its centre and a dark chocolatecoated rim to nibble between sips The Pink Phoenix is built around guava liqueur an unusual pairing that gives the tequila a fruity robust counterpoint without overwhelming itThe evening ends with an Espresso Martini that feels almost like dessert rich with coffee and liqueur but without the heaviness A dusting of Royce chocolate adds the finishing touch There is a zeroproof selection too for those who want to stay with the evening without the alcohol And then there are the diversions Our server challenges us to Achi a traditional strategy game with a Zaatar Picante shot for the winner We win and happily collect our prizeThe room provides its own visual journey Designed by Sumessh Menon Associates it draws from SubSaharan art and craftsmanship layering earthy textures boucleacute and suede upholstery Red Levanto and Georgia marble timber and handcrafted artwork A 12by5foot flowing chandelier runs through the centre while a kinetic wall sculpture by ZA Works brings movement to the space At the bar ripplelike lighting and timber battens create a livelier mood An Afrojazz and global music programme completes the settingThe Powder Room works best when you stop treating it like a restaurant you have to get through The lounge seating encourages lingering the food is designed to be passed around and the cocktails are made for a second round It is dinner certainly but it is also what happens afterwards another drink another conversation another plate arriving at the table The evening rather deliberately has nowhere else to beWhere The Powder Room 8th floor Mansionz One Linking Road Bandra