Hundreds Bistro on Harrington Road is warmly lit, laidback, and slowly filling up with its first diners for the evening. Some tables already have cups of coffee with biscotti on the side, and at others, diners pore over the menu to weigh in on options for the night.
Muddasar Malik, one of the partners, says that this is not their first foray into the world of food. This bistro belongs to the larger ‘Hundreds’ group that began Vellore’s first major fine-dining multi-cuisine restaurant, Hundreds Heritage. Chennai is a new turf though.
Seekh kebabs | Photo Credit: Thamodharan B
“We want to do justice to Indian flavours here. Our Neapolitan pizzas have dal makhni, prawn hariyali, and seekh kebab, and we have brioche bun pavs with Lucknowi paneer and mutton salli to choose from,” he says.
Our ears perk up when the dal makhni pizza is mentioned. Fusion food involving Indian flavours, is more often than not, clickbaity (think the mutton keema cakes and chocolate ice cream dosas you hurriedly scroll past). It is especially hard to get right.
Chef Kaushik S (aka The Mad Chef) of Eatitude consultants, who has curated the menu for Hundreds, tells us that the food was planned keeping in mind authentic Indian flavours, but with different presentations. “The dal makhni for instance, is simmered overnight on the tandoor but will be served on a pizza. There are kebabs in tacos, oven-baked kulchas and chicken wings in quintessentially Indian flavours,” he says.
Mutton galouti tacos | Photo Credit: Thamodharan B
Keeping with the vibe of a bistro, the menu is a mix of coffees, milkshakes, pizzas, pavs, and hearty kulchas and biryanis, encouraging people to walk in any time — be it for a quick chat over a coffee, or a more elaborate meal. Chef Kaushik tells us every element, from the fermented sourdough in the sandwiches, to the berry compote in the milkshakes, the sauces, gravies and everything else are all prepared in-house.
We start off with a sweet, indulgent coco biscotti shake topped with a cloud of cream and coconut shavings in a tall glass reminiscent of Archie’s Pop Tate’s. Minutes later, we are more than thankful for this sweet relief after biting into a paneer cheese kebab marinated in bhut jholakia chilli. The sharp spice hit is one that spice tolerant fiends will find quite delicious and others, eye-watering.
Mutton salli pav | Photo Credit: Thamodharan B
The mutton salli pav, comes with a generous portion of mildly spiced, flavourful mince between buttery brioche buns. The portions here are big, and unless you go with a friend or two, you might not have space left for their much hyped kebabs. The mutton seekh kebabs come with a side of bone marrow butter that you can either drench your kebabs in, or simply dip into. We also sample some melt-in-your-mouth galouti kebabs, in a crunchy taco.
It is evident that the meat at Hundreds is cooked with care. The wait staff eagerly volunteers to show us how tender the mutton is in the nalli biryani, where the meat more than makes up for the flavour that the rice could have done with. The accompanying creamy raita however, feels a touch too thick and heavy.
Rasamalai tres leches | Photo Credit: Thamodharan B
It is only befitting that we finish the meal with a dessert heavily inspired by an Indian favourite. The rasamalai tres leches has a spongy milk cake drenched in a deliciously sweet milk concoction, and comes with a dollop of cream studded with slivers of pistachio. Make sure to scoop up all these different elements each time you dig into the dessert.
Hundreds Bistro’s singular focus, on highlighting Indian flavours and opting to go the bistro route, works in their favour given that this format lends itself to an array of quicker meals like their sourdough sandwiches, pizzas and kebab starters. “When Indian flavours and cuisine seems to be travelling all across the world, it felt befitting that we explore it better here,” Muddasar says.
Hundreds Bistro is located at Harrington Road, Chetpet, and is open from 11am to 11pm. A meal for two costs ₹2,000.
