What dinner for two costs at Kenda
Grill plates, the tasting menu, drinks and taxes: a plain guide to what an evening here usually costs.
Mango, jackfruit and the summer menu
From April to June, the fire cooks Karnataka’s summer fruit: what changes on our menu and why.
Every year around the middle of April, the menu at Kenda changes more than at any other time. Karnataka’s summer fruit arrives, and fruit, it turns out, takes to fire very well.
Jackfruit comes first. Raw jackfruit from farms near Tumakuru is cut into thick wedges, rubbed with salt and turmeric and roasted on the coals until it is smoky and tender, then served with a coconut and green chilli chutney. It is one of the few dishes our meat-eating guests order a second time. Later in the season, ripe jackfruit bulbs are charred quickly on the high flame and served with buffalo milk ice cream.
Mangoes arrive in May. We use raw totapuri mangoes in a smoked salsa for the lamb chops, and ripe alphonso and badami from orchards near Srinivaspur for desserts. Halved mangoes are caramelised cut-side down on a hot iron plate set into the coals, and served with chilli salt and curd.
The tasting menu changes with the fruit too, with at least two courses built around jackfruit and mango from late April until the first monsoon rains in June. Summer evenings in Bengaluru are warm, and our terrace tables get the breeze; ask for one when you book. Our kokum and raw mango coolers, made in the kitchen, are part of the non-alcoholic pairing all season.
