Sahib by Hemant Mathur Inaugural Review Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Executive Chef and Owner of Sahib, Hemant Mathur
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It's not who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and we had missed our friend Hemant! Chef Hemant Mathur was last featured we believe in 2012, and although Sahib is brand-new to us, working with him is not new. We love to continue positive relationships when those we know light new fires and take on new endeavors. Sahib in Indian means "Mister" and is a sign of respect, and this restaurant of North Indian cuisine opened to the world in October 2016. We were most impressed equally by the quality of the cuisine and its absolutely gorgeous presentation in copper. Many great restaurants present food well, and this is a step above. Hemant literally has a food runway with these models you are about to see.
Hemant is North Indian himself, and he hails from Japur, North India. The North of India is known for less spicy food that utilizes cumin and chili pepper most frequently, while the South is much spicier.
We were greeted with some lovely Indian amuse-bouche (as you know Peachy took 6 years of French but 0 of Indian in school) of Indian street food above and a terrific taste of pumpkin/squash soup below to get our appetite excited.
We absolutely love love loved the copper arrangement, and we don't get into interior design too much in restaurants but we really loved this classy gray and white look; it reminded us of a classic New England summer.
Our first starter we tried was vegetable: Lasoni Gobi. This tantalizing wonder is actually cauliflower. If you are someone that thinks you do not like this vegetable, you should know that when you add onions and tangy tomatoes to it that the cauliflower shines delicious, fragrant superlative messages to your brain that in fact, now you do like cauliflower. We adored the spicy scallion accent as well.
Even better was next: Murgh Chop. Roasted Chicken Thighs are marinated in striking malt vinegar and make a gorgeous appearance with a tantalizing creamy marinade of greek yogurt, sour cream and spices including garam masala. It was entirely tender and the epitome of what you'd want chicken to be. Hemant grates his spices at Sahib once a week.
Next in the batting (cricket? we think they play that in India but probably not baseball...) order was another vegetarian winner that Hemant thought we should try: Hare Mutter Ki Shikanpur. This means Panfried Green Pea and Paneer (similar to cottage cheese, homemade Indian) Cheers patties. Again, if you think you are not wild for green peas, remember that cheese enhances all.
What does Peachy Deegan love more than Garlic Naan? This was uber-fresh and we loved the starburst arrangement, which reminded us of Patrizia's Stella Pizza presentation. Carb lovers, rejoice!
The gold standard in Indian food to us is Chicken Tikka Masala, however boring that might sound to an Indian person. There is nothing boring about Hemant's rendition here, and the Butter Murgh Masala is classically wonderful bursting with flavor that is pure signature Chicken Tikka Masala. This is where you should start if your taste buds are prone to going on fire with spicy food.
Next, meet Khatti Bhindi, possibly the most exquisite, exotic okra of your life. When is the last time you saw us eat okra on purpose? You absolutely do want to eat Hemant's okra on purpose! Crunchy bastions of sauteed okra team up brilliantly with bell peppers and mango powder to culminate in some truly amazing flavor. Or flavour if you are reading from the UK and are a big fan of Indian because you eat it every Friday night.
What on earth do you think this is?
It is Peachy Deegan's current favorite Indian food, Chicken Biryani!!!!
What makes it unique at Sahib is that the chicken is on the bone and it is enclosed as so:
The Chicken Biryani monster was immediately silenced as her tastebuds were lulled into ecstasy. This dish is really something special at Sahib.
The Northern Mughlai Biryani definitely has the best presentation of any we've ever seen which only adds to the pure excitement of this dish. You cannot pass go and collect $200 without trying this monster winner.
The brilliant colors confirm the extraordinary freshness at Sahib.
We never, ever edit pictures.
Your food either does look this great, or it does not.
This is Gobi Hari Mirch Ka Khurchan: spiced cauiflower florets with green chillies which are on the spicy side. Super spicy, to be honest. If you are timid towards spicy like someone we know we suggest skim milk with this firecracker of a dish.
Finally, Hemant suggested we try the Bone-In Goat and this may be the first goat we have ever tried. Ever. Kashmir style yogurt curry with red chilies is what comes with the goat, which to us tasted a little bit like pork but gamier. If you are a goat connoisseur, we imagine this will be bliss to you.
Sahib really impressed us on our first visit and we look forward to seeing what they do next. And, we believe Hemant has even more tricks up his sleeve...
