Philter: The Bistro
Address: SCO 40, 1st Floor & Terrace, Sector 29, Gurgaon
Meal for two: 1200 plus taxes
Philtre: The Bistro is a pleasant addition to the many clubs, pubs, bars and restaurants at sector 29, Gurgaon. Philtre is a French word that means “love potion”. With ample of space spanning over two floors, the décor is a mix of French and Greek style with great lighting.
Everything you touch at this place has a story, which will amaze you. For example, all the wooden panelling is done with wood recycled from Indian Railways.
The menu comprises of food from different regions of the country. It offers a variety of choices for vegetarians as well. The menu has been crafted by Chef Gaurav Raghuvanshi who is known for giving a modern spin to Indian cuisines.
Philtre offers comfort food with a heady mix of drinks. It also offers quick service cocktails meant to be taken away in specially designed glasses—made from terracotta, ceramics, aluminium and brass metal mix. The bar menu is to rave about too and has been put together by Mixologist, Aman Dua.
And so we started out by ordering whiskey-based cocktail “ambrosia” that was whipped up by the adept bartenders of Philtre.
I generally skip soup and salad course but upon Chef’s recommendation, I picked a bowl of “botanical berry soup” and a portion of “ram ladoo salad”. Cooked with white tomatoes, the creamy soup was paired with basil lavash that added some crunch. The ram ladoo salad with crispy ram ladoos tossed with chutney made for all the fun twist my tastebuds needed.
While there is a diverse offering in the appetisers, some of them are certainly not to be ignored. We started with the rajma galauti” that was served with “ulta tawa parantha nacho” and “achaari mayo”. If only vegetarian galautis tasted this good, I wouldn’t mind giving a miss to its non-vegetarian counterpart.
Next on my palate was “chilly chicken tartlets”, which was lip-smacking. Another unique dish on the menu is the “maggi fish fingers”. Fish fingers, instead of being crumb coated were coated with raw maggi noodles and were deep-fried until golden and crisp. Accompanied by masala tartar, these fish fingers are unlike any other. But the highlights of the entire meal included the “philtre signature dal makhni” and the “amritsari falafel curry». The latter was deep fried and crunchy falafels in a tomato-based gravy paired with a beautiful “dhaniya kulcha”.
Another dish that I ordered was “cajun spiced chicken wings” served with “smokey barbeque dip”. The outer layer of the wings was delectable and crispy. It was spicy too. For dessert, I picked “gulab jamun doughnuts». It had a gulab jamun stuffing inside a doughnut loaded with chocolate.
In times when eating spaces are vying to offer something unusual, Philtre is your space and is most likely to become your favourite adda.