Clove - The Art of Dining

If you haven't already noticed, Indian cuisine (particularly Punjabi) is fast becoming more refined and served in fancier digs. Much like the humble Cantonese restaurants of the 70 and 80's, we now find higher end establishments littering the dining landscape.  Of course prices go up with the territory, but we are finding superior service, modern spaces and elevated food.  One of the newer high-end Indian restaurants to hit the scene is Clove - The Art of Dining.  Jacqueline and I were invited to sample some of their wares.

There was a set menu for us that started with the Scallop & Shrimp with cauliflower alleppey, raw mango, sago crisps and curry leaf dust.  As you can see, this was nicely plated with bold colours. It ate quite well too with buttery and nicely seared scallops.  The puréed cauliflower was smooth and creamy with aromatics.  We loved the sago crisps as they were crunchy and light.  They were great to pick up the remaining alleppey.

Next we had the Goan Salmon Fish Cakes coated with rava with pickled mooli and mango sriracha sauce.  Although looking rather pale on the outside, the fish cakes were crispy and not greasy.  Inside, the salmon was moist with some drier parts.  I thought that the sweetness of the salmon came through, but it did really need the sauce to add the necessary kick as well as moisture.

Onto the mains, we had the classic New Delhi Butter Chicken.  Since this was mainly comprised of roasted tomatoes, the tanginess was more muted while the creaminess was quite apparent.  The use of tandoori chicken thighs meant the meat was more tender and moist as well as exhibiting umaminess due to the fat content.  I thought this was a well-balanced butter chicken where the spices came through with a bit of heat.

 

We were presented with something I've had recently was the Bombay-Style Parsi Lamb Kheema.  I personally think these are the tastiest "sloppy Joe's" around.  The lamb kheema was tender, moist and full-flavoured with a touch of spice.  Loved the sunny side egg on top as it added another layer of silkiness.  Those buns were toasted just right to be soft the inside and firm on the outside.

So Jacqueline isn't much into lamb (hey, but I am!), so they supplied an alternate dish in the Kadhai Paneer.  This consisted of bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, roasted kadhai masala and fenugreek.  This was a savoury and spiced concoction that helped flavour the squishy paneer.  Lots of robust spiciness from the masala that helped make this a good compliment to the rice and naan.

About that Garlic Naan, it was good.  I found the pillowy soft texture was complimented by equal parts of elasticity.  On the outside, there was leoparding providing nuttiness and some crispiness.  It was brushed with ghee and littered with garlicky goodness.  We also got the Assorted Papad with 3 chutneys including chatpatta hummus, smoked tomato garlic, and mango chili.  These chutneys really complimented the crispy papadams.  I especially enjoyed the smoked tomato garlic as it was layered with flavours and aromatics.

Onto dessert, we had the Gulab Jamun Cheesecake.  Yes, you read it right, the really sweet doughball soaked in rose water has been combined with a cheesecake.  The result was a more balanced dessert with the sweetness from the gulab jamun making up for the mild-tasting cream cheese.  I really enjoyed the bite of cheesecake and a touch of the gulab jamun.  I found the crust to be nicely firm as well.  Overall, the food at Clove was good and plated nicely.  The dining space is gorgeous and fitting of a fine dining establishement.  This is another great addition to the higher-end Indian within the Surrey restaurant scene.

*All food and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:

- Gorgeous dining space

- Solid eats

- Elevated experience

The Bad:

- Parking lot can get rather busy at times