Restaurant review: Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor at National Galleria definitely gives more bang for your buck

With Indian food so plentiful and affordable in the UAE, restaurateurs aiming at the higher end of that spectrum really need to give some genuine bang for your additional bucks. The celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor is familiar with that equation: there’s already a Signature outlet in the Meliá Dubai hotel. But for its capital city sister, Kapoor has opted to take the mall route.

The blue-ribbon mall restaurant is a niche that might be better exploited. Sure, there are plenty of passable sit-down eateries in the country’s shopping hubs, yet quality brands usually head to hotels. It’s not as if there’s a lack of potential punters with cash to splash in either location.

The most obvious consequence of Signature Abu Dhabi’s ­alcohol-free environment is the lack of over-gregarious groups. Instead, Emirati couples and quiet, small family groups were seen dining amid the classy ­interiors.

Even though the Nation Galleria is an upscale mall, you’ll soon forget you’re in a retail space once inside Signature’s dimmed confines, which are decked out in a manner befitting the five-star St Regis hotel next door. Candle-lit lanterns abound, while there’s also a spacious terrace overlooking the Corniche. A small snack “bar”, with its own open kitchen, proved popular for light bites while we were ­eating in the adjacent main dining room.

The first indication of true culinary flair in action arrives almost immediately via poppadums, with accompanying sauces displayed in what can only be described as a spiral stairway candelabra of condiments, while spiced mango lassi was served in stopper-top glass bottles. An amuse-bouche of aloo tikki was labelled “potato gratin” by our waiter.

The presentation prowess continued into the starters, with a tray of four honey-mustard chaat puffs – cute, assemble-yourself bites of spherical “Delhi-style” semolina crisps filled with potato and lentils. Each came with a shooter glass of mango mint, plus fried chickpeas to tip into the pockets, although the results were a trifle bland. The paneer panch phoran tikka, dibs ­rumman (­Bengali-five-spice-marinated cottage cheese morsels with tangy pomegranate molasses) was similarly mild, but again wonderfully laid out – served from a main skewer platter directly onto our plates.

The mains were, respectively, an undisputed triumph and a slightly less successful culinary gamble.

First, the bad news: the filling of the achari macchi khasta (a mustard-marinated seafood “pavé”, topped with crispy filo – somewhere between a lasagne and a flan) was so fishy that we could only manage a few mouthfuls. Fortunately, the nalli rogan josh was tasty and filling enough for two. The goat shanks were delightfully tender, sitting in a lip-smacking Kashmiri chilli and onion gravy.

The service up to this point had been almost exemplary. But confusion reigned after ordering our desserts. Nothing arrived for a good 15 or 20 minutes, so we reconfirmed our choices. A short while later, a solitary plate was dispatched – unfortunately, this mystery offering was neither of our selections.

It took another five or 10 minutes to resolve, but the wait was mostly worthwhile. The gulab jamun samosas put a sweet twist to a savoury favourite, with saffron and pistachio flavouring the mini milk dumplings crammed into a cocktail glass. The gajar umali was more of an acquired taste, with its baked carrots and pastry content. (All this came after we were told that the most-­interesting-sounding dessert – the electric kulfi with “some atoms” – wasn’t available. According to our waiter, fizzing candles are involved.)

If your Indian-cuisine priorities are comparative frugality over sublime presentation and suave atmosphere, then the chances are you’ll be perfectly happy in mid-level places such as Peppermill or India Palace. For a special dose of sophistication, however, Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor will put a sparkle into your night – even if we weren’t quite able to set our evening alight.

• A meal for two at Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor, Nation Galleria, Abu Dhabi, costs Dh539. For more information, call 02 666 4343. Reviewed meals are paid for by The National and conducted incognito

aworkman@thenational.ae