Copra - Indian - SF

Perigord black truffle soft egg appam: never had anything like that before. Looked like the truffle were microplaned raw, but the dish was hot enough that it cooked slightly. Nice way to enjoy black truffle.

Gunpowder goli vadai: nice though a bit dry.

Kori gassi with kallappam: this was one of two spicy dishes. Nice combination with the fermented rice and coconut crepe.

Coorgi pandi pork belly with kerala parotta: great dish. The parotta was a great example of this bread that’s popular from Yemen to Singapore.

Vegetables of the day: represents what you might get for dinner at your South Indian mom’s house. The buttermilk curry was very delicate. Eggplant was the other spicy dish, slow burn. Pappadom & peas thoran reminded me a bit of fattoush. I’d say this is a must-order item.

I guess pave is just a shape, I expected cake but it was more like a semifreddo. Subtle and delicious.

Watalappan: complex, sort of like a creme caramel but with lots of surprising flavors.

Great wine list. We had a glass of Arnesis, then a bottle of 2020 Bellema “Imago” Gringet, then a bottle of 2018 Matheny Trousseau recommended by the sommelier, which was a startlingly dark and full-bodied version of what’s usually a pale, light-bodied red. (Took a lot home.)

Overall, some of the best Indian food I’ve had in a restaurant. I’ll be going back. Next time I’ll talk with the sommelier before ordering.

4 Likes

It’s on our (long) restaurant to try list but the feedback from Indian friends/relatives was surprisingly negative so far (but they enjoyed the cocktails). They prefer ROOH much more for “fine dining” Indian (and there is now also Tiya which recently opened)

didn’t order this because the server said they use truffle oil

I didn’t smell or taste truffle oil, which would overpower the subtle black truffle. But maybe they do it differently when truffles are out of season.

Rooh’s menu has a lot of fusion stuff and dishes that are more mainstream international Indian. Brie pakora? Avocado and edamame bhel?

Copra’s food seems based mostly on relatively obscure dishes from Kerala and nearby areas. I had to look up a lot of words on the menu (and I have two or three Keralan cookbooks).