As I was climbing the stairs of a beautiful cafe in Gurugram, OMO, I immediately started recording on my phone. Such is the world we live in today, the world of social media where anything flashy must make it into the ‘gram. As a millennial, I’m left with no choice but to hop on new trends. Speaking of trends, recently a major food trend that has taken the world by storm is vegetarianism. We see contemporary restaurants and cafes in Delhi NCR adopting vegetarian cuisine by experimenting with seasonal vegetables, herbs and grains, and one such cafe is OMO.
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The cafe is nestled between retail stores, charming restaurants, and cafes in the bustling Galleria Market – which was a bit distracting for first timers like me – but once you reach your destination, the cafe tells a different story . OMO exudes an earthy and laid-back atmosphere with an ambiance featuring a muted color palette, natural elements such as wooden furniture and lots of indoor plants that emphasize the theme of the cafe ‘Natural’. The interior of the cafe has an open layout with a live kitchen on one side and, on the other, an amazing coffee bar ‘Nagarum’ and a juice bar ‘Wild and Raw’.
OMO’s menu is hundred percent vegetarian and delivers on its promise of being straight, using ingredients sourced from “farm to fork” and, you guessed it, farms. While the regular dishes offered at OMO include a variety of flavors from the European and Sri Lankan region, I was invited to try the ‘Adventures of the Northeast’, a two-week pop-up celebrating the authentic flavors of Northeast India was.
Northeast Pop Up Has One a la carte menu Dishes using fresh and natural ingredients are sourced directly from farmers and locals in the area. I started my meal with a thali brunch which serves a wide range of Northeastern dishes. As a North Easterner, I can’t help but appreciate how the cuisine was presented beautifully in a circular bamboo basket that we locally call ‘Yangkok’ in Manipur. The thali comes with 3 varieties of rice- red rice, black rice and white sticky rice. If you have an inclination towards mild-tasting cuisine, try the ‘Ooty’ – white peas cooked with a variety of local greens, the ‘Black Gram Salad with Perilla Seeds’ and the ‘Local Leaf Salad with Sumac’. If you’re the adventurous type, you can try ‘Potato and Pumpkin with Bamboo Shoots’ and ‘Jackfruit in Black Sesame’ with any of three varieties of rice. Also, if you want to spice up your food, in that case, you can also try different types of chutneys like – ‘Tree Tomato’, ‘Spring Onion’, ‘Pumpkin’ and ‘Garlic’. I also advise you to taste the pickle of garlic and bamboo sprigs, which I really liked.
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After this the offer was ‘Anishi Chow’ which will remind you of Ramon. Chow’s broth tastes slightly sour because it was flavored with anishi – a Naga delicacy of fermented leaves made into patties and smoked over a fire. The next dish that set my tongue on fire was ‘singju’ – crunchy fried noodles mixed with local herbs, schezwan pepper, Naga chilli and perilla seeds. Thankfully a refreshing ‘Blueberry and Lavender Lemonade’ came to my rescue soon after.
For dessert, we tried the ‘Black Rice Kheer’ – a rice pudding made with crunchy black rice and the ‘Black Sesame Cake’ served with pineapple and black sesame caramel. Both sweets had just the right amount of sweetness and were delightful.
So, if you don’t mind experimenting with food and would love to try your hand at some authentic North-Eastern cuisine, then you should consider visiting OMO’s Northeast Pop Up, which is already available from 30th May 2022. Its going on.
What: Adventures of the Northeast
Where: OMO: Soul Food Community, 2nd Floor, Galleria Market, Sector 28, Gurugram
When: May 30 to June 12, 2022