BOYA

Rahul Prabhakar

5 months ago

5.0

Boya, Malcha Marg: When Delhi Finally Gets Nikkei Right There is a moment, in any great meal, when you stop thinking about the food and simply surrender to it. It doesn't happen often enough in Delhi — a city that, for all its enthusiasm about dining out, can sometimes confuse ambition with execution. Which is why, when it does happen, it's worth writing about. Boya, tucked into the quietly elegant stretch of Malcha Marg in Chanakyapuri, gave me one of those moments. Several of them, in fact. Let me give you some context first. Nikkei cuisine — the gastronomic language that emerged from the Japanese immigrant communities of Peru — is one of the most sophisticated and genuinely exciting food cultures on the planet. It is not fusion in the pejorative sense that Indian restaurant menus have made us dread. It is something far more considered: a conversation between two culinary traditions that have, over more than a century, learned to genuinely understand each other. Tokyo has its Nikkei temples. Lima has elevated it to a national art form. That Delhi now has a serious practitioner of this cuisine is, frankly, overdue. The man responsible is Chef Augusto Cabrera, a sushi chef of evident seriousness and skill. The restaurant's name — Boya, meaning "sowing the seed" — turns out to be rather more than marketing poetry. There is, in the food that comes out of this kitchen, a genuine sense of something being planted for the first time. A new culinary vocabulary being established, carefully, dish by dish. I visited for the All Day menu, which in lesser restaurants can be a diplomatic way of saying "we couldn't be bothered to think too hard." At Boya, it is nothing of the sort. We began with the Tomato Basil Soup — roasted tomatoes with basil — which I approached with the mild scepticism one reserves for dishes that seem deceptively simple. I was, happily, wrong to be sceptical. The roasting had done its work properly: concentrating the sweetness, deepening the umami, producing something that tasted unmistakably of tomato at its most essential. The basil was there as a presence, not a garnish. It was the kind of soup that reminds you why the best cooking is often about restraint. The Quinoa Salad that followed — avocado, pomegranate, pumpkin seeds and crushed almonds in a lemon-wild honey dressing — demonstrated the kitchen's instinct for balance. The dressing was the thing. Wild honey has a depth that regular honey can't replicate, and paired with lemon, it gave the salad a brightness that kept every component honest without dominating any of them. In the wrong hands, a quinoa salad is health food masquerading as a dish. Here, it was an actual dish. From the small plates, the Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls with rice noodles, cilantro, lettuce and nuoc cham arrived looking pristine — which, for rice paper rolls, is the first and non-negotiable test. The nuoc cham had genuine heat and acidity in the right proportions, and the rolls themselves had that pleasing textural interplay between the soft wrapper and the bite of the noodles. What I appreciated was the kitchen's decision not to over-complicate them. Some chefs cannot resist the urge to improve upon classics. Here, the discipline was admirable. The Wok Fry Crispy Lamb Slices with spring onions and sesame seeds was, for me, the standout of the small plates. Getting lamb to genuinely crisp while retaining its character inside requires confidence with heat and timing — two things that separate competent wok cooking from exceptional wok cooking. This was the latter. The sesame seeds were toasted to the point where they contributed fragrance, not just texture. The Big Plates section brought the Stir-Fry Morning Glory with garlic, onion, tomato and dark soy sauce — a dish that will be unfamiliar to most Delhi diners but is ubiquitous across Southeast Asian street food cultures, and rightly so. Morning glory, or water spinach, has a particular quality when cooked at high heat: it wilts but retains a pleasing resistance, and it absorbs flavour readily. The dark soy here was used with a measured hand. The jasmine rice that accompanied it was cooked properly — a detail that sounds obvious but is, in practice, surprisingly rare. The Kra Prow — Thai-style minced basil chicken — was similarly accomplished. Bangkok's holy basil chicken is a dish where the basil must be allowed to wilt into the mince and release its oils into the fat of the meat. Done correctly, it produces a flavour that is simultaneously aromatic and deeply savoury. At Boya, it was done correctly. Desserts, and I say this knowing how often the word is deployed without justification, were genuinely excellent. The Belgian Chocolate Nutella — eggless, gluten-free, blending dark and milk chocolate with Nutella paste and Elle & Vire cream — is the kind of thing that makes dietary restrictions seem like gifts rather than impositions. The Elle & Vire cream is a notable choice: it's what professional pastry kitchens reach for when they want fat content without compromise. The result was a dessert of real depth and refinement. The Chocolate Rocher — hazelnut praline paste, hazelnut praline crunch, Ferrero Rocher and smooth milk chocolate — is unabashedly indulgent, and all the better for knowing it. There is no pretence here of being anything other than a celebration of chocolate and hazelnut in their richest, most unapologetic form. On the mocktail front, the Elder Fizz — pineapple juice, elderflower, fresh cucumber, mint and ginger ale — struck me as the most thoughtfully constructed of the three I tried. Elderflower and cucumber is a pairing the British have long understood; the pineapple added a tropical warmth that stopped it from being too genteel, and the ginger ale gave it the kind of spine a mocktail so often lacks. The room itself merits a paragraph. The ambience at Boya is sensory without being theatrical — a distinction that matters enormously and that many new Delhi restaurants fail to grasp. The curation is evident in the details: the lighting calibrated so that food looks appealing without the restaurant feeling like a television studio; the spacing between tables generous enough that conversation remains your own. The service was attentive without the peculiar hovering anxiety that afflicts staff in restaurants that are trying too hard. These are people who seem to understand that good service is fundamentally about anticipation and invisibility, not performance. Delhi has had its Japanese restaurants, its Thai restaurants, its pan-Asian experiments of varying commitment. What it has not often had is a kitchen that approaches world cuisine with both genuine technical knowledge and the culinary philosophy to know why certain flavours belong together. Boya, at least on this visit, has both. The name — sowing the seed — suggests a beginning. If this is the beginning, I am rather curious to see where the harvest takes us.

+5

Ishani Banerjee

8 months ago

5.0

I am pleased to say, I really enjoyed dining at Boya! I called in advance to see if they accept walk-ins and did not have to wait at all when I reached. The decor of the place is quite beautiful. Staff were quite soft-spoken and helpful which I appreciated. Chef Augusto spoke to each of us diners individually to see how the food/our experience was. What I liked most was how he spoke to guests at another table who found a dish they’d ordered a little spicier than expected— he was humble, graceful and very attentive to the needs of the guests. The next time I go, I’m going to try the arroz with pollo! One note is that some of the items are dinner items and so may not be available during the day. Overall, I quite liked this restaurant. Thanks for having me over!

Sumangla Saxena

2 months ago

5.0

we ordered chicken satay and grilled chicken alongwith alfredo spaghetti and rice paper rolls- everything was amazing and we finished off the meal with the dessert “cloud”. the dessert was soo good that we missed getting another portion of it not packed for home. Amazing experience.. also must try the amazing variety of teas that they have to offer.. looks like something for next visit now

Bhavya Kansal

4 months ago

5.0

Very very beautiful place. we came for breakfast by chance and somehow landed up with the best experience. bagels are just amazing. loved all of it. service by mr maneesh was superb.

Amit Marwah

1 day ago

5.0

Amazing……is all i can say for the whole experience. The Food,staff, ambience.. everything was just perfect for the money, well spent.

Niharika

3 months ago

5.0

Khem Chandra was very supporting in overall ordering. Great food and amazing experience

Hetal Purohit

1 month ago

4.0

Everything was good from the starters, The main dishes lacked in taste and the grilled chicken was dry. Cocktails were nice, ice cream was lovely and service was great.

Rajani Ranjan

4 months ago

4.0

The restaurant could have been little brighter, it is too dark. Also food though was very tasty but I could distinguish taste of Peruvian Japanese

Heena Makhija

3 months ago

1.0

Absolutely terrible breakfast place. The food, the coffee, the ambience - nothing worked. They might be a good night place, but they should not try to be a breakfast place when they cannot get the prep or the menu right. For instance the poached eggs were not done well and the açai bowl had all sorts of fruits nuts sprinkled on loose and sour yoghurt. We left all the food as it is yet we will charged the full price. Which we did not mind - but it just shows poor customer service.

Ezra Horton

1 month ago

1.0

BE WARNED!! Worst meal ever. Horrible service and food was terrible. Never had a meal so bad as to actually leave a 1 star review before this.