Rooh — Restaurant Review | Condé Nast Traveler

cuisine

Indian

Tell us about the space.
Rooh is a modern Indian restaurant with a palette as colorful and enticing as the food: a royal-purple and cobalt-blue backdrop accentuated by red curtains and yellow walls. A long bar and lounge area calls up images of a Bollywood set, making it the perfect pitstop for a pre-meal aperitivo during happy hour.
What was the crowd like?
Rooh’s SoMa location all but guarantees that the patrons here are have just made a beeline from the office. As such, attire is business-chic.
What should we be drinking?
The drinks at Rooh get special ayurvedic (holistic medicine) treatment. The six rasas, or tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent) govern the 12 cocktails on the menu, from the Hyderabad Tonic (turmeric-infused gin, citrus, and orange-thyme syrup) to the Patna Fizz (gin, lychee, mushroom, egg white, and truffle salt).
Main event: the food. Give us the lowdown—especially what not to miss.
The menu here follows the same elevated ayurvedic principle, and the result is astounding. Colorful sharing platters of chutneys, yogurts, and kulcha are followed by savory small plates like the masala-jackfruit taco, duck seekh kebab, and tandoori octopus. Just be sure to save room for the Bombay vada scotch egg with tomato kut and butter powder.
And how did the front-of-house folks treat you?
The service is swift and helpful, especially if you’re feeling indecisive.