There is a huge difference between “coming” and “arriving”. (Stop working your dirty mind plzz :P).
Anyway, so, though Mexican & Latin food has been available in menus bits and pieces across the city for some years, it has been limited to “Bar food” which is ordered cos its viable in a big group of friends or sometimes exploited with excessive “adding cheese” to it! So basically, South American food had never truly arrived….until now! If we were shooting a film right now, I would span the camera to – LUCA!
The newest entrant to Todi Mills, Luca replaces the space that was earlier – Oh: Cha. Specializing in South American food, Luca’s menu boasts of some gorgeous Mexican, Argentinian and Colombian food.
We started with a vegetarian Grapefruit Quinoa Salad which was a freshly tossed up salad of three colored quinoa, baby spinach and grapefruit. The tangyness of the grapefruit with the texture of quinoa was truly magical.
Luca, in their Mexican section of the menu, has some options of Coca (which is basically a mexican/spanish flat bread topped with toppings). I tried both the Beef Coca and the Grilled Vegetable & Burratta Coca and though both were absolutely amazing, I would’ve loved some more Burratta on the warm flat bread :P. But then again, you can never have too much Burratta :P.
The Enchiladas with Curried Potatoes was the most authentic version of the classic I have eaten in the city and is a must have.
What took the cake for me though was the Pork Belly Bites which was a fabulous combination of the buttery sweet boniata (sweet potato) and the jerk spiced and glazed pork belly bites.
The Eel Causa was absolutely authentic and delicious. However, I am not very sure on whether the Indian palette would be welcoming to this one.
The Chilli Con Carne (with an option of lamb mince/pork mince) is the absolutely must have main from the menu. It is filling, flavorful and just a total package of everything good in this world!
The Seafood Paella here is also perfection in terms of all – flavor, proportion of seafood and cook on the rice and seafood.
What is avoidable is the Mexican Lasagna which though quite nice in terms of flavor, was hampered by the excessive tomato sauce in it!
The most amazing part of the meal though was the dessert! I have, thanks to a cousin of mine who visited South America, tried the most amazing and authentic Tres Leches (south american milk soaked cake) some years back. Ever since then I have tried this delicacy at numerous places and been dissapointed and how! This however changed at Luca. They serve what is the closest to the most authentic Tres Leches in the city and you absolutely cannot miss it here!
The Churros too were crisp and nicely sugared and were served with different types of chocolates! Couldn’t stop eating these.
Luca also serves up some mean cocktails and mocktails and on a request, the bartender here will happily whip you up a fabulous drink customized to your liking.
All in all, Luca serves South American food in the way that is deserves to be served. It gives us a combo of classic and modern dishes without hurting the sacredness of the core of this cuisine. You must definitely visit Luca soon…..its totally worth it!
Until next time….
Love To Live To Eat 