Food Review | At 8ish, a journey through Radhanagari finds its way to the plate

In an age when restaurants often talk about “local ingredients” as a marketing phrase, 8ish’s new menu, Local-ish, begins with a premise that gets its chefs to step away from their kitchen in the city and listen to what the local culture and cuisine of Radhanagar had to offer.

The Mumbai cocktail bar’s team travelled to Radhanagari in Maharashtra’s Western Ghats without a fixed menu plan or a list of suppliers to source from. 

Instead, creative director Jishnu AJ and chef Touseef Shamsudeen spent days walking through local markets, foraging, eating in homes and understanding ingredients that rarely make their way into urban restaurants. The result is not a recreation of Radhanagari cuisine, but an interpretation of memories, techniques and flavours gathered from the journey.

The most compelling discovery from the trip was a 28-spice blend called Chatni Cha Masala, prepared differently by families across the region but always closely guarded. It becomes the thread running through much of the menu, especially in the Jackfruit Sukka/Chicken Sukka with Bhakri Waffle and Raw Mango Relish.

 Inspired by a wood-fired meal of rooster cooked in the spice blend and eaten with bhakri, the dish transforms that rustic experience into a more contemporary format. The crisp bhakri waffle holds either jackfruit or chicken sukka, with coconut, spice and a sharp raw mango relish cutting through the richness.

The Black Rice Risotto with Mutton Pickle takes a traditional preservation technique and places it in a familiar global format.

The slow-cooked black rice carries the depth of mutton preserved with spice, sesame and coconut, while the peanut thecha, fried garlic and onions add layers of texture. It is not a conventional risotto; it is a dish that sits somewhere between Maharashtra’s kitchens and contemporary restaurant language.

Another interesting interpretation is the Pandhra Rassa preparation. The delicate Kolhapuri coconut broth, usually served warm with meat preparations, arrives here as a chilled accompaniment to cured pink perch. The vegetarian version replaces the fish with seasonal litchi treated almost like a sushi ingredient. Just one problem, and that is that the subtlety of the broth occasionally struggles to hold its own against stronger flavours on the plate.

The dessert perhaps best captures the philosophy behind Local-ish. The Corn Husk Ice Cream with Honey Millet Granola and Karvandh Coulis uses ingredients that are often overlooked or discarded. Corn husks lend a mild sweetness to the ice cream, while forest honey collected during the expedition, millet granola and the tartness of karvandh create a dessert that feels connected to the landscape rather than merely inspired by it.

The bar follows a similar path. The Jackfruit Rassa cocktail uses a steam-distilled version of Chatni Cha Masala to capture the essence of the spice blend without overwhelming the drink. 

A bael-based cocktail experiments with texture, turning the fruit into a liquid jello-like element, while a karvandh cocktail uses a month-long sweet pickle made after the berries were collected from local sellers.

 The most adventurous creation is the Nilgiri cocktail, built around a eucalyptus spirit distilled from the leaves and layered with Scotch, triphala and ratanjot. It smells intensely of the forest and recreates a sense of place.

There are moments when some dishes may require diners to slow down and understand the story behind them. But that is also what makes the menu interesting. It does not rely on nostalgia or simply present regional ingredients as novelty. Instead, it asks questions about what Indian cuisine can look like when chefs engage deeply with communities.

At a time when restaurants across India are searching for ways to define their identity, 8ish’s experiment is a reminder that sometimes, the most interesting flavours are found a few hours away, waiting to be noticed.