The hunt was for the most unique dish at Bungalow 9, an upmarket restaurant in Bandra, Mumbai. And by what almost every table seemed to sport early in the dining experience, it was some kind of coffee capped with a generous helping of cream.

The waiter corrected that in fact it was not coffee but Mushroom Cappuccino soup, a John Hancock dish from the chef of the restaurant Ketan ManeNaturally, that was the dish to order especially since the assurance was that there was no trace of milk in it and so perfect for a vegan. The cup came hot and steaming and looked like a perfect cup of coffee without the signature aroma of coffee of course. The steam atop the cup shone under the soft yellow lights in the restaurant but it kept losing a bit of the sparkle with every passing second. The choice was either sipping the foam to get a whiff of a foamy-mushroom combination taste or just wait for the lather to to evaporate. The combination taste seemed like a better idea. And it tasted like something quite different, though a little “unassociated” for want of a better word. A bit of ‘truffle’ whiff added to a thick paste of mushroom mash was more like it. The soup was not steaming hot because one guesses the chef added the froth after making the soup. So it was best to gulp down the foam and the soup together. The after taste was refreshing – the mushroom-truffle taste worked. But wait, after the foam the soup actually tasted like any other mushroom soup ! The chef Ketan Mane admitted that the soup does taste like any other available in other restaurants. “It is the two taste together that is different,” he said. “More than the taste, I wanted it to look different,” he added.

It looked different and tasted different but alas a general discussion with other chefs revealed that the recipe, rather the dish is quite a few years old. While Bungalow 9 has been whipping it up for the last two years, other chefs have also been experimenting with it. While some add a bit of cappuccino powder atop the foam to give it the authentic look, at Bungalow 9, it is served simply with a fresh crunch toast at the side. For an odd Rs 200, not a bad deal at all but how about some more innovations with mushroom soup. How about a cup of Mushroom Late or Expresso Mushroom. As chef Ketan puts it, it is all in the look, not much in the taste.

In fact, to my horror I was told while there was no milk, there was a bit of fresh cream which was used to make the foam along with truffle oil. Pray, does not everyone know the milk cream is made from milk and is a milk product!