Even though it’s a brand new restaurant, Mystic in Bali’s antecedents go back to August 2000 when Aseem Grover and Fawzia Ahmed set up their first food venture, The Big Chill at this venue. Hugely popular in Delhi as much for their kitschy interiors done up with old film posters, as for their scrumptious desserts, the restaurant opened its second branch in 2003, this time at Khan Market. A second diner followed at the bustling market in 2006, with the self-same casual dining ambience.

Now, the duo have traced back their steps and redecorated the original home of The Big Chill and aptly names it Mystic in Bali. “We did not want to redo a Big Chill in such close proximity to Khan Market. So we decided to explore the Southeast Asian cuisine. Fawzia brought out her cookbooks and we worked on the recipes for two and a half months,” says Aseem. The name too is a far cry from their iconic brand name. “The name comes from a popular cult horror film. We hope to inject this space with an equal dose of madness,” grins Aseem.

The 70-cover diner still retains its casual ambience with Fawzia checking on each guest personally, even as waiters run haywire penning down the orders at this packed restaurant.

We begin our meal with Chicken Khawsway (Rs 230), a popular Burmese soup topped with two halves of a boiled egg and a side accompaniment of crispy fried garlic and onions. The thick consistency of the soup is slightly disappointing and the generous dose of noodles in the soup almost makes it a wholesome curry. “It is meant to be a meal by itself,” Aseem insists.

The Chicken Lettuce Rolls (Rs 220) that follow are superb. It comes on a platter with four palm sized lettuce carrying strips of chicken sautéed in dark sweet soy. Roll up the lettuce and bite into the juicy chicken. Another worthy entrée is the Balinese Crispy Fish (Rs 300), that arrived with a side portion of noodles. The fish in stir fried in a delicious sweet soy sauce that makes it a lip-smacking number. Nasi Goreng (Rs 245), our main course, with rice and seafood mix is exceptionally hot—probably it adopts its flavours from traditional Indonesian cooking which is spicy and lip-numbing and accompanies two sticks of Chicken Satay. The menu offers Teppenyaki grills and Japanese soups along with “rustic Indonesian recipes”.

Keep some space for the dessert as the section includes the popular Big Chill items like Mississippi Mud Pie, Irish-cheese cake and Chocolate Mousse. Sinful, but worth every mouthful.