I was asked to come at 8 pm.
So I did.
For the first few minutes, I sat with Chef Saadia Khan, Pincode’s corporate chef, making small talk while the room filled up. Pincode by Kunal Kapoor Hidden inside a mall in Bengaluru, which seems counterintuitive until you understand Bengaluru. Then the chef walked in Kunal Kapoor. No party. No spotlight. He pulled a chair in front of me and we talked.
He got up. He checked on the other table. He went to the kitchen. He came back.
The next three and a half hours passed like this. No formal interview. No staged chef’s table. A conversation that kept finding me between services. By 11:30 p.m., when I left, and midnight when I got home, I realized that I had just spent an evening that felt less like reviewing a restaurant and more like attending something personal. Read this also Chef Kunal Kapoor’s diet secret revealed: Here’s what he drinks every morning and what he eats for breakfast, lunch, dinner
‘All Indian in one plate’
“For me, Pincode is an extension of my travels over the years to different cities in India,” says Chef Kunal as he finally sits down. He further added, “I am someone who enjoyed traveling at a young age… The more I travel, the more I know about the place, the cuisine, the culture, the community.”
This is a brief description of Pincode Bengaluru. Not any other North Indian restaurant. Not the usual suspects.
“I’m just trying to bring Pincode to Bengaluru, it’s a part of my journey… a bit pan-Indian,” says Chef Kunal, “We’re mostly typecast as a North Indian restaurant. But if you look at the menu, it’s widely spread. In fact, even today, what you have is a nice mix-and-match of many different places.”
And this is it.
Peach Wood Smoked Tofu with Lacto-Fermented Plums and Lychee. Ajmeri Kachori Chaat with curry and sweet and sour pumpkin. Amaranth and Moringa Coconut Curry with Ricotta. Kashmiri Morels with Earthy Apple Crunch. Then comes Jackfruit Kizhi. It comes in a banana leaf, open at the table. Inside is jackfruit, which is served with Malabar Parotta, Podi Appalam, Pachadi. It smells like Kerala in July and tastes like someone’s grandmother decided to cook for you. I’m still thinking about it.
We finish with dal makhani, thayir sadam, and kot pitha with fleur de sel – sesame ice cream, jaggery caramel, and cherries. elegant. Restrained. A sweet that doesn’t scream.
curd rice which stopped serving
But amidst all this, that moment happened which made that night special. Thayir Sadam was on the menu for me that night – curd rice Vadu maang, curd with chilli and cashew nuts. Easy. Comfortable. Something you don’t expect to be the star of a tasting menu.
Chef Kunal tried one spoon. Then he looked up: “Can I have more?”
He did it. Whole second service.
And then he did something that I’ve never seen a chef like him do. He called the chef making the dish from the kitchen into the dining room and said, “This is just what I wanted.” Easy. Clean. Honest.
“It’s just what you need between all the traveling and work meetings with which your days are filled. It’s good. It’s simple,” he says, half to me, half to the chef.
It was not demonstrative. It was gratitude. For a dish, for a chef, for the idea that after 26 years, a bowl of curd rice can still stop a top chef in his tracks.
Only then did I understand the pin code. It’s not about spectacle. It’s about caring.
My 10 Minute Masterclass on Weeknight Tofu
In between courses, I made a stupid confession: I’m better off having dinner at home. tofu With sesame and soy sauce. I expected polite agreement. Instead, Chef Kunal called Chef Saadia. For 10 minutes, he told me about his sesame oil brands, the depth of soy sauce, and the heat of the wok.
A chef who has cooked in Dubai and Abu Dhabi suddenly brought my simple dinner to mind.
That is the pincode. It’s not about performance. It’s about paying attention.
According to Chef Kunal, what to order?
I asked Chef Kunal what to order and what not to miss at his restaurant. “I love sweets. bread with milk It’s one of my favourites,” he says, “and I’m one of those people who enjoys eating a lot of momos. The chutney that we make with the chicken and vegetarian momos, I think is fantastic,” says the chef.
For non-vegetarians, he has a mission: “India runs on biryani, biryani, biryani; but I personally feel pulao is no less… mutton pulao, if you eat here, you will fall in love. Pulao is inherently a non-vegetarian dish. That’s how it started with me, with yakhni.” For vegetarians, he recommends: “Vegetarian biryani, but especially pulao.”
And then the sleeper: Sindhi Dal Pakwan. “It’s dal with a little bit of peas, tamarind chutney, onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. It’s a very rustic dish. People don’t usually expect it on our menu. And yet it’s there and does well,” says Chef Kunal.
He tells me why: “My grandparents migrated from Lahore during Partition. While growing up, we used to eat dal pakwan at home on Sundays. This is seared in my memory.”
colonial stroke and mall argument
I ask if all postcodes look the same. “There’s a certain design language that we try to keep the same. But we’re also breaking that pattern,” he says.
He points out that Goa is a 350-year-old Portuguese bungalow, while Bengaluru borrows from its colonial past – round globes, artworks, high windows: “Just touches of that era. But at the end of the day, the place should still be comfortable, attractive, brightly lit.”
Staying in a mall is also intentional, says Sheff: “In a city like Bengaluru, traffic sometimes becomes a bit of a hassle. Parking is a big issue. And if it rains, thank you very much. Malls offer one of the easiest things: come, park, and forget. And then just enjoy and spend your time.”
three words and a lot of licking
Three words for Pincode Bengaluru? He pauses, then adds, “I don’t know how to express it in three words. But I think it will be unforgettable. Certainly, it gives you a sense of nostalgia. And it’s something where you get to see the whole of India on a plate.”
If any dish symbolizes this, it is licking.
Chef Kunal says, “As a child, my mother used to tell me that if I completed my homework, I would get ₹2 I eat whatever I want. And I used to save that money to eat chaat. For me, chaat is sweet, sour, salty, spicy and umami all rolled into one. I always call it a mess. Look one lick. But when you taste it, it’s worth it.
In Bengaluru, that mess is Podi Idli Chaat. “We were like who eats idli chaat? Where idli, where chaat (we thought, who will eat idli chaat)?” He laughs, “Thank God we didn’t listen to our heads. We went against the rules and said, ‘Let’s try this.’ And it’s been a super, super, duper success for us.”
It’s been 26 years since I heard it
For 26 years, he says the work is about listening and moving fast: “My turnaround time in getting things right is much faster now. If something is wrong, if I accept, it’s easier. Art is a form of expression… but the person who is consuming that art also expresses what they feel about that art.”
During Pincode’s first week in Bengaluru, he remembers being told: “Your food is sweet, sweet, sweet.” Translation: Not spicy enough. “So we had to increase the spice level. Everywhere, your same dish, the recipe which was a hit in this pin code, may not be a hit in another pin code. You have to adapt it to the local taste. It’s a constant gamble,” he says.
11:30 pm: Hanging out
I leave at 11:30 pm. I have pictures of every plate. No one with Chef Kunal. He was busy – with the guests, with Chef Saadia, with the restaurant team, serving curd rice.
Walking through an empty mall, I’m thinking about sesame oil. About this ₹For 2 licks. About dal pakwan on Sunday. And about a chef who, between running a restaurant group and opening in a new city, will still stop for a few seconds to ask for curd rice and call the chef over to say thanks.
Pincode is not trying to be the fastest table in Bengaluru. This is an attempt to be most humane. Where ‘Pan-India on a Plate’ is not a tagline. he has dinner. And sometimes, it’s just curd rice.
Go. Order Jackfruit Kizhi. Order Podi Idli Chaat. And if you see Chef Kunal, ask him about pulao. He will come back to your table to answer.
The author was hosted by Pincode on editorial invitation.
