Panning for gold
Panning for gold
Delhi
The pan-Asian restaurant can be notoriously a hit or miss. How does 19 Oriental Avenue at the Shangri-La shape up?
- Sanjiv Bhattacharya
I’ve always found the “pan-Asian” concept a little problematic. There’s the naked ambition for starters, as unseemly in restaurants as in people— to even hope to present the cuisine of a continent seems doomed from the start, and smacks of naivety. Worse still, that combination of naivety and ostentation. And anyway, won’t quality suffer? We’ve all heard of Jack, he of “all trades” fame.
So I arrived at 19 Oriental Avenue at the Shangri-La, a little sceptical, to be honest. And my scepticism scarcely ebbed when the waiter handed me the menus—one Thai, one Chinese and one Japanese—17 pages in all. They felt heavy in my hands, like a homework assignment that I had to complete before I could eat. India Jones in Mumbai does a great job of simplifying the choices at hand and rendering them accessible. But here, I found myself wading through obscure terminology like Kanmi, Dian Xin and Manjsavirat and ultimately just closing the volumes with a snap and shooting from the hip. I knew in my gut that the kitchen couldn’t possibly do everything on the menu to the same standard, that some dishes were simply better than others and I didn’t know which ones. This is how choice can make us unhappy—we’re under pressure to make a selection, but there are too many options, so we’re never sure if we’ve made the “right” one. And as soon as we’ve ordered, we feel like we’re missing out. It’s the same with the giant buffets you get on Sundays. Admittedly, this isn’t a problem exclusive to the pan-Asian model.
The food was fine, not sure that sweet and sour is doing justice to Lobster, but it was perfectly edible, as was the Sushi and the Dim Sum. But there’s no call for those awful adjectives like “divine” and “sumptuous”. A rabble of Australian wine tasters were creating a racket in the bar behind us and we ate our food in something of a hurry. Then along comes the bill—a bottle of New Zealand Cloudy Bay clocked in at something close to eight times the price in the US.
ADDRESS: 19 Oriental Avenue, Shangri-La Hotel
CONTACT: 011-41191040
OPEN: 12.20-2.45 p.m. and 7.30-11.45 p.m.
MEAL FOR TWO: Rs 3,500 (food only)
MUST TRY: Signature Dumplings with Mushroom and Bamboo Shoot, Deep Fried Lobster Tail in Sweet and Sour Sauce, Gindara Lemon Butter
Night and day
Delhi
One of South Delhi’s finest restaurants, Shalom, is now offering light Mediterranean lunches. See you there.
- Sanjiv Bhattacharya
You probably know Shalom by now, it’s won all the prizes. The place with the vibe, the DJs, the hanging chicken kebabs, the best hummus in South Delhi, the balcony floor, the minimalist bar. But you probably haven’t seen it by day. Shalom’s one of those nightspots, with the low lighting, the mellow beats, a place to chill and drink wine and wade into the Baba Ganoush.
Well, things change. Now chef Raymond Wasser has introduced a lunch menu—adding to the six or so pages he already has for dinner. There’s all kinds of soup and salad and tapas going on—Prawn Bisque and Asparagus and Orange Salad; Fish Skewers, Crispy Lamb Bites and Pan-fried Chicken in Tangy Mustard sauce. Our handsdown favourite was the Scrambled Mushroom Pita, possibly the finest vegetarian tapas dish in the subcontinent. But I’m not turning my nose up at the Lamb Moussaka either. If you can handle lamb at lunchtime without falling into a coma at that important meeting around 4 p.m., then give it a try—the sauce is killer.
Being in Shalom by day is a dangerous gambit, though. The place is seductive, it leads you in, removes your jacket and before you know it, you’re two glasses in and asking the DJ what that tune was with the funky sitar and that Moroccan girl singing. Then you’re calling the office— hold all meetings—and asking, in all seriousness, for Chocolate Salami, a dessert which only sounds like a Nigerian porn star. Oh, and what the hell—make mine a Lychee Martini. When you do it right, there’s no meal quite as decadent as lunch.
ADDRESS: N Block GK-I/ D Block Market, Vasant Vihar
CONTACT: 011-41632280; 41688993/94
OPEN: 12.30-3.30 p.m.
MEAL FOR TWO: Rs 1,500 (food only)
MUST TRY: Mushroom Pita, Melon & Prawn Salad, Lamb Moussaka, Pan Fried Prawns with Paprika and Saffron White Wine Veloute, Chocolate Salami
Eating well
Mumbai
Known best for its authentic Indian cuisine, Kebab Korner at InterContinental Marine Drive is going the healthy way.
- Anamika Butalia
With a view of the Queen’s Necklace, Kebab Korner at InterContinental Marine Drive has an advantage over most Mumbai restaurants. The view of the sea lends tranquility unlike anywhere else and yet the restaurant manages to create a buzz of its own. It accommodates up to 80 at a time with its large tables meant for groups of four and more, making it an apt dining option for corporates in the day and families in the night.
Kebab Korner has won accolades for being the Best Indian Restaurant in Mumbai for two consecutive years. So, it comes as a surprise that a place which is synonymous with a luxurious layer of butter on the dal makhni and the mouth-watering biryani has introduced the Kebabbq Wellness Combo Meal for lunch. “Corporates who come for lunch are relieved to hear of the wellness meal,” says Executive Chef Amit Bharadwaj.
There are four variations of the combo meals. The soup, salad and wrap (prepared in wholewheat) is very popular, but beating it to top position is the soup, salad and grill option. Vegetarian and nonvegetarian grill options are plenty of which must-try options are the pudina paneer tikka, Afghani murgh tikka and pompret tikka. The carb ’n fibre lunch includes a salad, a biryani and a bowl of raita—made with cuminseasoned probiotic yogurt. The other variation is the ‘Keep it Low’ lunch, which includes a side portion of organic roquette and grilled broccoli salad and a low GI rice biryani.
Regardless of how full one is, the dal makhni remains a highlight here. And as regulars already know, every meal is complimented by the best view in the city.
ADDRESS: InterContinental Marine Drive, 135 Netaji Subhash Road, Marine Drive
CONTACT: 022-39879999
OPEN: 12.30-3.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.-12 midnight
MEAL FOR TWO: Rs 5,600 (excludes alcohol)
MUST TRY: The Kebabbq Wellness Combo Meal, Dal Makhni
