A Bong feast at Hornby's Pavillion, ITC Grand Central

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to the ITC Grand Central - they were having a Bengali food festival. Some months earlier I had been to one at the ITC Maratha and that hadn't impressed me at all. I was still curious to see how it would turn out this time so, along with a few blogger friends, I went.

Let me tell you right at the start I was very impressed. The choice of dishes, the presentation and of course the taste - all very very good indeed. We proceeded to stuff ourselves while Chef Somnath (from the ITC Sonar, Kolkata) made every effort to ensure that were enjoying the food.

The meal began with Vegetable chops. These were delicious, full of assorted vegetables and a ruby red inside because of beetroot.

We also had Cauliflower pakoras but those were not half as delicious as the veg chops.

Next came chicken cutlets. These were excellent! Not the usual frilly egg fried kobiraji cutlet which has a little bone sticking out of one end but escalopes of chicken breaded and fried to perfection.

The last starter we ate was bhetki kobiraji. These looked very promising and we all dived in but unfortunately there was not a speck of salt in the fish so it was quite a disappointment. The fish was fried perfectly and the egg coating had a soft crunch but the lack of salt just killed it.

The starters were accompanied by an array of sauces, chutneys and of course Kasundi.

Once the starters were done Chef Somnath unleashed a veritable flood of food upon us! The vegetarian fare included

Chholar Daal Narkel Diye - Chana daal cooked with coconut

Mulo Palonger Ghanto - Spinach and radish with daal vadi

Chhanar Dalna - Home made Cottage Cheese in a gravy

Aloo Posto - Potato with poppy seeds

Enchorer Dalna - Raw Jackfruit or Kathal

There was also a Phulkopir Tarkari - A Cauliflower Subzi. I forgot to take a photograph. As you can see there was s much food, you can't really blame me!

All this was relished with a simple Ghee Bhaat - Rice with ghee and cashew nuts

At that time I thought luchis or Radhabollobis would have made this menu more complete. In hind sight, considering the sheer amount of food that we were presented with, maybe it was a good thing that there was none! My favourite among these was the Mulo Palonger Ghanto and of course the Aloo Posto.

Moving on to the non vegetarian selection, it was another endless stream of delicious well cooked, perfectly flavoured  food.

There was a Doi Ilish which I also missed taking a picture of. A Tangra Machher Rasa followed

Kosha Mangsho, one of the most well known Bengali mutton preparations

Rewaji Khasir Polao - A pulao made with kid goat, this is a Bangladeshi dish not to be confused with biryani.

And a fabulous Sorse Ilish - Hilsa in Mustard sauce. Here is Chef Somnath with the platter of Sorse Ilish, ready to serve us one of the best preparations of the evening.

And here I am enjoying my Ilish!

There was a mishti doi and an array of Bengali mishti to round off the meal. I'm one of those freak Bengalis who totally ignores mishti, I don't like mishti at all. But judging by the reactions around the table, the mishtis were quite a hit!

Keep an eye out for the next Bengali festival the ITC has. If Chef Somnath is in charge make sure you come. And in case you are in Kolkata, go over to the ITC Sonar and let him treat you to a truly delicious Bengali meal.

I hope the ITC Grand Central brings Chef Somnath back to Mumbai soon!

GoodFood at Kebabs & Kurries, ITC - a singular lesson in the gap between conceptualization and execution

Good Food Magazine had organised a Good Food Day today, 21st October, at the ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai. Now, the ITC restaurants rank quite high among the 5 Star hotel restaurants in my personal opinion and that made me buy a ticket to a lunch at this event. A blogger friend had been invited and I thought it would be nice to accompany her as the food would be good. I duly bought myself a ticket for Rs. 1,500 and waited for today to arrive.

Since S had opted to have lunch at Hornby's Pavillion I chose the same. Funnily, when I saw the print out of my ticket it said I was booked for lunch at the Kebabs & Kurries restaurant instead. As it turned out S and I would not be attending the same session any way because her session was fully booked. If I was to dine on my own I was quite happy to do it at Kebabs & Kurries because sumptuous food from the erstwhile royal kitchens of India rates very highly on my list.

I was booked for lunch at 1.30pm and I arrived well in time. I was told I was too early and to come back at 1 or 1.15. They looked hassled and I didn't want to bother them further so I sat in the main lobby and thanked God for smart phones and 3G connectivity so I could keep myself entertained. I went back at 1.15 and confirmed my registration. I was informed that the sessions were running a little late and I could wait in the bar, Dublin. I did. Eventually, an hour later I was finally informed that the session, the 2nd of the day, was ready to begin. I was shown to my table and I joined five other ravenous diners, waiting to be served.

We were seated at 2.35pm. Our server confirmed our preferences for vegetarian and non vegetarian and we eagerly waited for the food to begin. 3 green water goblets that looked like they were props from the Harry Potter movies were set in front of the vegetarians. I thought, ugly glasses but a nice trick to make it easy for the servers to identify veg/non veg eating guests at the table. Now anyone would have expected similar glasses in a different colour for the non vegetarian guests, right? Wrong! The rest of us were given regular clear glass water glasses. Not that it is such an earth shattering issue but one would expect them to have matching glassware at the ITC.

I will not bore you with details of how long it took for all 6 guests seated at the table to get a water glass and then have it filled with water.

The first course arrived. Jhinge ki Kurkuri. 2 phyllo cigars stuffed with spiced prawns served with a drizzle of mint chutney. There was a strong 'prawn-y' whiff as soon as I bit into the first cigar and a dominant taste of cheese. I found this amouse bouche singularly underwhelming. My bouche was not amused.

The second course was Mahi Angbin, Stuffed fish with spices and mince, cooked to perfection. It was far from perfect. Overcooked and then dehydrated because it was probably sitting for too long, I didn't eat more than the first mouthful. I was still optimistic and opted not to fill up space with something I didn't really like.

The third course was a Gosht ke Galouti kebab. Every Avadhi chef worth his salt wants to show off his skills with a Galouti. I was not impressed with this one. There was so much salt that the delicate flavours of the spices had no hope of shining through. The texture however was like silk. I was wondering why they served just a single kebab but after tasting it I was relieved that there was only one.

I was still hopeful. This is the ITC. I've had plenty of Good Food experiences at their restaurants. There will be something I like. I was sure.

The fourth course was Murgh Angara. The menu card said Salan Chillies Stuffed with chicken mince and flavoured with spices. It sounded interesting enough. When it arrived I saw a crinkly browned surface of what looked like deep fried chicken with bits of chillies peeking out from within. It seemed to me that a chicken escalope had been wrapped around the chilly filling and then shaped to look like a chilly with the stalk in place and everything. Maybe I'm wrong. I ate the smaller piece and found the surface difficult to chew though the inside was soft enough. I couldn't eat the second piece as it was too big to eat whole and I could not cut it with the knife. The surface just would not 'give'.

I must mention here that my fellow diners didn't look impressed with what they were eating and the vegetarians seemed to be even less impressed than I was.

Then came the fifth course. It was finally time for the mains and the menu looked promising. Kundan Kareli, lamb shanks stewed overnight in spices and served with warqi paratha. The lamb was served in a miniature serving bowl, one single lamb shank with a generous amount of meat on it in a fragrant and flavourful gravy. It was sublime!

Don't assume things had improved. They hadn't. Things turned distinctly peculiar. There were  no dinner plates. None arrived. So there we were, with these little bowls of lamb and gravy and parathas in a basket and no china to eat it out of. We struggled with a fork that wouldn't fit in the bowl and ate whatever we could. There was no place to park the paratha so one was permanently struggling to hold the paratha, keep the bowl steady, skewer a piece of meat on the fork without lifting the entire piece out and of course, making sure one didn't spill the entire lot onto one's lap.

I ate what I could without embarrassing myself and abandoned most of the dish.

Meanwhile the biryani, the sixth course had been plonked on the table. It looked beautiful and had the khushk parda type of dough seal across the top. I broke it open and there was a luscious aromatic Avadhi lamb biryani. I was drooling. Biryani is my most favourite preparation and I can eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. But even I cannot eat it out of a serving vessel. In spite of asking for dinner plates none arrived. I ate what I could because I was hungry. But I had lost interest and was so sorely disappointed with the abysmal food at the beginning and then the abysmal service that even the most delicious food would not have made a difference. In fact, it was there, right ion front of me, but 6 disappointing courses down the road I couldn't care less.

The seventh and eighth courses were desserts. I wanted to ignore both. However my wonderful dinner companions coaxed me into at least tasting each one.

The Seviyon ka Muzzaffar was interesting. Wheat vermicelli cooked to perfection with generous amount of ghee and nuts - not overtly sweet, nicely flavoured and surprisingly light considering it was supposed to have generous amount of ghee. However it was too dry to eat on its own and the copious quantity of powdered nuts only coated the back of the throat leaving one parched. A small shot of mildly sweetened milk would have been a good accompaniment.

The Paheli ke Ande -mock eggs made with milk and khoa was definitely beautifully crafted. A melon ball 'yolk' covered in a milk and khoa 'egg white' garnished with sabja seeds and a dash of falooda. I'm diabetic and so I avoid desserts and I'm therefore not going to comment on the taste, but it did look impressive.

There seemed to be something strange going on at Kebabs & Kurries vis a vis crockery and cutlery. While the flatware was not changed at all through the meal, we didn't get dinner plates even after repeated requests for the same. The pinnacle of absurdity was with the desserts. As you've read, the two desserts are quite different. The first dessert arrived with a tea spoon and the second one came without. When we asked for spoons the server actually said that we had to use the same spoon as was given with the earlier dessert! That is when one of my fellow diners lost her temper and snapped at the waiter asking him to get everyone at the table a fresh spoon NOW. For once, the server obliged.

At the end of this incredible fine dining experience one of us asked for a finger bowl. Our server looked at us in confusion and after a moment's hesitation, got the requested finger bowl. Once the rest of us had finished our meal we asked for our finger bowls. The server shrugged and that was that. It seems finger bowls were not on offer either.

I cannot write all this and not mention the fate of the vegetarians at the table. To cut a long story short their fate was worse. From what they said I gathered that two of their starters, the Subzi ki Shikampur and the Farmaishi Kebab left them quite underwhelmed. The Zafrani Paneer was nice but just that, nice. The colocasia cooked in tangy salan served with paratha was good but difficult to eat without dinner plates.

The Chulao with Sultani Daal was the piece de resistance of this meal. Described as traditionally cooked basmati rice served with an innovative yellow daal (which leaves you as ignorant of what to expect as you were before reading the description) turned out to be plain white rice with more or less plain boiled yellow daal. Of the three vegetarian guests at our table not one finished this course. They were angry and disappointed. And I was angry along with them.

The rice and the daal were each served in vaatis or small bowls, the same kind that you see lined up in your plate when you eat a Thali meal. And as you've correctly guessed, there were no dinner plates.

I'm wondering if any thought was put into the organising or execution of this event. Rs.1,500 is not small change for a single person to pay for a meal. Considering the occasion, the venue and the brands involved I expected a fine dining experience where the food, the ambience, the service, everything would be impeccable.

Here's what I got.

1. Lunch began 1 hour late
2. Apart from being seated at the Dublin no hospitality was extended to waiting guests. Not even a glass of water was offered. 
3. There was no one keeping the waiting guests informed as to when they expected the second seating to begin
4. Service was inconsistent, indifferent and shoddy. 
5. There was one menu card at the table, not one for each guest
6. No beverage was offered along with the lunch. Not a soft drink, not wine, nothing. 
7. While the amouse bouches/starters were served in their own plates there were no dinner plates provided during the main course
8. Cutlery was not changed once throughout the meal. 
9. No finger bowls provided at the end of a meal that required guests to eat with their fingers. (remember the parathas and the balancing act with the lamb?)
10. The food itself was badly prepared and there wasn't enough of it.
11. No guest was offered a second helping of anything. 
12. Not once did the server ask any guest if they needed anything
13. Not once did anyone ask if the food was good or the guests happy/satisfied

I have never said this before after a meal at a restaurant. But today, I want my money back. 

Dum Pukth at the ITC Maratha - A review

A couple of weeks ago I received an invitation to a dinner at the Dum Pukth at the ITC Maratha. Rushina told me this was a dinner designed for the meat lover and the cuisine that would be show cased was the Avadhi cuisine of the Nawabs. Of course I accepted!

The Dum Pukth is one of the biggest feathers in the ITC cap. The restaurant had had a makeover and we were invited to participate in what was the soft launch while the absolute final touches were being done. A lot of thought had been put in to designing the space, the décor, the place settings, and the staff had been trained in Nawabi tehzeeb too.

As we were welcomed with a gracious 'adaab' we beheld a splendidly laid out table with glittering cutlery, gorgeous china, delicately embroidered linen, and sparkling crystal. It was a sumptuous setting, a hint to the sheer luxury that was to follow. And believe me, it did.

Rini and Aishwarya, our hosts for the evening, explained how much thought had gone into every detail resulting in the splendour we saw before us. I loved the wave pattern on the marble floor, supposed to recreate flowing water.

As we were seated with more 'adaab's greeting us, the sheer beauty of the crockery hit me. In these days of  melamine and Corelle convenience the sight of the fabulous china was sheer delight. Custom designed china paired with beautiful silverware and glittering crystal, for me this was half the pleasure of the evening.

A silver base plate topped with an exquisite charger plate. Eating off fine china makes a world of difference and at the Dum Pukth, they've really chosen well. I'm a fan already!

As we were seated we were handed our individual menu cards...

As I glanced through it I realised I was going to be really stuffed at the end of this meal...in fact, I wondered if I could actually eat that much! Any way, that's what I was here for and so I waited for the meal to begin.

The starters began to arrive. First up was the murgh chandi tikka. Around 7 scary looking cameras were whipped out and the frantic clicking began. Yes, us bloggers are as obsessed about taking pictures as we are about eating. Food to us as much visually beautiful as it is on the tongue. This went on as every new dish was presented and I must say, the gentlemen who served us were very, very patient.

Going back to the murgh chandi tikka, it looked appetizing topped with silver varakh and all. Along with it arrived the Mahi Dariya and soon followed one of the Dum Pukth's signature dishes, the Kakori kebab. The tikkas were decent enough but the Mahi Dariya and the Kakori Kebabs stole the show. Flat fillets of Bhekti lightly spiced, battered and deep fried to crisp perfection. I would go back just for those. The legendary Kakori Kebabs were redolent of cloves and were smooth and soft, velvet on the tongue. Even though I knew there was lots more to come, I couldn't resist having seconds of both.

As the dinner began and the guests were served, we were gently welcomed to enjoy our meal with a softly spoken 'nosh farmiye'...

We were also plied with Seekh Nilofari, kebabs made with lotus seeds and lotus stems, flavoured with fresh herbs and spices. This was accompanied by a Navratan chutney, a green chutney with anaar daana. The kebabs on their own were okay but with the chutney they escalated to another level entirely. The Dudhiya kebab, discs of paneer with a spiced mash potato filling were also quite nice. But then I'm a carnivore, and I couldn't give these their true due...

Then came the Shorba Purbahar. A beautiful soup plate was placed in front of each guest and in the centre was then sprinkled a tablespoon of tender mung sprouts. On the sprouts was then poured the shorba.

A neat gimmicky presentation and a genuinely delicious shorba.

As we enjoyed the starters we were served a beautiful Sauvignion Blanc from South Africa. It went perfectly with the food, suited my fundamentally Indian palate and taste and I had glass or two...

Next on the menu were the main courses. I was quite stuffed already. Avadhi food creeps up on you and at the Dum Pukth every dish is cooked in pure ghee, not something one is used to at all! We took a bit of a break as conversation flowed across the table. There were discussions ranging from Islamic calligraphy, the Nawabs and their food to the what camera setting worked best for the food shots for the evening!

The main course started with the Jhinge ka Salan. Huge prawns in a yoghurt based methi and turmeric sauce. The thing with prawns is that you have to get them just right. The thing with the Jhinge ka Salan was that the jhinga was overcooked. The sauce was well made but the prima donna was not at her best.

The Shahi Nehari (lamb shanks) was a delight with the flavour of saffron the easily recognisable star of the show.

The Murgh Khushk Purdah made its grand entrance and of course the cameras clamoured to get a good shot of this celebrity. The food paparazzi was in full form! Chicken Pot Pie, Nawabi style. The puff pastry was spiced and flavoured and was as delicious as the chicken that nestled under.

We were also served Maash Qaliya - split green mung cooked with spinach and spices. This was another preparation that I could go back to Dum Pukth for.

These main courses were accompanied by a variety of breads. We sampled khamiri roti, Taftan dum pukth, warqi parathas, roghani roti, and with our starters we'd had the most delightful little sheermals.

Finally it was time for the biryani. Now I am mad about biryani and can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is probably the first time I didn't savour it because I was just too stuffed. Such a grand dinner was simply too much! I wish I was 18 again, I could have eaten it all and then some! But, stuffed as I was, I couldn't resist so I had a teeny bit anyway. I'm glad I did.

Fragrant rice, succulent pieces of lamb, what more does one want? A dash of mace, a splash of ittar and a whiff of kewra - it was all there. This is what makes a Bengali weep with joy and though I've grown up in Mumbai with a preference for the richer, more robust Hyderabadi style of biryani, the more sophisticated Avadhi style is growing on me. Another reason to come back to the Dum Pukth.

Since I have diabetes I don't pay much attention to the desserts. There was a saffron and pistachio kulfi, a variation of the gulab jamun called the shahed e jaam, and on demand, they also served Shahi Tukda (which is double ka meetha for the Hyderabadis). 

I did sip on the Hungarian dessert wine that was served but I found it too sweet. That is probably because I eat very little 'sweet' and am not used to the taste.  

The experience at the Dum Pukth was luxurious. One was cosseted and very well taken of. The staff was most sporting especially with all the manic photographing that went on all through the dinner and probably delayed things in the kitchen endlessly. I can understand that because we work the kitchen end ourselves and interruptions in the course of service are not what one really appreciates.

Dum Pukth. If a taste of a royal cuisine is what you are looking for, this is the place to find it.

Dum Pukth. ITC Maratha. Sahar, Mumbai.