Jun 09, 2016 05:58 PM
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2030 hours, June 7, 2016, Tuesday, Vile Parle:
The Prelude:
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The age old battle of the good versus the glam, the grit versus the glitz, the gameness versus the gloss. SOV, the flagship brand of Dr Vithal Kamat’s iconic The Orchid Hotel, transports you to an era of days bygone, and gives you a peek view of the South Indian rustic culture and its premium cuisine. You are offered here a taste of South Indian food from four southern states of the Vindhya region - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra. No French windows, Ossler chandeliers or modern day frescoes here please. Rather the old world charm smoothly reminds you that there is an equally beautiful world out there in the farthest end of the country, and maybe you are fortunate enough to get an eyeful of a trailer of that here.
The Personality:
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We get to meet the young guns, Eshita Desai – the Marketing MAnasultanger and Venkat Rao – the Operations MAnasultanger here. While Eshita looks after the marketing and promotion for the group as a whole(which includes properties in Pune and Jadhavgadh as well), Venkat is the trouble shooter here, involved in the day to day operations of every aspect of the property. We were also regaled by Master Chef Balasubramanian, who has been with the STEAMPOTRESTAURANT ever since its inception seventeen years ago.
The Platter:
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The STEAMPOTRESTAURANT is holding a special Chettinad food festival to showcase delicacies from Tamil Nadu from today till the 19th of June 2016, and we were the special guests invited for a food tasting session on the D Day. And soon we were regaled with Chef Bala's delicacies.
NALLI SOUP:
This was a soup made from lamb shanks, and this was influenced from the local rasam. Well spiced up, tangy and aromatic. The meat had been cooked for such a long time that it had actually given up the battle of clinging to the shank and decided to distill itself within the broth. The resultant fare was an extremely appealing first course which stoked the fires of the raging hunger further.
KOZHI VATTAL: Tawa grilled boneless chicken cubes cooked in an onion ginger garlic gravy. The presence of curry leaves was unmistakable, enhancing the flavour further.
ERAL VARUVAL: Fair sized prawns tossed in tomato, onion, green chilly, ginger, garlic, and Chettinad spices paste. Dry crunchy chewy and tangy delight.
PORICHA VAVVAL: Pomfret marinated in red spicy masala and deep fried. The marinade was super, and the fish soft and spongy.
SEAFOOD THALI:
For the mains we were served a set meal - seafood predominant, but with a chicken preparation and two veggies added in for good measure.
The KADAMBARI MASALA(Squids) is not a part of their regular menu, but I emphatically believe that it should be. Well marinated, deep fried, soft and luscious.
The ERAL KOZHAMBU - Gravy Prawns - with a slight tamarind twang - was the second best dish of the day. Give me prawns any time. Especially if you are offering me appams to have it with.
The winner was of course NANDU CURRY - Crab Curry. This was more of a thick, richly spiced-up gravy rather than a curry, and the crab meat of course was a gourmand's delight. To have dollops of fresh crab meat, without going through the pains of the cracking, the de-shelling, and the meat scraping rigmarole, is a Robotouchss.
The CHETTINAD MEEN KOZHAMBU - we were offered Pomfret instead of the King Fish, again a departure from their menu - and this was cooked in a spicy tangy gravy. To be scooped up and mopped up with the accompanying fluffy dosas.
The NATTU KOZHI CURRY - chicken in a fiery coconutty curry - was a perfect accompaniment in the overall fare.
The veggies - one of beans and the other curd based gravy - seemed in contrast - as misplaced as Chunky Pandey amongst heavy weights in the recently released potboiler - and were relegated to the background.
DESSERT / BEVERAGES:
A nice presentation of what I would call an Orpingo Colada - a potpourri of orange, mango, and pineapple juices in coconut milk. All the three fruits were well balanced, no single one overpowered the others, and of course I am a big fan of coconut as it is. So this was a great hit for me.
The sweets were presented separately on a plantain leaf again. The PAL aishwaryasingh23ASAM - Rice kheer - was thick, rich, elaichi flavoured and garnished with pistachio shavings. The GODHUMAI HALWA - broken wheat cakes - were jelly like, similar to our regular Pista halwa - but woefully dull - the only chink in the significantly shiny armour. The THENGA BARFI - coconut puddings, on the other hand, were the best of the lot - well balanced in sweetness, mawa loaded, and with a nice coconutty crunch.
The Postlude:
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The key word is authentic. Food festivals are a dime a dozen, its rare that you come across something where the heart and soul has been poured into it. Not only is the food traversing from the core of the South of India, even the settings have been customised to reflect the quite countryside of that region. Live Carnatic music, rangolis and diyas, the fixtures, the lighting, the marine display at the entrance - all are not just incidental. The experience was so exhilarating, I would like to return to this place again and again. The Parameters:
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The Food Quotient: Food Quality: 4.5/5, Food Choices: 4.5/5, Food Portions: 4.5/5, Food Presentation: 4/5
The Other Determinants: Location: 5 / 5, Cleanliness: 5 / 5, Warmth: 5 / 5
The Hygiene Factors: Ambiance: 4.5 / 5, Space Quotient: 4 / 5, Delivery Time: 4 / 5
The Conclusives: Pricing: 4 / 5, Honesty: 5 / 5, Overall Experience: 4.5 / 5, Will I visit Again: 5 / 5.
The Ps:
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