A place for all seasons

The Four Seasons Hotel has been one of the more controversial in the city. 

Its location is, to put it mildly, a bit of a disaster, adjacent to various slum colonies.  But once you enter in the driveway it does have a certain Dubai-like charm and feel, with the waving palm trees masking the surrounding squalor.

The hotel has been developing new venues. One of the most attractive features of the hotel is the Aero Bar, offering a spectacular view of the city and having the most generous happy hour which extends upto 8 o’clock, where you can order a flute of Moet for Rs500, 50% off and be in one of the most atmospheric locations in Mumbai.  

There is the exquisite Japanese restaurant, San Qui, which I reviewed last year, and I rated it above the Wasabi. I was taken totally with the Omakasa menu in which there had been a pairing of seven courses with sake.

Sake is one of the most misunderstood beverages. It is hugely complex, it is said that sake has 400 flavour components compared to around 200 for wine and this was picked up in the pairings. One of the most spectacular of which was the fois gras chawanmushi, bekkar ann and wasabi. 

The combination of the fois gras and real wasabi was revelation. It must be emphasised that what San Qui served us was real wasabi and not commercial wasabi, which is a mixture of horseradish powder, mustard powder, mushroom extract, citric acid and yellow dye. 

No, real wasabi is only from Japan; it is cousin of the horseradish and a member of the plebian cabbage family. Genuine wasabi costs as much as truffles. 

This is a tribute to the insistence in the highest quality of ingredients as well as the magic of Chef Kato. A tip for a reasonably priced Japanese bento box lunch is what is on offer at lunchtime at San Qui.  

The big disappointment has been the Italian restaurant, Prato. I was most unimpressed by it as it was too Frenchified.  For example, with the bread normally in an Italian restaurant you would find extra virgin olive oil and quality balsamico: what Prato served was French butter.

The cheese board contained no Italian cheeses, but French, such as the brie; not appropriate for an Italian restaurant.  It was also very expensive, certainly 20% more than it should have been. 

With Vetro shut down after the terrorist attacks, you would imagine that Prato would have no competition, but it failed miserably. The space is now occupied by a coffee shop, called Prato, but the Italian gourmet dining restaurant is gone. 

I went to the coffee shop for brunch last Sunday and I thought it was the best brunch in town. The selection of salads, cold cuts, some excellent oysters, prawns, fois gras, all were incredibly enticing. 

They also served Moet champagne to go with this extraordinary spread. The thing that I was most impressed with was the quality; the cheeses including the parmesan and pecorino were excellent.

The sushi and sashimi were of the highest standard. The brunch came to around Rs3000 (inclusive of taxes) which I thought, given the exacting standards which the Four Seasons follows, was value for money.