Comment

Large doors that look like they belong to a fort make for a rather imposing entrance. Then, you walk through a rather enchanting open air dining area, complete with little ponds, frangipani trees and quite amazingly for Mumbai, in spite of bright city lights and atmospheric inversion, you actually see stars in the sky.

Then through some more imposing doors till you actually reach the restaurant (the open air place seemed to have no service). Obviously, since we haven’t made a reservation, we are given a tiny little table near the open plan kitchen. Of course, the restaurant is half empty. C’est la vie.

Service however is prompt. Within a few minutes, the vodka and whisky (it is criminal to pay Rs250 for a 30ml shot of Old Monk, since you can drink most of a bottle for about that amount) arrive together with some boiled peanuts and glass noodles as nibbles.
For starters we order a fried sliced fish and pork dumplings. The sliced fish was a salad — cold, tossed with some soya sauce, spring onions, chillies and a touch of garlic. It tasted far more pleasant than it sounds and in fact did work as a good appetiser. The steamed pork dumplings were also more than adequate — light and tasty.

For the main course, we ordered a softshell crab with garlic and lantern chillies and lamb chops plus some stir fried Chinese greens on the side. The crabs were quite delicious — sort of like Chinese pakoras — with lots of fried garlic to add bite and flavour. Crab of course requires as little embellishment as possible given that the meat is so sweet and delicious and the dish was organised in such a way that you could eat the crab by itself and then dig into the rest.

The lamb chops — topped with sesame seeds and chillies —were a sort of Chinese roast lamb and also made for an interesting dish. Unusual as it was, it was fun to have a meal without heavy sauces or overly familiar flavours. The meat was done to a turn, juicy, brown outside and pink within. The pakchoy acted as a palate cleanser so you could alternate between the crab and the lamb.

Instead of plates, the table was set with low bowls which were very attractive and though a little more depth would have been better for chop sticks, it was still pretty. Portions are generous and service is efficient — unlike the usual long delays that fancy hotels are so proficient at.

By the time dessert came, there was not much place left so we opted for a choice of ice-creams. I picked the ginger-chocolate for rock chick (cannot live without chocolate) and a kumquat vanilla. The ginger-chocolate was fascinating as you began with the taste of chocolate and ended with that ginger zing. But the clear winner was the kumquat. And then back out through the forbidden garden and the stars.