A gift of love

Could it be that Santa’s elves are women because I think I met them last night! And that too, it was like a surprise party before Christmas. Walking through the red door frame of the West View — The Grill Room, I was taken to a room that was filled with cheerful faces, a couple of birthday girls and a young lady singing old romantic numbers at a corner. The signs were obvious — Christmas was here!

The concept at West View is simple — the menu is set, the ingredients change every day, well almost, and a lavish five-course meal competes against each other to give you the choicest of flavours.

Of course, I rushed through my Amuse-gueule of foie gras served with sprouts and some toasted garlic bread strips because I had my eyes on the salad counter. And if I may be honest here, I wasn’t even sure what I wanted. There were scallops, smoked salmon rolled up around a tiny bit of avocado, cold prawns, sweet potatoes, mussels — so I had a bit of everything! All the salads border from room temperature to cold and you have to have a rather flexible palate to try most of the items on the menu. Don’t play safe, you’ll miss out on half the fun!

Where the salad bar ends, begin the ingredients that will constitute your entrée. And my eyes were on one of the specials that can brighten up any Christmas spread — the Lobster Thermidor. Yes, there is every possible option for vegetarians too — from zucchini and other exotic vegetables to the gnocchi and vegetable risotto — it’s pure treat.

I have to hand it out to the chefs behind the grills section because after years of various forms of unwarranted innovations, I got to eat something that is as close to the real deal as possible. This 1894-French delicacy needs adept hands because the mustard in it has to be perfect and the cheese crust has to be browned to the right colour and texture.

Miss it and you’ve ruined a perfectly regal dish. The mustard at West View is made in-house and matured over three days, which lends a rich flavour but doesn’t kill you with the pungency. And while I might not have had the privilege to see Thermidor, the play by Sardou, which is what the dish was named after, I was satisfied to be just part of this elaborate creation in the tiniest form.

What sat next to my Thermidor was the Grilled Vietnamese Basa. Now that’s one fish that’s suddenly appearing on the menu of plenty of European and pan-Asian restaurants in the city. It’s quite easy to cook and as long as you can handle it well, you can’t go wrong with it.

Next up were the Lamb and Pork Chops that come on a fascinating rock grill. Not that I haven’t see it before, but cooking your own meat on a slab of stone that’s sizzling at 400 degrees Celsius is an adventure. The fresh chunks of meats were fabulous but what was better was the little bowl of mashed potatoes that came with it. A sudden rush of calories rushed through my blood cells but that’s the best mashed potatoes I’ve eaten in recent times.

West View is run mostly by women and they know the wines, the dishes, the desserts as well as any man-chef I’ve known and that makes me proud. Plus, the fact that they have great Pavlova and puddings makes the whole idea of Christmas so much more fantastic!