Which course would you usually associate the kiwi fruit with? Desserts, right? Well here, it was everything but the dessert that contained kiwi. A pleasant Sunday was enjoyed with innovative food, food centric conversations and an amusing chef at 19, oriental avenue , the oriental restaurant at the ShangriLa Hotel. The restaurant has a typically oriental interior, with a crisp and clean aura. The bar has a gold Buddha welcoming diners; live teppanyaki counters and secluded private areas for a more intimate meal. Our bloggers table was set up in the center of the restaurant.
The most entertaining part of the afternoon was the head chef himself, Chef Darren Conole, a true Australian at heart, a well traveled chef and a riot to be with. A brief introduction with Chef Darren and we were already on a culinary journey with kiwi maneuvered by the chef himself right from the beginning with a live demonstration of kiwi mayonnaise and kiwi sauce down to the last morsel of dessert. After enthralling us with live preparations we were guided towards the seating area.
With everyone seated with their glasses of wine, the meal began with a choice of veg or non-veg courses. As a confirmed carnivore, I chose the non-veg option thru and thru, starting with the Kiwi marinated Clam Ceviche with Rocket cress, which tasted as good as it looked. It was light, fresh and inviting, just like an appetizer should be. Even its veg counterpart looked equally delicious.
The next course which was the pepper and gooseberry gazpacho did not have a mention of kiwi in its description and when we tasted it, we knew why. Kiwi was present only as a topping with bite sized pieces, which you were lucky to get in your scoop and the soup in essence was just cold tomato soup with an extra dose of pepper .
The non-veg main, tenderloin with kiwi jelly and jam quinoa was interesting but not too much. It would have been a much better idea to stick to the fabulous loin of lamb with the quinoa alone. The jelly unfortunately was overbearingly sweet . The veg main was somewhat better as the contrast between the salty quinoa and the sweet pumpkin with the kiwi Beurre Blanc worked well. Perhaps some other vegetable instead of the pumpkin would have worked better.
T
he dessert was an eye-opener. Chef Darren here served kheer inspired kiwifruit sushi. Basically it is our Indian style kheer condensed and reduced, and then rolled like a Maki roll with a kiwifruit filling. It painted such a pretty picture on the plate and tasted equally delightful. We finished off the meal with lovely jasmine tea.
The chef signed off with his vision into how we are fast tracking everything, even the enjoyment of food when the need of the hour is the slow food principle, going back to our roots and propagating authentic food and the art of relishing the same.
I do realize that centering a menu around a key ingredient such as the kiwifruit is not only a challenge, but a battle with taste and flavor for any chef, but on this day I think the fruit won. I would definitely visit the place again provided the very talented Chef Darren keeps the experimentation at bay as I believe the food would be exquisite. Till then I would have the Kiwifruit just like it is supposed to be had, like a fruit.
Ratings (out of 5)
Ambience: 4.5 | Food: 4.0 | Service: 4.5 | Overall: 4.0
Alcohol: Yes | Credit Card: Yes | Meal for two: Rs. 4,000/- (without alcohol)
Address: Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel, 19, Ashoka Road, Connaught Place, New Delhi | Telephone: 011-30146022
– Pavleen Gujral
