Those of us who have been fed on a regular diet of Hollywood movies cannot escape the inference to Vietnam through the Indochina war. Vietnam often figures strongly as central theme; may it be the horror of Platoon and Apocalpse Now or the reality of Fourth of July. But then it also inspired movies like Forrest Gump, the laugh-riot Tropical Thunder and ofcourse the Rambo series. But Good morning, Vietnam remains my favourite through Robin William’s heroic antics to keep the spirit up no matter what. And that is what I took with me from the Vietnamese food festival I attended at Pondicherry café, Hotel Sofitel; the feeling of elation. Chef Dao Van Son, Head Chef at Hotel Sofitel Saigon Plaza, Ho Chi Minh has specially come to conduct this festival.
The food of any place talks of its trials and its riches. I realised through my research on Wiki and various other sites that like the proud people of this small thin strip of land, Vietnamese foodhas withstood several invasions and has yet retained its individuality. The Vietnamese cuisine is simple, fresh and each ingredient and flavour needs to stand on its own. It has been able to maintain the five elements of life in its cooking; wood, fire, earth, metal and water through the usage of its various spices and ingredients. Hence the taste of the food has to stand out with minimal spices.
We started with the lettuce and prawns rolls which were delicious and fresh. The beef salad with bell peppers had just the right bite of chillies with sourness. The chicken and lotus stem salad was deliciously unusual. The live counter had the bubbling cauldron of delicately spiced hot-pot which we had with assorted vegetables, noodles, fresh coriander, bird eye chillies and beef. The beef was so succulent and melt-in-the-mouth, that I found myself recommending it to a young lady who was confused whether to have beef or chicken. The broth for the hot pot was cinnamon and star anise based burst of flavour. I could have easily eaten a whole meal with a good crusty bread.The hot and sour seafood soup was however a little drab and would not be missed if one didn’t try it. Though the seafood in the soup had a beautiful smoky flavour I wish they had made the soup more robust. The broth had almost coagulated to a corn-floury consistency.
The main course had vegetable fried rice which was made of sticky unpolished rice and was a welcome change to the usual. The noodles in gram onions was extremely well balanced with just hints of flavours so as not to mar the other dishes like the squid in vegetables, the chicken in cashews or the scallops in broccoli. The scallops in broccoli were absolutely well cooked, not over done which could have easily happened considering that they were in the buffet. The fresh taste of squid came out well inspite of the stronger vegetables like bell pepper. The chicken was a disappointment as it had gone dry however the sautéed cashews tasted quite good.
We did not have any Vietnamese desserts but the dessert counter or the starters counter at Sofitel’s buffet never disappoints. So while we started our dinner with the assorted starters of prawns on ice, clams, mushroom pate, squid done two ways and salmon and capers; we ended our dinner with some luscious pannacota, tiramisu, fig amaretto cheesecake and seviya.
In all it was an evening well spent and a dinner enjoyed ! Like Robin would have said in the movie :Good morning, Vietnam! This is rock and roll. Time to rock it from the delta to the DMZ! Viva Da Nang !!
Ratings out of 5
Food: 3.5 | Ambiance: 4 | Service: 3.5 | Overall: 3.5
Meal for Two without Alcohol: Rs. 4000 Approximately plus taxes| Alcohol: Yes | Credit Card: Yes|
Timing:Dinner : 7 – 12
Address: Sofitel Hotel, C 57, Bandra Kurla Complex,Bandra East, Mumbai
Telephone :022 61175000 / 022 61175001
