All Greek To Me! Until now…… thanks to Skydeck Lounge in Leela, Gurgaon.
Perhaps a teaser trailer of a new cuisine added to the ever changing and diverse food landscape of Gurgaon with a promise of better things to come? Welcome to Greek food delights at the Skydeck Lounge in Leela, Gurgaon – the first Greek Restaurant in Gurgaon!
As told to us by their Executive Chef Ramon Salto Alvarez, Greek cuisine generally plays around with 11 ingredients – amongst them are olive oil, olives, Greek cheese, wine, fresh vegetables like aubergine and zucchini and, of course, meat and fish.
But to begin with (or is it merely a ploy to build up one’s appetite?), just to get to the Skydeck in Leela can be a big adventure by itself. It reminded me of the famous maze in Central Park in London though that was fun unlike this one. With almost absent signages/directions to the Skydeck, my friend who was to meet me there, reached the top floor (thanks to the suggestive name) only to discover that there was nothing there leave alone a restaurant whether Skydeck or otherwise. Few phone calls ensured that he was escorted back to the correct place i.e. Skydeck Lounge. These are early days and am sure it is an easy fix.
The Skydeck Lounge is situated next to the pool with cute cabanas serving an all day dining menu. It doubles over in the evenings as an open air, informal Greek restaurant. It is spread over 3-4 levels, all open air and all facing the pool.
The spectacular view from one of the levels, facing the Gurgaon expressway, reminds one of the “Queen’s Necklace” (aka Marine Drive) in Mumbai. Not so spectacular is Gurgaon’s unreliable temperature which may compel the customer, not to mention the staff, to roll up the sleeves and open the collar buttons in an attempt to beat the heat, as happened in our case.
In apparently true Greek tradition, we started with Greek wine (but no Ouzo!) and a cold mezze platter (small savory dishes to be enjoyed with wine before the main course) served with breads. The platter had Greek Olives, Tzatziki (Greek yogurt with cucumber, garlic, chili and fresh mint) which was refreshing, Revithia (chickpeas with herbs, olive oil and lemon) which was essentially flavoured, boiled chickpeas and Htipiti (Greek cheese dip with roasted peppers and chili) which was the best out of the whole lot.
The cold mezze was followed by the hot mezze of which, the following three are the must haves :
- Kefdethes Meatballs which were these wonderful melt in the mouth New Zealand lamb balls tossed in a fresh tomato sauce with Greek yogurt.
- Prawn Saganakiwere comprising of soft, succulent prawns cooked in a rich tomato sauce with feta cheese – to me, prawns cooked to perfection are an absolute delight.
- Spanakopita, which are filo pastry parcels with creamy leeks, spinach and feta, were thin and crunchy on the outside with a creamy spinach soft centre, complementing each other beautifully.
What can be avoided is the limp and overdone Charred Melitzana (eggplant).
Mains – The New Zealand Grilled Lamb Chops were done rare and were bleeding on the plate – wish the chef had asked us how we liked our meat grilled. But these were more than made up by the New Zealand lamb cutlets which had a hidden cheese centre holding the soft cutlet together doing the same job our chana dal does in shaami kebabs as also the Jumbo Cochin Grilled Prawns flown in daily from Cochin.
In Desserts, don’t miss the famous Greek Dessert Baklava (filo pastry with sweetened, orange flavoured nuts).
If you like your Coffee with a little kick, opt for the Jamaican Coffee and Irish Coffee and rest assured kick they will.
RATINGS OUT OF 5
FOOD: 3.5 | AMBIENCE: 3.0 | SERVICE: 4.0 | OVERALL: 3.5
MEAL FOR TWO: Approx. Rs. 4000 (without alcoholic beverages) | CREDIT CARD: YES | TIMINGS: 7.30 ONWARDS | WHEEL CHAIR ACCESSIBLE: NO (Accessible upto pool level)
ADDRESS: SKYDECK LOUNGE, The Leela Ambience, Gurgaon Hotel & Residences, Ambience Island, National Highway – 8, Gurgaon 122 002, Delhi N.C.R, India | Phone: + 91 9717596100, Main: +91 (124) 4771234, Direct: +91 (124) 4771161
Disclaimer: This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. Due judgment and care has been applied by the author to remain objective and unbiased in the review, but readers need to consider this review keeping this fact in mind.
