Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Entertainment | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

A continent on a platter

The Sunday brunch at Zen in the Leela Palace is a culinary journey across Asia

Photo: Murali Kumar K.

SPOILT FOR CHOICE It's gourmet fare at the Sunday Brunch at the Leela Palace

Ah, Sunday morning! As you wake up reluctantly to a delightfully late morning, the last thing you want to do is cook breakfast and the afternoon meal, and then spend the rest of the day doing the small mountain of dishes. Brunch seems like a good idea, but your fav restaurant won't probably be fully up to speed till lunchtime.

Away, morning blues

But now the Zen at the Leela Palace aims to rid you of such complications with its Sunday Brunch. And with no ordinary fare. Starting at noon, you can treat yourself to pan-Asian fare that includes Chinese, Indian (North and South), Japanese, Korean, Thai and Mongolian cuisines. Everything is prepared at live counters. Whether you want sushi or appams, they are prepared right in front of you and tailored to suit your taste buds.

The mega spread is a nice idea indeed (at Rs. 1,075 plus taxes per head). But peril lies ahead for the uninformed, considering the size and variety of the spread. Initially I decided to mix 'n' match, but finally let the Sous Chef Debraya Chakraborty, the brain behind the spread, to choose for me. So began a culinary expedition of the scale that Ibn Batuta or Marco Polo would be proud of.

Before the long line of starters began, Chef Chakraborty made it a point to tell me that one will not find gobi manchurian or chilli chicken on this menu. "I like to keep everything as authentic as possible, right down from the chefs. No Indianised Chinese food here."

Dim sum

The first to arrive was the steamed dumplings (dim sum) stuffed with chicken, fish and vegetables. Though the dumplings themselves don't have a taste of their own, they go great with the garlic sauce dip that comes along. Some wantons, and then sushi followed.

The sushi bar is a separate counter by itself on the ground floor of the restaurant. The chefs have set up two salt-water tanks to store live fish and fish that cannot be transported alive — salmon, prawn, tobbiko and cuttle fish — are imported frozen from Europe and Japan. The elaborate set-up is necessary because sushi requires raw meat. For vegetarians, there is a range of vegetable and fruit sushis on offer.

After a couple of more starters from the Indian section, it was time for soup. Here I decided to try the Japanese noodle soup. This simple dish (rice noodles, vegetables and meat boiled in soup), in contrast to traditional far-eastern cuisine, is not spicy at all. After the noodle soup, I downed a shot of warm sake (rice wine). The sake requires its own warmer as it needs to be warmed to just the right temperature. Though not very strong, it requires a seasoned palate. It is somewhat like aged wine, but much more bitter.

The Mongolian barbeque is as exotic as it can get. It is a mix of seafood, meat and vegetables that is had with either rice or noodles. I chose noodles, which turned out to be quite rich in its soy content and spice. And the main course finished with Japanese sticky rice with Thai green curry. Those with more flexible innards to accommodate more food must try the Korean fare.

When it was time for dessert I was magnetically drawn to the chocolate fountain. Yes, you heard it right. Hot chocolate actually springs forth from a warmer for you to dip marshmallows and bananas! Then there is the chef's special: Madagascar. As he describes it: "It is an island of chocolate in a crust." I guess that says it all.

Ambience: Animated, with live counters for all cuisines
Service: Attentive
Specialty: Sushi, Mongolian food and the chocolate fountain
Wallet factor: Rs. 1,075 plus taxes per head

ANAND SANKAR

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail