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A mishti sandesh

Head for The Chancery for the right taste of Bengal

PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY

TRULY BANGLA It's an impressive spread at The Chancery

What better way to kick off the Bengali New Year than with a lavish food festival? The Royal Bengal food festival at The Chancery presents a sinfully rich ambience (harking back to the time of the zamindars). With melodious strains of Rabindra Sangeet in the background, one is greeted with a chilled glass of sherbet with a choice between mango and pineapple. The banana flower rolled in poppy seeds offered an interesting starter. Chef Udayan has been flown in from Kolkata for the right degree of authenticity.The menu for the buffet would be different every day, but with the usual suspects including the famed hilsa fish,baked in banana leaf and cooked in a mustard sauce, prawns, the little pabda and of course the majestic rohu. One could dig into chicken (cooked at suitably high temperatures!) and potato.

On the vegetarian side, jackfruit makes its presence felt in an interesting gravy avatar while broad beans with the charming double beans lurking in the gravy presented a pretty (if slightly stringy) picture. The dal with a generous dose of coconut would go well with pulao or the steamed rice.And the puri like luchi is the right degree of flaky.

The sweet side is well served with mishti doi, rasagolla, sandesh and channa payas among others. While the zamindars were responsible for a host of evil deeds, there are some things that we could learn from them — like how to enjoy a lavish meal.

The festival at the Chancery, Lavelle Road, is on till April 23. Call 41188888.

Ambience: Zamindari opulence recreated
Service: Good
Specialty: Bengali
Wallet factor: Rs. 325, Rs. 425 with unlimited alcohol

MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER

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