Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
A regal culinary trip
|
Soak in the rich historical ambience and tuck in exotic delicacies at Sahib Sindh Sultan
|
Sahib Sindh Sultan is Mughal magnificence and colonial royalty packed into a 21st Century mall. You cannot now make a journey on that train, the Sahib Sindh Sultan of 1853 that made Asia's first run from Bori Bunder to Thane, but you can certainly get a feel of the culture it represented with Bangalore's latest offering — the Sahib Sindh Sultan restaurant. Eating here is more than just eating. This royal carriage is about soaking in an aura.
The platform
In a corner on Level 2 in the Forum Mall is Sahib Sindh Sultan. There is both a platform and a train. And you can choose to dine on either. The platform is all space and a great act of the Indian railway station. Iron pillars, a ticket counter, a cafeteria and a library lend it a busy feel. There's also the sound of the bell every once in a while.
From the platform you can get on to the train, a really long one. Or so it seems with all the mirrors in place. The seating is exactly like in a train — cosy and all royal, more so on account of silk tapestry. Look out of the window and you see the platform of a station.
Coming to the food, it's superbly aromatic and spicy. A whole range of spices from Delhi, Haryana, Kashmir, Rajasthan go into the preparation. The description of the food is very lyrical — a mix of northwest frontier Hindi and colonial English.
Begin the culinary journey with exotic drinks. Sahib ka panna is a tangy digestive drink made from pineapple roasted on charcoal, pulped and combined with cumin and sugar. Sindh thandai is a traditional drink with crushed almonds, cardamom and milk, flavoured with saffron. Sultan sharbat is a sandalwood and saffron drink with a touch of lemon.
The starters too are fabulous. Nana sahib ki pasand is alu chaat with crispy cubes of potato, spring onion and peanuts laced with sweetened curd, sweet and green chutney. Equally good are sev papdi chaat and anari dahi bhalla are also good. Two soups along with starters are very refreshing — the Cawnpore tamatar dhaniam ka shorba (a tomato and carrot soup with fresh coriander tempered with royal cumin and garnished with namakpara) and the Jubbalpore ka makai shorba (a "tangy spicy delight suited to the mutineers' fiery temperament").
The main menu is more exotica. So are the names. A vegetarian can choose from Lady Canning's reshmi paneer tikka, zamindari achari aloo, kangra gucchi ki galouti (roasted and ground mushrooms blended with valley morels), tandoori gobi aur broccoli (marinated and char grilled in tandoor and served with kebab masala), zamindari achari aloo...
A non-vegetarian can choose from Lord Mountabatten's lobster choice, classic prawn cocktail (an "all time aristocratic choice"), Campbell's favourite, Lord Canning's tandoori kane, fish tikka a la Lord Rippon, Murgh malai chop a la Dalhousie and Thomson's atta chicken. The last is spring chicken marinated overnight packed in a casing of salt dough and cooked in tandoor. Then, of course, the famed railway mutton curry, cubes of lamb cooked with potatoes in motley spices and ground chillies.
Roti section
In the roti section try corn meal and whole grain rotis. They are light, tasty and easy to digest. The curries that go with the rotis are a delight. Try the kubhani ka kofta, a unique apricot kofta curry prepared from stewed apricots and creamed paneer simmered in a velvety gravy or pista kaju aur badam, the restaurant's "tribute to vegetarians" which is pista, kaju and badam simmered in gravy of onions and tomatoes with spices.
If you are a rice eater, you could go for kacche gosht ki biryani or aloo aur wadi ki tehri.
The desserts are wonderful too. Try tilley wali kulfi, with plenty of figs and red berry sauce packed in, hambed gulab jamoon with brandy (a huge gulab jamoon served piping hot, flambéed with brandy!) and pineapple halwa, an Anglo-Indian dessert.
An experience to come away feeling very royal!
Call the restaurant on 22067878.
Ambience: Truly royal
Service: Excellent
Specialty: Thomson's atta chicken and much more
Wallet factor: Approximately Rs. 800 for two
PRASHANTH G.N.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
