I was pleasantly surprised by the close up shot of a saxophone on the menu
booklet. Even more surprised that there was a nice para on the instrument on
the inside. I learnt that Antoine Joseph “Adolphe” Sax invented the, well, Sax. Set
the right tone of expectation.
Flipping through the wine list, I was
stopped on my way to the Stella by
d’Arenberg Olive Grove Chardonnay I
Mclaren Vale I Australia
The Olive Grove McLaren Vale Chardonnay develops
intense,complex honey, cashew, fig and soft toast aromas. The fresh structured
mid palate retains its texture but opens slowly into generous sweet banana,
butterscotch flavours before finishing with a persistent developed stone-fruit
and chalky texture
Seriously? Banana, butterscotch, chalk? Now I get
why wine drinkers sniff and swirl the stuff suspiciously before delicately
taking a sip. The aroma of stone and chalk must be JUST right. Thanks, I will
have vanilla with my Artois.
I ordered a cup of tea.
Darjeeling
tea I Darjeeling I India
Is the best tea in the world. Drink.
The time had come to face my worst
fears. Soup or salad?
Soup:
Caraway Infused Roast Carrot Soup
Salad: Apple,
Cherry Tomatoes and Cheddar Cheese Salad
Caraway and Carrot. Apple and Tomato. I was torn;
the cheese finally tipped the balance. I ordered the soup. How was it, you ask?
Unlike the red wine featured above, this soup wasn't confused. It was
carrot soup all right. I swallowed a spoonful.
In the descriptions of dishes in various eateries,
every spice gets a mention on a fairly regular basis, like caraway, cardamom,
chillies (ground, whole, chopped). It should be made mandatory by law that
chefs have to put down the most important ingredient of all: SALT. Maybe, then
they will remember. Note to self: Add sachets of Knorr soup to survival travel
list.
That brings me to Paneer Qualiyan. I see all of you
perking up, Quail and paneer! That is a first.
PQ: Cottage cheese cooked in rich saffron gravy.
I ordered the Goan fish curry.
The fish was Basa.
Sigh.
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