Skip to main content

Contemporary Indian

My problem with Oberoi's Ziya is not that it takes familiar Indian dishes and whacks them out of shape to create continental style plated food. My problem is that the food that emerges at the end of this transformation is mere "meh" and not worthy of the Michelin stars its chef holds. We are seated for lunch at a fabulous table by the window, facing the sea. And the server shows up with two shot glasses of chaas. Totally ordinary, everyday buttermilk.

From the menu, we pick mushroom galouti as starters. I thought it will be interesting and it was delicious for sure, but not a hint of mushroom in there. By now, my dining partner was clamoring for mushrooms so for mains, we picked paneer lifafa with mushroom khichdi. What showed up was a very pretty plate but in the end, it was paneer bhurji in puff pastry. One of the best puff pastries I've eaten, mind you, but just a puff all the same. And mushroom khichdi? Well, there was really only two spoonfuls of it so not sure what to say.

What bugs me even more is that the server asked us what breads we will want, and totally failed to mention that there will be nothing to dunk my black olive naan in. To be fair, he did bring us some kaali daal after the fact but still...

Dessert was a chocolate platter. Served on a faux color palette, and very, very pretty. Wish it were flavorful...the brownie was dry. The white chocolate kulfi just not worth it, neither were the chocolate samosas. The paan flavored white chocolate mousse was nice and refreshing. And I am glad I discovered at least one redeeming fact about Ziya...the chocolate mousse with praline was yummy but that was the only one in everything that day to be so!

Comments

CurryLeaf said…
Truthful review. I have also mailed you.
S Rajan said…
I think the food was quite good before they revamped the menu. Having made it "sharing friendly" with bigger portions and presentation which allows divvying up everything simply looks brown, lumpy and tastes the same. Nothing like the flavours at Rasoi Vineet Bhatia. Shame really.
Anubha said…
Hmmm resounds like my head...had many such experiences.The passion followed by taste just seem to get lost in commercialism.Along with the best of ingredients, ambience and presentation what is most required is the passion to create and serve-leave an everlasting impression!I dont remember going to any eat-out for mere ambience or name ...I always go back to for its taste and consistency!!
Simran you simply rock!!the simplicity of your blog and and the fluidity in which you pen down your experience is so endearing!Now this is one blog i keep coming back to,for its simplicity at its best :)
Happy blogging..

Popular posts from this blog

Announcing AWED : Britain

Before I ate my first Italian wood fired pizza, before I went to that swanky Japanese sushi bar for the first time, or the neighborhood Chinese joint, the first non-Indian cuisine I encountered was British. Not real food, mind you, but the tempting, oh so delicious descriptions in my favorite novels. From Enid Blyton to Jane Austen to P.G. Wodehouse, every favorite character in every favorite novel seems to have food on their mind. Yes, British food gets ridiculed a lot. But forget their main course dishes for now, and think of the full English breakfast and the elegant afternoon teas. Then try imagining the world without cucumber sandwiches or potato chips and you will realize you can't do without British food. Which is why when I saw that DK was looking for hosts for her monthly event AWED (A Worldly Epicurean's Delight) and there has never been a British AWED, I promptly signed up. The rules are simple really: Make any vegetarian or vegan British dish (eggs are

Aloo Paranthas

In all these years of blogging, I've somehow never managed to talk about aloo paranthas, the potato stuffed flatbread that's a standard breakfast in North India. Possibly because they are such a staple in our home, I found there wouldn't be enough interest in the recipe. But I've also realised over time that my mom's recipe is unique, using a combination of flavours and spices that make these paranthas delicious. But that's not the only reason for this post. I also wanted to tell you about a super cool party and some ways we found to make aloo paranthas even better and believe it or not, healthier. The party in question was hosted by Rushina at her cooking studio a few months back. For a while now, Rushina has been talking about the merits of cling film, parchment and something called cooking foil made by Asahi Kasei. Because we won't believe that you can really cook without oil but using science, she invited a bunch of us over for a potluck lunch.

I've found my perfect cookie

It's a bite sized cookie, with flavors of a pie, shape of a croissant and a pretty, pretty name. It's Rugelach. I first heard of this cookie when it became the baking pick for Tuesdays with Dorrie a couple of months back. The looks, the concept - everything was fascinating. And I've dreamed of making this cookie ever since. I ditched hundreds of recipes floating around and went straight to the master. It's Dorie Greenspan's recipe that I used, and ain't I glad I got it so perfect the very first time. So what's rugelach? It's cream-cheese pastry dough, rolled then cut into wedges, spread with jam and sugar and fillings of choice, rolled into crescents and baked. First the dough. Dorie did it in her processor, but I just went and did it by hand. Put 100 gms cream cheese and 100 gms butter out of the fridge until they were soft but still cold. Added both to a cup of plain flour (I omitted the salt because I use salted butter). Rubbed the flour and but