Prego at The Westin Hyderabad is regarded by most as the best Italian restaurant in Hyderabad. The authentic Italian food, as well as offerings like the Sunday Brunch here, are extremely popular with the food lovers of the city. With an eye on offering their regular customers a change of taste, Prego is organizing a Seafood Festival till 15th May.
Italy has a long coastline from Genoa to Venice, and the entire belt is known for its love for seafood. Shrimps, crabs, octopus, squids and diverse varieties of fishes are available in abundance. As diverse are the recipes and ingredients used in the various preparation of seafood.
Invited for this Seafood Festival, we met Chef Pradeep Rao, who has designed the special menu for the festival. He has tried to showcase this diversity of seafood choices with some innovative Italian preparations. As we settled down with a glass of strong and delicious mojito, the procession of exquisite dishes commenced.
The first dish was Pan Seared Scallop served with Poached Quail Eggs. The preparation was brilliant especially the soft scallops in the yellow cheesy sauce. The artichokes served with it complemented pretty nicely too.
Smoked Tuna served with Dill Mayonnaise looked very attractive. However, the taste was more like frozen seafood. This dish is more for huge seafood fans like me who love the rustic flavours of fish.
Grilled Baby Octopus and Cuttle Fish Salad was another of my favourites. Since most of my fellow diners avoided octopus I had a field day here. The salad had an assortment of fruits in it, balancing the taste.
The Stuffed Charcoal Calzones had three varieties – prawn with rosemary, crab and avocado and salmon. I tried the last two – the crab meat one appealed to me the most. Friends who tried the prawn one opined that it was the best of the lot.
Instead of traditional pizzas, the chef decided to present a Stuffed Pizza with Bocconcini cheese, prawns, and calamari. The offering was soft, and the seafood inside with melted cheese was very well prepared.
One of the main courses was Barley Risotto served with Grilled Scampi. I usually do not like risottos, but this was really quite good. The scampi in its shells was cooked to perfection, it was neither too soft nor too hard. This was one of the dishes I had a repeat helping.
Blackened Salmon served with turned saffron potato was fairly ordinary in my opinion, though some of my friends liked it. In Proscuitto Wrapped Tuna, the fish and meat combined well, and the raw mango salad was a perfect foil for it.
Then there was Mahi Mahi fish which the Chef said was sourced from Kerala. This was prepared with tomatoes and a green pea mash. More than the fish, I loved the slightly wet buttery mash, it could have been just a dish by itself with some garlic bread.
I must say that the sheer variety of fish amazed me. The last one served was Sail fish served with tomatoes, olives, kidney beans in a puree. This is how a seafood festival should be – after a rough estimate, I figured out we had tried more than a dozen different types of seafood in the meal.
Chef Pradeep had done a good job or choosing the recipes too – the dishes were attractively plated, had subtle flavours and tasted delicious. Great care was taken to create sauces and purees which complement individual varieties of fishes and in some cases slightly tone down the rustic seafood taste.
For desserts, we ordered the signature Tiramisu at The Westin which never disappoints.
The Seafood Festival at Westin is on till 15th May. I would term it a must visit for seafood lovers as well as those who love Italian cuisine. The festival is a-la-carte.
Location:
Prego
The Westin
Mindspace IT Park
Hitech City, Hyderabad
Telephone: 67676767
Disclaimer: The review is based on an invite from the restaurant.
 |
| Barley Risotto with Grilled Scampi |
Italy has a long coastline from Genoa to Venice, and the entire belt is known for its love for seafood. Shrimps, crabs, octopus, squids and diverse varieties of fishes are available in abundance. As diverse are the recipes and ingredients used in the various preparation of seafood.
Invited for this Seafood Festival, we met Chef Pradeep Rao, who has designed the special menu for the festival. He has tried to showcase this diversity of seafood choices with some innovative Italian preparations. As we settled down with a glass of strong and delicious mojito, the procession of exquisite dishes commenced.
 |
| Pan Seared Scallops with Poached Eggs |
The first dish was Pan Seared Scallop served with Poached Quail Eggs. The preparation was brilliant especially the soft scallops in the yellow cheesy sauce. The artichokes served with it complemented pretty nicely too.
 |
| Smoked Tuna with Dill Mayonnaise |
Smoked Tuna served with Dill Mayonnaise looked very attractive. However, the taste was more like frozen seafood. This dish is more for huge seafood fans like me who love the rustic flavours of fish.
 |
| Grilled Octopus and Cuttle Fish Salad |
Grilled Baby Octopus and Cuttle Fish Salad was another of my favourites. Since most of my fellow diners avoided octopus I had a field day here. The salad had an assortment of fruits in it, balancing the taste.
 |
| Stuffed Charcoal Calzones |
The Stuffed Charcoal Calzones had three varieties – prawn with rosemary, crab and avocado and salmon. I tried the last two – the crab meat one appealed to me the most. Friends who tried the prawn one opined that it was the best of the lot.
 |
| Stuffed Pizza with Seafood and Bocconcini Cheese |
Instead of traditional pizzas, the chef decided to present a Stuffed Pizza with Bocconcini cheese, prawns, and calamari. The offering was soft, and the seafood inside with melted cheese was very well prepared.
One of the main courses was Barley Risotto served with Grilled Scampi. I usually do not like risottos, but this was really quite good. The scampi in its shells was cooked to perfection, it was neither too soft nor too hard. This was one of the dishes I had a repeat helping.
 |
| Proscuitto Wrapped Tuna |
Blackened Salmon served with turned saffron potato was fairly ordinary in my opinion, though some of my friends liked it. In Proscuitto Wrapped Tuna, the fish and meat combined well, and the raw mango salad was a perfect foil for it.
 |
| Mahi Mahi Fish |
Then there was Mahi Mahi fish which the Chef said was sourced from Kerala. This was prepared with tomatoes and a green pea mash. More than the fish, I loved the slightly wet buttery mash, it could have been just a dish by itself with some garlic bread.
 |
| Sail Fish with Tomatoes and Olives |
I must say that the sheer variety of fish amazed me. The last one served was Sail fish served with tomatoes, olives, kidney beans in a puree. This is how a seafood festival should be – after a rough estimate, I figured out we had tried more than a dozen different types of seafood in the meal.
Chef Pradeep had done a good job or choosing the recipes too – the dishes were attractively plated, had subtle flavours and tasted delicious. Great care was taken to create sauces and purees which complement individual varieties of fishes and in some cases slightly tone down the rustic seafood taste.
 |
| Tiramisu |
For desserts, we ordered the signature Tiramisu at The Westin which never disappoints.
The Seafood Festival at Westin is on till 15th May. I would term it a must visit for seafood lovers as well as those who love Italian cuisine. The festival is a-la-carte.
Location:
Prego
The Westin
Mindspace IT Park
Hitech City, Hyderabad
Telephone: 67676767
Disclaimer: The review is based on an invite from the restaurant.
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