The culinary team at Radisson Blu Plaza at Banjara Hills has a new chief.
Chef Sarabjit Singh Walia, who has taken over as Executive Chef has wide experience in catering to the taste buds in India and abroad. He has decided to start his tenure here with a bang, by organizing a Mediterranean Food Festival at Chill Restaurant and Terrace. The promotion showcases dishes from the countries all around the Mediterranean Sea, which means there are delicacies from Spain, Italy, Greece, West Asia as well as countries of Northern Africa. The festival is on from 19th to 29th September, as part of the regular buffet.
Chef Sarabjit came across a very affable person, with a deep knowledge of his trade. He welcomed us with a platter of well-known dips and accompaniments from West Asia and Greece. There were the chickpea-based
Hummus, the green
Tabbouleh, Greek
Tzatziki and
Fattoush salad. We enjoyed the dips with some good pita bread. My favourite from the lot was
Babaganoush, a smooth preparation of eggplant and cream.
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| Sambusek |
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| Kibbeh |
The starters also packed quite a punch. The deep fried
Sambusek had a filling of minced meat and pine nuts, and a second helping could not be resisted. Another minced meat dish
Kibbeh which was deep fried also suited my taste buds. For vegetarians, there was
Samousa, an Arabic variant stuffed with spiced potatoes and peas and
Falafel, the best known Mediterranean starter of chickpeas.
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| Samousa |
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| Pizza Coins |
Among the appetizers, an interesting one was
Pizza Coins – bite sized pizzas topped with cheese, tomatoes, and olives. The Greek
Shawarma had pita pockets stuffed with chicken strips, lettuces and tartar sauce. The herbs and pickled veggies made this combo even better.
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| Shawarma in Pita Pockets |
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| Shish Taouk |
The Lebanese
Shish Taouk kababs were served tastefully on pita bread layered with tomato paste. The chicken version was soft and succulent, though for me the Arabic version of seekh kababs usually means lamb.
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| Pizza |
A
Pizza with toppings of chicken, cheese, olives and tomatoes looked really attractive. In general, the all the dishes were styled and plated brilliantly, Chef Sarabjit seems to have a natural flair in this area.
Over to the main courses then. There was the
Spanish Paella, an al dente saffron infused rice preparation with shrimps and tomatoes. I am not a big fan of continental rice dishes, but this was quite flavourful.
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| Paella and Samke Harra |
Perhaps the best dish of the day was
Samke Harra with Trabulsiya Sauce. It was a Lebanese specialty baked dish of grilled fish, and the tahini based sauce in which it was served was truly sublime. The best-looking dish was
Cabbage Dolma, cous cous stuffed cabbage leaves served on a bed of tomato based sauce.
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| Cabbage Dolma |
I love eggplant-based dishes.
Imam Baildi, a roasted whole eggplant dish stuffed with cheese and tomato with oregano and basil was a Turkish dish which was being showcased and it did not disappoint me at all.
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| Imam Baildi |
Finally the desserts.
Lab-e-Shireen, a light custard with abundant fruits and nuts and scented with rose syrup was appreciated. The
Baklava, served as pockets was a tad bit dry. The other desert was
Basboussa, a semolina-based sweetened Turkish dessert.
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| Desserts |
Overall, a very impressive festival. A large proportion of the preparations wowed me, which does not usually happen. The promotion is part of the usual buffet, where it supplements the usual spread.
Usually I am not a big fan of promotions in all-day dining restaurant due to the fact that a number of dishes from the promotion needs to be curtailed to accommodate usual suspects like Indian or oriental items. However, here the dishes served in this promotion are from a number of countries around the Mediterranean Sea provides a lot of variety. The buffet is priced at Rs 1250 (plus taxes) and is available only for dinner.
Location:
Chill Restaurant and Terrace
Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel
Road No 6, Banjara Hills
Hyderabad
Telephone: 40673 31133
Disclaimer: The review is based on an invite from the restaurant.
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