Eau de Monsoon is Le
Meridien’s attempt at bringing together traditional Indian dishes, and modern
Indian cooking (popularised by restaurants like the iconic Indian Accent) is a
single menu.
Located at the lobby level,
the restaurant done up in muted shades of browns and greys, which could be
depressing during the day but did very well in the dim lighting of night. Our
table was located next to the long glass windows overlooking Janpath and the
green façade of the hotel, and the view was very pleasing to the eye.
We visited as part of the Citibank Restaurant Week and the
food itself was a mixed bag of hits and misses. The amuse-bouche was a shot of
lovely cauliflower cappuccino which
went down very well indeed and whet our appetites for things to come, The
appetisers included Dosa mille feuille,
coconut jelly, curry leaves dust, tomato chutney, where the coconut jelly
was conspicuous by its absence (though there were two pyramids of some sort of
chalky cheese) and the rest was simply a very tasty masala dosa which was
served slightly deconstructed and stacked up like pancakes. The other starter Banana leaf wrapped paneer, chilli coriander
pesto, sun dried tomato coulis disappointed by its total lack of flavour (I
have achieved similar results by simply grilling the paneer at home, cooking it
in banana leaf imbued no flavour whatsoever) and originality (the chilli
coriander pesto was more of a simple chutney) So while there was nothing really
wrong taste wise, the oomph that the dish promised was completely missing. The
starters were followed by a delightful, light
lynchee sorbet as a palate cleanser that we enjoyed more than the preceding
course.
The main course included a Chettinad spiced char grilled cottage ,
asparagus poriyal, bar-be-que sauce. Let me sum up my disappointment by
saying that in terms of flavours this main course and the starter mentioned
above were absolutely identical! There was no Chettinad flavour infused in the
cottage cheese at all, it was yet again good quality paneer that had been
grilled. Similarly substituting asparagus (in rather minute quantities) for the
traditional beans in the poriyal, did not add anything to the dish. The Mushroom Strudle with Cilantro pesto,
tandoori crushed potatoes, smoked curry sauce was more of a conical puff
pastry (than strudel) with a mushroom filling. The flavours could have still
been nice if the mushrooms has not been over salted. We went with the server’s
recommendations in breads, a garlic naan (outstanding) and olive naan
(innovative and very tasty). Mains were followed by another nice palate
cleanser, a mixed fruit consommé with
kiwi.
Desserts were definitely the
stars of the meal. My personal favourite was a divine Gulab jamun malai cheese cake, Chandan ice cream, Red fruit compote. Each
and every element of this dessert was outstanding including the innovative and
absolutely delicious chandan ice cream (never thought that sandalwood could taste that good!); the cheesecake which
was not just perfection in itself but also included very good gulab jamuns (a
rare occurrence in fine dining establishments, frankly it is only quality
halwais who know how to get gulab jamuns right, but this version was spot on) and
the refreshing fruit compote which was perfect and summery. The Chocolate pave, kulfi, pistachio snow, berry
compote also provided a sweet surprise after the disappointments of the
previous courses.
The meal ended with a shot of liquid paan which was absolutely
brilliant in recreating the taste and texture of a regular paan and a piece of
silky smooth chocolate.
A word now on the service, it
was absolutely impeccable, always attentive but never obtrusive. Our server was
knowledgeable and we did not regret going with his recommendations on the right
breads to complement our food etc.
Overall the nice ambience and
perfect service was let-down by the food which had an equal number of hits and
misses. Eau De Monsoon is a valiant effort by the Meridien, but I don’t think
Indian Accent or Varq have anything to worry about just yet.
Food: 3.5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Service: 5/4
