Five times merrier

Executive Chef Vinay used the cumulative strength of his kitchen to devise an interesting concept of a food promotion. Five gourmet menus, five cuisines devised by five speciality chefs that you could choose for Rs 1200 all inclusive. Now that’s what we call a steal.

Each cuisine – South Indian, Western, Pan-Asian, Hyderabadi, and Indian – is served in four courses. Chef Satyanarayana, Chef Ganapathi, Chef Vikram, Chef Maniruddin and Chef Sahoo created well-designed menus that will not just fill the appetite, but also create flavours, textures and aromas inherent to the respective cuisines with a touch of innovation in presentation making for a wholesome experience.

If the starters on the South Indian menu include crumb-fried idli served with coconut and tomato chutney and Kothmira Kodi vepudu; the succulent Badami tangdi comes with the Hyderabadi cuisine and Murgh haryali tikka on the Indian side. The western entrée is the Beet cured squid tossed with balsamic black garlic puree and prawn ceviche.

The soups on all the menus are all hearty in flavour and consistency – especially the Basil pesto and courgette on western, Hara gobi ki shorba on the Hyderabadi and Chawli and beetroot ka shorba on the Indian menu. If there is one common trait of all the menus – it is the meticulous effort on the part of the chefs to choose the not so common specialities.

On the main course, one can find Subz badami kofta that is served either with flavoured rice of Indian breads, Matki murgh, Gongura kodi kura and Gutti beerakai masala, subz ka mela and curried coconut and cilantro risotto with roasted almonds – each displaying the characteristic robustness and finesse of the cuisine.

The desserts too were a little away from the normal on the western menu with golden poached pear with sweet mascarpone quennel, pistachio cream and orange caviar; Baked gulkhand jamun with rose petal ice-cream and Annanas ke muzaffar on the Nizami side of the menu.

The ‘Choose your Chef’ series that will allow the food lovers to taste the gastronomical delights of five different cuisines will continue till April 3. The special menus will be available from 7.30 pm onwards at Cayenne Restaurant, Mercure Hyderabad KCP.

By Rajeshwari Kalyanam