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Lamb Madras on the rooftop
Rasheeda Bhagat
The romantic setting, the subdued lighting, a cool December
evening breeze… in short, the ambience is not the only
reason to dine at Pergola, the multi-cuisine restaurant of
the Accord Metropolitan Hotel in Chennai. But it is indeed a
strong one.
Seated at one of the tables of what is, at least
at present, Chennai’s highest rooftop restaurant at the 15th
level, you get an awesome, panoramic view of the city. It is
so beautiful that for a moment you are willing to forget the
traffic snarls and the awful, potholed roads of T.Nagar that
you had to negotiate before approaching the hotel.
The
spacious dining area on the sprawling terrace of the hotel,
which is partially open to the sky and imaginatively divided
into three theme-based sections — Earth, Fire and Water,
allows diners a little more privacy than available in most
restaurants.
When you wonder about the summer nights, CEO
Geoff Magee says that for the coming summer he hopes to
experiment with vaporised air that will inject minute water
particles in the atmosphere. This will ensure that the air
you breathe while enjoying Executive Chef G. Shridhar’s
creations, some of them quite spicy in true Indian cuisine
style, is cool.
“I’m also toying with the idea of
air-conditioning one portion of it,” he adds. The restaurant
was launched in October 2007.
Even though the name is
Italian (Pergola is a Latin architectural term for a shaded
walk or passageway of pillars supporting an open lattice,
where the intertwining creepers or vines provide a garden
effect) and may suggest that it would offer only continental
cuisine, the menu has a strong presence of pan-Indian food.
But western ideas are liberally borrowed in making the
sauces, dressings and seasonings to give the exotic touch to
many of the essentially Indian dishes on the menu.
Chef Shridhar admits that the grilled starters are a big draw
with his customers. “I’ve made it a point to use lava grill,
so that there is no ash and the meat is cleaner. Both our
foreign and Indian guests appreciate that a lot.”
One
look at the starters list and you can see that he has taken
care to ensure that there is a wide range of vegetarian
starters to choose from. And as most fine-dining places tend
to undermine the vegetarian palate, he must have decided
that we should start with the vegetarian starters first.
There is no cause for complaint! Crispy fried cauliflowers
in cheddar cheese, served with chunky pineapple salsa; Sengdana Broccoli (broccoli marinated in mustard, yoghurt
and crushed groundnuts and cooked in a tandoor), Gudgulla
Podi fry (button mushrooms stuffed with a spicy lentil mix
and batter fried), Dal Potli Samosa (made of roasted
lentils) and last, but what I thought among the best (along
with the broccoli), came Crusty Grilled Tofu Shaslik.
This
list is indicative enough of the care Chef Shridhar’s team
has taken to offer both Indian and continental starters.
Coming to the non-vegetarian starters, the grilled shrimps
with oriental tamarind sauce (grilled with their shells) and
the
Lamb Satay and Boti Kali Mirch (spicy lamb cooked
in the tandoor with crushed peppercorn and clarified butter)
are also worth trying out. The latter will make not only
your mouth, but also eyes, water a bit, but that’s a small
price to pay for the fresh pepper taste that hits your
senses as you bite into the tender lamb.
Chef Shridhar says
some of the lamb at Pergola is imported from New Zealand, as
also salmon from the Norwegian region and pork from Britain.
But a portion of the lamb, most of the fish, prawns and
other seafood are sourced locally. But when the lamb is
bought in Chennai, “I insist on getting the whole carcass,
as the meat carved out for the boti and tikkas is really
tender. When it comes to fish and prawns I watch out for the
colour. If it is washed in warm water, it gets a yellow
colour, and trust me, when that happens, the taste is not as
good. So if it is yellow fish or prawn, I reject it
straightaway.”
Well, the difference made by this kind of
details and the care taken in procuring the meats really
show in the end results. In the main course, says the chef,
the local favourites are Lamb Madras (contemporary lamb
curry, finished with lentils, mustard and curry leaves),
Pomfret Kalia, Murgh Rusriha (cooked in a spicy onion and
yoghurt curry), and Kaikari Sudhi (assorted vegetables in a
coconut and chilli gravy). The last is outstanding.
For
dessert, one went by the Chef’s recommendation, and loved
every bit of the indulgence. The Chocolate Fudge Fixation
has three layers of chocolate cake with a rich chocolate and
fudge filling, served with vanilla ice-cream.
“The trick is
to put it in the micro before serving, as that melts the
chocolate and fudge layers,” says chef Shridhar. Full marks
for the ambience and the taste of the dishes served at
Pergola, though the presentation can be improved upon to
make it a really fine-dining experience. But then, as Magee
admits, “The idea is not to make it too fancy, as that can
be a little daunting. I’ve ensured that we serve the usual
chicken dishes, daals, rotis and naans, so there is
something for everybody. The idea is to make every guest,
from every class, comfortable.”
Well, it seems to be
working, as tables at the 150-seating Pergola (open only for
dinner till the AC facility comes up), are going full, and
reservation would be a good idea if you don’t want to wait
for a long time for a table. |
