It is the dream of any foodie to taste the most exquisite of dishes from every nook and corner of the world. This dream has come true for gourmands in the city, thanks to the unique ‘Street Fest’ by Villa Maya at Eenchakkal, which has some of the most sought after dishes from the world lined up. Food lovers that we are, my gastronome friend and I jumped at the opportunity and decided to give a new lease of life to our taste buds with these international delicacies.
As we walked into the restaurant, tummies rumbling, we were quite endeared by the interiors. The entire setting of Villa Maya, a converted 150-year-old heritage mansion that bespoke of a unique confluence of Dutch and Indian architecture, was quite welcoming. The soothing ambience was only a prelude of the many delicacies that we were about to savour. We chose a seat by the garden, to make the most of the breezy evening, and started debating on our choice of dishes. Even though our options weren’t plenty (as we decided to opt for the street fest offerings alone) we did have a tough time deciding what to feed ourselves with.
“We’ve tried our best to make our choices of dishes as eclectic as possible. Which means, you have cuisines from Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, Austria, United States and many more countries,” said Santhosh Kumar H.B., manager, food and beverages, Villa Maya.
After a thorough examination of the menu, we managed to bring down our options to a few, namely, ‘Satay’ a mouth-watering Indonesian chicken dish as the appetiser, a Russian ‘Shashlik’ – a famous Russian/Turkish Kebab dish for the main course coupled with the ‘Chef’s Salad’ – a special French salad, and the renowned ‘Fillet Steak Sandwich’, made famous by ace British chef Gordon Ramsay. Last but not the least, we chose a Kaiseschmarren – an Austrian delicacy, for our dessert. After further deliberation, we finally zeroed in on Vegetarian Shashliks and Fillet Steak Sandwiches alone – since we somehow had the gut feeling that we’d be overstepping our tummy-capacities if we were to have the entire platter!
The sandwich arrived first. Hunger overpowered me, and I gobbled upon it without much ado. And I must admit, the original Gordon Ramsay recipe was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had! The steak was cooked right, something quite rare for sandwiches. I could feel the cheese melt in my mouth as I tasted it – making the entire sandwich soft and yummy.
The Shashlik followed suit in no time – and did not disappoint either. If it looked tempting, its taste made the dish even more delectable. We did regret not going for its shrimp, chicken and steak variants, despite our waiter’s friendly suggestion that they were tastier. Nevertheless, the kebab part made up for it – the marinated cauliflowers, tomatoes and capsicums were satiating, to say the least. The quantity of rice we were supplied with was a tad less than what we anticipated, though.
Just as we had expected, our sumptuous dinner made us too full for desserts. We concluded our meal with fruit juices, with my friend opting for a pineapple juice and yours truly settling down for a lime juice. We left the restaurant with heavy stomachs and smiles on our faces, yearning to come back yet another day to satiate ourselves with even more delicacies from the globe.
‘Street Fest’ is on from 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. The fete will conclude on October 20. Contact: 0471-2578901.
