The best way to get the hang of a cuisine and know it inside out is to go through a Chefs Table.
Additionally, it also allows the Chef to impress the connoisseurs and introduce himself with his food, thus creating an everlasting impression. One such table was hosted by Chef Arun at Zambar on the Moon at Defence colony.
In a world when people are coming up with global cuisines and think that their palates have evolved to accept fusion food, there is one brand which is making an effort to showcase traditional home style Indian coastal food and that’s Zambar. Though their Defence Colony outlet is more of a café set up and the food on offer is mostly Tapas, the core feel is still intact. Chef Arun laid a lavish spread consisting of his signature dishes.
While the idlis were in steam, parota sticks on the table were great to munch on and it’s curry leaf variant was quite flavourful. Within minutes mini idlis & mini vadas were on table with four refreshing chutneys complementing each other really well. Just before the non vegetarian dishes, the chef served some vegetarian ones which acted as an appetizer for me. Kothu Parota stood out of the rest and fooled many who tried to guess the base ingredient. Finally, the real coastal stuff was on my plate.
Gunpowder prawns and Back water fish fry, both dishes did justice to the preparation. Fort Kochi mutton roast had a nice meaty texture and an impressive dark colour which appealed to me . I think that the dish, if made in beef, would have tasted even better. I moved to the next course which, without the Zambar Thali, would have been considered incomplete. Malabar Korma and Andhra chicken with fresh hot appams were just too good. Even the salli boti went well with the Malabar parota. The only disappointment was the sambar which being a staple, was not just up to the mark on that day. It was too viscous and looked unimpressive. Their veg stew was good enough to be promoted as the dish of the month at least for the vegetarians. Moplah fish biryani before the refreshing desserts was worth a bite. Desserts came as platter having rava kesari, lichi payasam which were good, but not good enough to beat the signature coconut jaggery pudding.
Meal for two: Rs.1600 plus taxes
