It’s Saturday night and the city is ready to party. Valets work at a harried speed and parking spaces get crammed as an increasing number of revellers disembark from their cars. In their shiny clothes and stilettos, they make their way to a haven of thundering music and glitzy lights. “But I just want to have a conversation,” whines the accompanying friend. “Last week, at the club we went to, I had to lip read and message you to understand what you were saying," she complains.
She has a fair point, so we drive instead to the new and peaceful The Legends Hotel. Interestingly, we get to park right by the main entrance. The calm is blissful.
Two green statues look at us from atop the building, while two other white, life-size statutes stand by the entrance. The gilded relief work makes the building look like it could well be in Italy. We discover that Tango, the tapas bar, where we are dining for the night is yet to get its liquor license. Ah, that explains the calm.
The tango-themed interiors have shiny red flooring, matching couches, opulent lighting, Venetian masks, sombreros, saxophones… the music playing, however, is jazz. Not the kind of tune Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones danced to in The Mask of Zorro , sigh, and no Banderas-like men around either.
The chirpy waiter hands us the menu. “It's world cuisine,” he informs. There are the usual suspects: panko crumbed fish fingers, potato wedges, spring rolls, vegetable fritters, mezze platter, beef steak and some other interesting offerings like crispy anchovy fillets, Vietnam chicken supreme and braised prawn provencale with crispy olive croutons.
No matter how good the other things on the menu sound, resisting calamari fritters is always a challenge. The ones we are served are chewy and crunchy, just the way we like it, served alongside a spicy, tangy sauce. The oats crumbed chicken and pork ribs sound great for the main course.
The former is pan-fried chicken, studded with crunchy morsels of oats, served with fruit compote — tiny cubes of apples, dates, pineapples spiced with cinnamon. It gives the meat a delicious flavour. The pork ribs glazed with honey and accompanied by mashed potato are just as competent as the previous dish. It’s sweet, a tad tangy and satisfyingly filling. The portions are substantial and the food isn’t heavy; so the good news is… there’s space for dessert.
The Spanish sticky rice is disappointing. It sounds like the posh cousin of milk and rice, but tastes just as desi. The brownie with ice cream has crusty edges and is moist in the middle with occasional bits of crunchy chocolate powder. After the meal, the chef gingerly walks up to us and enquires how we heard about the hotel. We think it’s partly because he wants to be complimented for the food, and why not? We had a good meal and we tell him as much and he goes back a happy man. As do we.
Tango is located at Hotel The Legends at No. 37, North Boag Road, T. Nagar. A meal for two approximately costs Rs. 1800. Call: 42004355
