I’ve been insulted at two separate restaurants in the city for being a vegetarian (this was when I’d accompanied a colleague for a food review). “Oh vegetarian? You should wait until Lent so that we might consider offering more vegetarian dishes,” and “Ha ha, why do you even exist?” As a vegetarian in the city, it’s a challenge to find innovative menus, food that’s creative and out-of-the-box (not a pizza box, mind you). Granted, I can always settle for idli-dosai-vadai, or pastas drowned in cheese or even hummus and pita, but a fancy menu is hard to find. If the situation for a vegetarian is pitiable, I can’t imagine how it is for a vegan — imagine a world without ice creams, cheese, cake, waffles… it seems rather unkind. However, Chennai is slowly evolving to such tastes: Ashvita provides vegan options, Relish offers vegan smoothies made with almond milk, Terra Earthfood has vegan and gluten-free cakes on its menu, and Dario’s reportedly makes special vegan pizzas.
If you’ve been a regular at On The Rocks at Sheraton Park Hotel & Towers, you don’t need telling twice that they’re known for their grills and steaks: the lounge-bar is unabashedly meat-friendly. They have a concept called the ‘Hot Rock’ where the meat is cooked at your table on a heated volcanic stone. But it’s this notion that they mean to dispel. Chef Rohit K. Koshi explains, “Very few people are aware of vegetarian options in our menu. So we went a step ahead and created a vegan menu.”
General manager N. Krishnan reiterates, “The philosophy of food is about creating awareness and enriching the eating-out experience. So we’ve brought in veganism, which is not a new concept but is rather new to the city.” While The Vegan Society was established 70 years ago by Donald Watson, veganism has been in existence long before that.
I start with the Delicta salad in a soy dressing, which is delightfully nutty and sweet and goes well with the salad greens — iceberg and lollo rosso lettuce — crunchy sunflower seeds, tomatoes and roasted squash and a curried lentil soup that is in parts spicy and creamy (soy milk, again) and has a dal-like flavour to it. After the salad and the soup, I move on to the starter — rice paper rolls with garden vegetables in a mint dressing. Vietnamese-like and herbaceous, the rice paper rolls were rather tough to cut but the mint dressing and sprinkling of peanuts made up for it.
The main course, a huge plate containing pressed rice in a spiced, pickled curried paste, walnut and artichoke ravioli, a medley of fresh forest mushrooms and snow peas and tofu in a cashew and almond purée, is the star of the show. It’s wonderful how the creamy ravioli, the sweet snow peas, the tangy rice and the other elements all blend seamlessly, much like an opera. For dessert, it’s a trio of soy cheesecake, banana pie and a vegan waffle with soy ice cream. After what feels like several courses, dessert isn’t heavy, but the intriguing soy ice cream, more like a sorbet, is my favourite. While Ron Swanson of the comedy series Parks and Recreation might think that veganism is the sad result of a morally corrupt mind, he might just be wrong this time.
The vegan menu will be available till September 28 at On The Rocks.
