Lebanese meets Chinese meets Indian meets Thai meets American, meets Japanese meets Indonesian…phew! A world of flavours has been incorporated into the extensive menu at Imperial Kitchen, the two-week-old multi-cuisine restaurant that’s opened up in the basement of a high rise at Keston Road. And therein lies the conundrum for the diner. What do you order? There are over 200 dishes, variously labelled under the titles ‘Cheez n’ Grill’, ‘Nooshi’, ‘Lebnani’ and ‘Vibhav’, representing continental cuisine, oriental, Arabic and Indian, respectively, but comprising just about every cuisine you can think of and then some, to choose from! On top of that do we go for vegetarian or non-vegetarian? Chicken, red meat, seafood, soups, salads, rice, sizzlers, breads, noodles, pizzas, pastas, biriyanis…? Should it be spicy or not so spicy? Everything sounds so grand, so tempting… all so confusing.
Thankfully, at the time we reached the restaurant, which was a little after seven, customers were comparatively few and the servers had enough time then to walk us through the menu, giving helpful suggestions as we zeroed in on what we wanted to eat. Thaha and Anas Thaha, the proprietor and his son, are also on hand to give suggestions. “Why don’t you try our executive chef Sudeesh’s recommendations, which come labelled on the menu with the symbol of a white chef’s cap?” says the elderly Thaha. “Most of the dishes, particularly the ethnic ones, are recipes sourced from friends and family. We have eaten at popular restaurants across the state and brought the best of their dishes here under one roof,” he explains.
Over tall refreshing glasses of ‘Ginger punch’ (fresh orange, carrot, lime, and ginger blitzed together), ‘Mango angel’ (thick mango juice with mint) and ‘Virgin pina colada’ (pineapple juice with ice-cream) we settled down to sampling the appetisers – wonderfully crunchy vegetables sautéed with dry red chilli, ‘Flakey barbeque chicken bits’, which were bite size pieces of breaded chicken tossed in BBQ sauce, and ‘Pandan chicken’, scrumptious coriander-flavoured chicken wrapped in pandanus leaves and served with sweet chilli sauce. That’s a winsome combination of Chinese, American and Malaysian, respectively, in one go. Of course, we also had to have the tempting platter of ‘Pheonix tail golden fried prawns’ (dipped in batter and deep fried) that we’d seen the people on the next table order.
The main courses arrive shortly – with the welcome drink! We’ve decided to forego the ‘Vibhav’ section, though it had interesting all time favourite ethnic dishes such as spicy ‘Kumarakom meen curry’, ‘Chuttulli meen’ (grilled fish sautéed with shallots, pepper and coconut oil), ‘Pachakary kuruma’, Tandoori chicken, ishtew and the likes. The chef’s special ‘Minja crab’, a full bay fresh crab cooked in coconut milk and spices, was too tempting to resist. Fried rice with burnt garlic and fresh basil from the rice and noodles section was tasty with just the right amount of crispiness. It went well with the mildly spiced sliced chicken with bamboo shoots from the Nooshi platter. Jakarta Fried rice, an Indonesian style meat and seafood preparation, smelled great (is it saffron?) and was equally flavoursome.
The proprietors had recommended we try the Lebnani section, featuring a range of grilled eats, particularly kebabs. The one we chose, Dajaj Zakhath Kebab – minced chicken flavoured with Arabic herbs, coriander, parsley and chilli – was exceptionally succulent. One of the best dishes, though, was the Trinidadian spiced fish – two fat chunks of fish fillet, marinated with chilli, cumin, coriander and lemon juice, served with roasted baby potatoes and grilled vegetables. It really was a meal in itself, a perfect grill for taste buds that are used to spicy seafood.
By the time we finished the main course the restaurant was packed to the rafters, rather surprising for a Monday evening. As a result we had to wait a bit to catch the eye of the servers to order dessert of ice-cream and gulab jamun. Mango shrikand, imperial special payasam and pazham nurukku (a Malabari preparation of ripe plantain cooked in ghee and tossed with cashew nuts, grated coconut, sugar and cardamom) were some of the other desserts available, which we thought would be a bit too heavy, considering all that we had packed in till then.
It’s best to reach the restaurant before rush hour (8 p.m.) in the evenings. It’s a lot less noisy, for one. Be prepared to drive around until you find a space to park. Imperial Kitchen is at Heera Hi-Life, Keston Road, near Devaswom Board junction. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
