Last year this time I was asking a few friends if they would like to accompany me and dine at any of the luxury hotels that this event brings within reach. Quite unfortunately, they were extremely busy and just couldn't find the time. This time, however, I succeeded in visiting the Golden Dragon restaurant at the Taj Coromandel, Chennai and the experience has justified the wait and the pent up expectations. Before I write about the actual experience a few words about this most interesting event.
The review comes after these questions so skip ahead if you just want to read that.
So what is Restaurant week anyway?
Simply put, it is a biannual 10 day event that showcases a highly curated menu from some of the finest restaurants this country has to offer. The menu is for a 3 course meal for the RW event and 6 course meal for the Chef's table which is a spinoff event that costs more to attend. More than a 100 hotels from Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai are participating this time. The menu I assume is chosen to reflect the essence of each restaurant's culinary focus. Or maybe portray new and interesting dishes. There are lunch and dinner slots priced at Rs 750 and Rs 900 respectively in Chennai. Other cities are priced differently. The event has been running since September 2010 until now.
How do I choose the best restaurant for me?
Personally, for me, trying to choose the best place to go to out of all the tempting options was a lot of fun. I looked long and hard at each restaurant's menu trying to decide which would excite everyone's tastes the most. If a certain ambiance is what matters then keeping that in mind is important too. For example some places are more suited to a cozy date while others lend themselves better to a group meeting with friends. Doing some research about the restaurants and their themes beforehand will help meet expectations you have. Each restaurant has its own page explaining about the philosophy of its dining experience and an introduction to the chef in charge.
Booking procedures and any extra details?
The RWI website is simple and functional thankfully. All restaurants are displayed with the status of reservations displayed in a color coded format (waitlisted, unavailable and available). You just need to make an account and get choosing based on your preferences. To confirm a reservation you should have chosen a slot that's available and starting this year, full payment including a non- refundable booking charge per diner has to be paid in advance. Earlier, only the booking charge had to be paid in advance. But this isn't an issue since payments are refunded if you cancel more than 12 hours in advance or if your reservation doesn't get confirmed after being wait listed. You can even switch your reservations if you feel like wanting a change later.
Since this event is sponsored by Ola Prime this year, all the participants got mailed a coupon code of Rs 150 each way to travel to and from the restaurant in comfort. All I had to do is summon an Ola Prime cab, punch in the unique code and voila! An almost free ride for me since my place is only a few miles away! Gotta love that free wifi that's provided to prime riders too. The wifi password is your cell number, remember that!
First Impressions & Ambiance
So after getting dropped off at the imposing Taj Coromandel I stepped in. This decades old hotel is itself partially shrouded from the main road and once you're inside you don't feel you're actually in the city's center. When you exit the hotel, you do feel the place is an island. And from the outside, it definitely gives off an air of mystery and grandeur revealing only a glimpse of it's ferned high walls. This was my first visit to this Taj property. I chose the Golden Dragon because from all the hotels having Asian cuisine which I was in the mood to have then, this one had some menu items that were closer to my taste. The kitchen is run by Master Chef William Ho who has more than 40 years of experience at high end restaurants around the world.
The main hallway was huge and classically grand. I asked a suited managerial sort for instructions to the Golden Dragon and it was the first restaurant to the right from the end of the grand main hallway.
The restaurant decor and setting was minimal and understated. Only later did I notice the muted lines on the cutlery. High ceilings and cloth draped seating makes you feel you're somewhere communal yet gives you a familial feel. It did make me feel at ease.
There was couple seating adjoining the French windows but the view outside wasn't inspiring. Just the backside of the hotel with some flowering plants outside. The blinds were half drawn but the strong daylight provided enough natural lighting to brighten up the whole place. I chose these seats so I could take decent photos with my below average cell phone camera.
On entering, a bright looking waiter Mr. Sagai had greeted me and I told him about the reservation for the event. Once seated, the special set menu was brought but I didn't really need to check it much since I had already seen it online.
Food experience. finally..
Soup
For the soup, I chose Chef Ho's spicy lung fung soup. It was between that and a veg parsley and chestnut soup. Chef Ho wasn't kidding when he termed it spicy! Got quite a spice kick the first sip that it pretty much startled me. But it was delicious. The spicy broth was interspersed with bits of tender bits of prawn that kept me interested. It was a zesty start to the meal.
Appetizer
In the appetizer menu, I was planning to try either the prawn har gao, tai chin chicken or the juicy tenderloin Mongolian style (beef). Had read good things about the har gao. But unsurprisingly, the tenderloin won in the end. And thank heavens it did because this was a stunner for me. The sliced beef was neatly clumped in a little heap and I tentatively took a first peck from the fork. Wow. Just. Sublime. The unpleasant memories of the so called tenderloin cuts I've had in Chennai and Bangalore until now were wiped clean in an instant of the first bite. The beef cuts were unbelievably tender and the Mongolian based sauce it was coated with was just what this prime cut deserved. The menu at the Golden Dragon's website had indicated this was quite spicy so I had enquired with one of the waiters if it would be. I found it to be of normal spice, not sure if the heat was reduced for me. Anyway, I certainly did not expect to be having such tender meat anywhere in Chennai, star hotel or not so this was a lovely surprise. However that said, I did find one piece that was extremely chewy and couldn't even be swallowed. That can be excused I think.
Staples
I did not finish off the tenderloin dish as I wanted to pair it with the Stir fried vegetable rice with golden garlic that was coming up next. I was asked if I wanted egg added to which I said yes.
Main Course
I again had quite some difficulty choosing between the nice options here. Stir fried lamb in crushed pepper sauce, Pan fried bay prawns in Murraya and seafood sauce, sweet and sour pork and Stir fried chicken in chili oyster sauce with water chestnuts and mushroom caught my fancy. Since I had already had red meat in the appetizer I didn't want lamb again. The prawn preparation looked interesting but I wasn't too keen on tasting curry leaves in it (Murraya) so I went with the Stir fried chicken in chili oyster sauce with water chestnuts and mushrooms.
I gave my preference and waited for some time. I got time to observe some of the crowd now. The place was filling up by now. The large round central table was now occupied by a group of friends who had come for the restaurant week menu as well. They were having a hell of a time I could see. There was a smaller table occupied by a family who were ordering a la carte. Meanwhile Mr Sagai and me got talking and he was telling me how some customers frequented this place for years. He could attest since he has been with the place for more than two decades now.
The two dishes came together and were served immediately. The Stir fried vegetable rice was pretty much perfect to me. Extremely tasteful, the rice wasn't dry but very lightly moist which I found super. Went perfectly with the stir fried chicken that was another winner. The chili oyster sauce was mildly spiced and its flavor was subtle and seemed very fresh. The small sized mushrooms were delightful nibbles in between the crunch of the chestnuts. The portion sizes were quite generous and I was actually unable to finish the whole dish! Although initially I thought the portions may not fill me up this was not the case here at Golden Dragon.
Dessert
Finally it was time for dessert. The chocolate terrine was recommended but I had also thought of the Flambeed toffee vanilla custard(v) but since I overlooked the veg portion of the menu I forgot about that option. Anyway the terrine looked small at first glance but it was a solid chunk of concocted chocolate solids. Unfortunately this dessert did not impress me all too much since it was very hard to take a spoonful of. And that sort of ruined it. I had to resort to try and break it up with a fork. Since it was served quite chilled it was even more hard. I've not had this dish before so cannot comment if this is how it is usually served. I wished it was a lot more softer so it would be easier to relish. However, the flavor of the bites I had were pretty good. However, the texture of the dessert didn't really impress me. I wish I had tried the Flambeed toffee vanilla custard instead.
The restaurant's manager Mr. Tilak (R) with Mr. Sagai.
So that's it. This turned out to be a longer than expected blog post since I enjoyed recounting this experience. The return trip home was again very comfortable because of the Ola prime ride being available. If you're thinking of trying out a restaurant at the Restaurant Week this time, hurry and go right ahead. This is sure to be a very good experience at the least and at an amazingly less price for such luxury.
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