When you are invited to a ‘Delhi Food Festival’ from the Gateway hotel in Chennai, with the invite stressing on serving authentic Steet food from ‘Chandni Chowk to Jama Masjid’ you tend to approach it with a bit of skepticism. I have spent the early part of my life in Delhi and have been making periodic visits to Delhi and hence am fairly familiar with the authentic street food scene in Delhi.
 
The Festival special menu is being served at the all day Diner Buzz (But only Dinner). This was my first Visit to Gateway, Chennai since I seldom have a reason to be in this part of town. I have heard good things about the Gateway from my fellow food bloggers and I was looking forward to the dinner.
 
We were introduced to the Executive Chef Meril. The Chef and the General Manager of the hotel gave us a brief introduction of the festival and then the parade of ‘Starters’ started. It was then that my Skepticism turned to absolute delight as one by one they were able to nail the ‘Authentic’ taste of the Delhi Street food. We had dishes named ‘Gupta Burger’, ‘Rahul Ande’ 'Biswaroop Chaat' etc and trust me they do actually exist (have attached some photos at the end of the blog.
 
I have not made an attempt to describe each item on the menu as most of them are familiar to most people. I have visually documented the dinner.

Welcome Drink
Angoor Sherbet
Malai Lassi

Chat counter
Samosa Chaat / Palak Kachori with Subzi
Bishan swaroop chaat (fruit chaat) / Aloo tikki / Veg Pakode
 Golgappe (served with variety of flavored water)
 Amritsari kulcha with chole / Chole Bhature

Live stations
 
Kadi Chawal  
Murgh Tikka Roll
Lamb Seekh kebab rolls 
Gupta Burger counter 
Rahul Anda counter

Mains
Murgh Aloo Dum Wali Biryani
Rara Gosht  
Ajwani Fish Tikka Masala
Murgh korma 
Gosht Kalia
Bharwan Tinda Masala
Chui mui kofta /
Dal Sultani
​Navaratna Khorma 

Dessert counter
Rabdi Falooda
Jelabi 
Teel wali Kulfi 
Phirni

The Verdict

Everything from the Welcome Drink to the Desserts hit the right spot. Its very rarely that I have come across a food festival buffet where there has not been a single dish that had failed to impress.

The Gateway at OMR is a hidden gem (atleast for most of us in Central and North Chennai) and this is a festival that is definitely worth a visit. 

(Note to Myself: I should keep my eyes open for other culinary events here...)

The fest is on till September 30  |  Dinner buffet  |  INR 1200 plus taxes  |  For more details and reservations contact +91 44 6680 2500

Post Script

These Places DO EXIST !!!

Chapter 1 : The Dimsums
​“We serve authentic ‘Dumplings’..while most of the others serve ‘Momos” proclaimed Chef Dharmen Makawana the Executive Chef of Leela Palace. I was there at the ‘XO China’ for the ‘Seafood by the Bay’ festival which was curated by Chef Makwana along with Chef Soon.
 
The dumplings did indeed set the tone for the evening. The first one being the Lobster and Asparagus dimsum infused with with truffle oil drops  followed by another innovative dumpling which was shaped like little fish filled with a crab and prawn which was served floating in Laksa paste. The combination was mouthwatering and in some ways was the reflection of the culinary roots of the Chefs from Singapore and Malaysia respectively. The relatively bland taste of the steamed crab and prawns were enhanced with the ingredients of the Laksa like the dried chillies, lemon grass, ginger, prawns, galagal amongst other ingredients.
 
We were served a third dumpling which was innovative in the presentation ‘Chilean Sea bass’ which was wrapped in Kunafa pastry from Egypt and served with the greenish Wasabi Mayonnaise. I noticed that here again there was a throwback to the ‘Egyptian’ roots of the Chef Makwana with him having spent considerable time there.
 

Chapter 2: The Appetizers

We were then Served the two Appetizers which were the

• Crispy soft shell crab in dark soya garlic and onion sauce
• Lotus Seafood fritter with Piquant sauce.

I was very surprised with the width of the lotus stem and discovered that the lotus stems were not sourced locally but were imported, though the crabs were sourced locally.
 

​Chapter 3 : The Soup

The Lobster wanton soup with Morel Mushrooms and Mustard root. The soups are usually the silent non descript players in a meal, but this particular clear soup was definitely 'different' in a nice way, in both the ingredients and the taste. While the lobster Wanton is passe, the Morel mushroom reflected the 'opulence' of the hotel and the restaurant and the mustard root lent the soup the characteristic pungent sour taste.

Chapter 4 : Main Course

• Steamed crab meat with egg white sauce. The preparation was interesting in that the mixture of the crab meat and egg white were served in the Crab shell and garnished with Roe on top.

• Crispy ‘Catch of the day’ served  with Laksa Sause..The presentation and the taste was just fabulous. You just cant go wrong with freshly prepared Laksa.

• Wok Fried Butter Prawns served with Garlic sauce. After tasting the prawns, the first thing I noticed that the butter was a lot more creamier than what we usually encounter. The chef clarified that the butter used for the dish is imported from Franc which gives the  dish the absolute creaminess of the butter

 
The last of the main was the absolute show stopper,

• The Singapore styled chilly  crab’ which was served with Mantao Bun. I am not sure wether it was my ‘indianized’ palate which was craving for something spacy after the steamed crab and the butter crab, but this dish just hit the perfect spot. And a note to the readers : If you have to enjoy the Gigantic Crabs you will have to get your hands messy and use both of them.

We were finally served the Wok Fried Singapore style seafood rice and stick noodle..I was pretty much stuffed by then and did not have space for more and hence just had a spoonful.

The Verdict

The Leela Palace has a distinct disadvantage amongst most of the other five star properties in Chennai in that the location of the hotel does not permit it to be visible while commuting around it Chennai. While it does have the most stunning views amongst any hotel property in Chennai, it does run the risk of the 'Out of sight : Out of mind' syndrome. I should admit that it was the case for me too, until I started doing my surgeries (Yes I do have a day job as an Orthopedic and Sports medicine surgeon ) at the Apollo Spectra hospital across the road.

After this meal I have to accept that Leela definitely serves one of the best Chinese Cuisines in Chennai if not in the country itself. The ambiance, service and the taste was exquisite and a diner cannot ask for more.

The Seafood Festival is on till the 11th September.
Open for dinner only at China XO
For reservations, contact, +91 44 33661234