Restaurant Week India offers some fantastic deals, and one of them was definitely a meal at Westview Bar and Grill, ITC Sonar, which is one of my favourite places in town. The other day, I went over with a friend, and between sips of complimentary mocktails and bites of their rather excellent, warm ciabatta, we decided to order the Salmon and the Tenderloin from the menu.
Unlike most other places, Westview offers a rather limited selection of meal choices, but I have to admit, there’s something for everyone – and the vegetarian menu has a rather interesting take on the Manicotti. However, as our kind server settled a basket of warm bread in front of us, and poured some olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a bowl, we ended up dipping our bread slices in it, sprinkling with sea salt and consuming with gusto. A meanwhile spilled his drink, and we ended up ordering my favourite, a glass of diet coke, because I absolutely refused to get drenched by a watermelon cooler for the second time.
I picked the Canja du Galinha, Chicken and rice soup, a bowl of comforting chicken broth with a generous portion of shredded chicken and plump kernels of rice with a smattering of fresh herbs. I declined the extra helping of freshly crushed peppercorns.
The Salmon Tataki was my dish of choice – this was a rather simple, yet quite beautifully executed dish. Two soup spoons held thin curls of salmon, cooked till barely done on the outside, then sliced and rolled up and placed on top of red watermelon, and served with a light herb puree to add to the flavours. I found the salmon to have a bit too much of a fishy scent, but the watermelon went a long way to tone the smell down, and add a rather interesting sweet, fresh contrast to the briny fish.
A had picked the poached Bay of Bengal Bekti, although I had warned him that it would be bland. It was, and I felt the fish was slightly underseasoned. It was, however, cooked to perfection, the fish easily flaking with the touch of a fork, and the accompanying asparagus crunchy but not raw.
I had asked for the Mignonette of Tenderloin – a cut which I personally favour quite a lot, and it came with a little syringe bottle of extra virgin olive oil, au jus, and some grilled pak choy. I had asked for medium-rare, and thankfully, the sous chef, Bidhu Bhushan Das, knew exactly what I wanted.
The mignonettes came with a gorgeous pink center, and yes, the meat was tender, juicy, with a seared crust which was seasoned generously. The Pak Choy provided a much-needed illusion of health and added textural balance with its crunch, that went rather wonderfully with the pink-centered meat.
Dessert was a choice between Tiramisu and Chocolate Symphony. I have never had the Tiramisu here, and its a lighter version of the dessert, where the alcohol is not too generously used, and it comes with a side of dark chocolate cake rusk and a thin, crisp biscotti. Spoon a portion of the Tiramisu on top of the Biscotti for a crunchy, delectable mouthful – I mourned for more of those Biscottis though.
I have had the Chocolate Symphony before – three layers of chocolate – white, milk, and dark – with more chocolate to decorate. This was a nice dessert, but I felt it was a bit too sweet for my liking. Restaurant Week India is going to continue till the 25th of September, 2016, and if you want to book a table to avail this meal for a price of 900/- plus tax, then you should as soon as you can because time’s running out here!
Disclaimer: Poorna Banerjee dined at Zen as a part of Restaurant Week India.
Share this:
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
- Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
- Click to print (Opens in new window)