That, and more, is what you can try out at this ongoing German Food Festival

That, and more, is what you can try out at this ongoing German Food Festival

OKAY, I have had prawn cocktails before. A delicacy in Calcutta's Peter Cat restaurant, it is a must try for everyone who visits the place. And I must add it happens to be one of my favourites. But all said and done, I was still not prepared to have prawns which have been soaked in a beer broth and served. Here's a little secret, I hate beer, truly and sincerely. But whatever, I decided to get adventurous. The, errr, broth, was a tad bitter (like I expected beer to be sweet), and the prawns tasted distinctly beer-y (is that even a word?). But good enough to ease the knot in my stomach.

With food all around you, your appetite is bound to get a boost here

The German way
I was at ITC Maurya, attending the German food festival. The dishes, I was told, was mostly from Bavaria, which is the south-eastern part of the country. I started with the antipasto. The chef wanted me to get a taste of everything and given that the antipasto took up an entire giant table, it was a tough task.
For a change, I decided to start with veggies. There was brined peas, potato salad with red cabbage and homemade mushroom strudel with Dusseldorf mustard. The strudel was very cheesy, crisp and freshly baked. Hmmmm, not bad for veggies and quite tasty. It was time to move on to the meats. Germans seem to be quite a meat-eater as the non-veg section seemed completely overwhelming. I tried some smoked lamb and roasted mushrooms which were yummy. I quite liked the Turkey salad and onion jam which was sweet, and delicious.
Next on the plate was some home cured pork loin with roasted apples. ITC has gone little soft on the pork though, keeping Delhi's liking for chicken in mind. So there are lots of chicken dishes too on the menu. What I didn't like though, was tempering of the dishes to suit the Indian palette. High time we learn to eat authentic stuff, me thinks.u00a0

Au00a0mean job done
Next up at the table was Turkey broth which was seriously yummy and made me actually contemplate about a second helping, though by now I was perilously close to saturation point. And I hadn't even reached main course.
For the mains, I tried some mustard crusted straddle of lamb along with mashed potatoes. Soft and fresh, and the fact that I didn't need to wrestle with my knife and fork meant the lamb was cooked just right. Unlike most places, I must add. Somewhere in the middle of all this was a salmon dish and though the salmon was not very fresh, the chef still managed to do a mean job with it. I briefly wondered if that is what they do in Germany too. Food seemed never-ending at this place. And I saw the chef coming with a plateful of sausages (my all-time favourites). But by this time I was so full that I could all but nibble. There were pork and chicken sausages. I almost cursed myself for being so full. Nevertheless, the pangs of my job meant that I had to check them out, even if I was bursting at the seams. I was not disappointed as the sausages were yummy.

The love of all things chocolate
Bursting at the seams notwithstanding, I could just not miss my chocolate dessert. And it was worth it.
u00a0
West View Grill
Food: Delicious
Service: Attentive
Ambience: Good
AT: ITC Maurya, Diplomatic Enclave
TIMINGS: 7 pm to 11.45 pm
ON TILL: September 8
RING: 26112233
MEAL FOR TWO: Rs 2,750 plus taxes (without alcohol)