Croissants has opened its doors once again, and though the 'etc' has been dropped off the title, the menu is almost completely unchanged and still includes assorted pastries and puffs. But flanked by antiques, the outlet at the Ambassador Hotel does hold a new allure

In October last year, Glasgow Museums and Sir William Burrell's Trust made determined efforts to come up with ufffd398,600 (Rs 2,85,54,021.85) to hold on to an 18th century jewel-encrusted-tiger-head-finial that was once part of the throne of Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore.


A plate of croissants

As they put out pleas for individuals and trusts to contribute towards this sum, the organisations announced that the antique not only represented the life of Tipu Sultan and his battles against the British East India Company army and administration, but also, "the society of the Kingdom of Mysore, which was known for its social stability and economic prosperity."

So, imagine our surprise when, as we sit in the gleaming lobby of the Ambassador Hotel awaiting our cup of "frothy-cappuccino," a suited-hotel-employee who recognises our interest in ornately-carved fish and tiger motifs on a gold-framed-mirror besides the Croissants counter, casually shares, "Most of the pieces here are genuine antiques purchased at auctions some can even be traced back to Tipu Sultan."u00a0

It's no secret that the 18th century ruler was trained in the art of warfare by French officers, employed by his father Haider Ali. It's certainly interesting to note that the French connection may have transcended time in the menu of Croissants, which specialises in preparing unique, cross-cultural variants of the traditionally French crescent shaped bread.

Though the self-service-stall is meant to open for business at 8 am, it takes the sole-attendant at least half-an-hour to get organised. But the frustration notwithstanding, each of the stuffed croissants we sampled (Rs 45 each) was just as we remembered absolutely delicious.

The Tandoori Chicken Croissant was excellent, as was the Barbeque Chicken Croissant which, it should however be noted, doesn't contain the American-style BBQ chicken. It's best-described as a flavoursome keema-croissant. And, the Chicken Manchurian Croissant was not at all starchy, which is always a danger when it comes to locally-prepared Chinese recipes.

We were, however, disappointed to learn that they didn't stock their famous Chicken-Jungli sandwiches here. The attendant explained this was in keeping with the hotel's policy but she did hand us a menu and add, "You can place an order for them though." A word of advice for dessert-lovers: the mixed fruit pastry looked far better than it tasted. Opt for the warmed-up Chocolate Roulade (Rs 30) instead. It was absolutely divine.