While this might not qualify as a review of the restaurant, it’s definitely a very interesting lunch that I had been to at I & Monkey. On the occasion of Mother’s Day, a few bloggers and I were invited to a special lunch. The difference was that, we were told to send in the favourite dish that our mother 's make and the chef would try his hand at putting a twist on the same.
First up was a very interesting dish which was a mix between the local favourite Lemon Rice and a Risotto. I’m not a fan of either dish individually, but this particular mash-up had a very unique taste that I was quite surprised that I enjoyed. It had the texture of the risotto with a mild touch of lemon giving it the lemon rice twang. Kudos to the chef on this one. It was one of the dishes that I shamelessly took more than one helping off.
Next was the Navaratan Kurma which was average in comparison to the previous risotto. This dish is probably one of those few dishes that you really can’t mess around with and adapt to any other cuisine. We were also served a helping of Fish Fry which tasted alright, but the texture was a little tough. Fish is normally expected to easily break off with a fork, but this took some doing. The outer layer that was fried was crispy and quite tangy.
The next dish was my favourite part of the meal - The Moroccan Lamb Stew. Made in a gravy of plum and pepper, the saltiness of the meat went excellently well with the sauce. This was a perfect compliment to the Moroccan Rice that was mild in nature and did not overpower the gravy. The meat was tender enough to be cut with a fork. The bloggers at the table were unanimous that this was the best dish of the day and we all took several helpings.
Accompanying the food were a few cocktails based on whiskey, rum and vodka. I did not drink anything but a fresh lime soda as I was already nursing a bit of a hangover from some decent Irish single malt the previous evening.
Dessert was a fine closing chapter to our Mother’s Day special meal with Mango Soufflé, Tiramisu and my favourite Chocolate Brownie with Ice Cream. It would be important to note that the brownie had a gelatine-like texture to it and was quite rich in chocolate. Folks who don’t relish dark chocolate might not enjoy this dish.
Big thumbs up for the Lamb Stew and the Risotto in my book. I look forward to trying some of the grub off the regular menus which the chef informed us will be changing every few months based on the ingredients that season. This would be an interesting change because neither the chef gets bored of doing the same thing every day nor more importantly, neither do the patrons.
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