Restaurant Week Recon - Oriental Twist

Having been to Koh once before in my life, I knew that this would be a prime opportunity to get the same great experience I’d had here the last time- except maybe a bit cheaper!

The ambience is everything you’d expect from a classy hotel like the Intercon- purple funk – dim lighting, trendy music, a private dining section. Service was a little impersonal, but polite beyond reproach. It was also VERY efficient, like the most efficient I’ve seen in a long time!

Koh, at the Intercontinental Hotel

It was another 10 ‘o’ clock seating, so we were justifiably starving. The menu was exciting and had a lot of variety. We began with an amuse bouche (French – Amuse the Mouth) – a spinach leaf “dumpling” stuffed with assorted steamed vegetables and soaking in a light soya sauce. It was steaming hot and very delicious. Our “bouches” were indeed amused.

What accompanied the dumpling, however, was infinitely more interesting. Served in a tiny little cup, a hot steaming tom kha soup, which had been exquisitely flavoured with corn and the mild taste of coconut. It was absolutely delicious, and a very nice, light start to the meal. A good combination, the soup and the dumpling.

Spinach dumpling and coconut and corn tom kha

 We were pleasantly surprised when our server told us, while ordering our main course, that we did not have to choose from their non vegetarian and vegetarian choices– each individual dish on those lists was in fact part of an entire meal that included about four “sub dishes”. We were very happy to order one veg, one non-veg, and one laksa meal.

Each course was served to us almost immediately, which I was very thankful for. Both the vegetarian and non vegetarian meals offered raw papaya salad, green curry and jasmine rice. The difference was the non vegetarian meal had as its showstopper a poached fillet of sea perch soaked in lime and chilli oil, whereas the vegetarian meal had the the rather ordinary spicy stir fried vegetables.

Green curry with chicken

The rice was artfully packed into a leaf, served with a generous portion of the green curry. The sour-sweet raw papaya salad was fresh and delicious, and went well with the smooth, mild flavoured curry. The genius of the menu planning was evident – all the flavours brought out the best in each other and were delicate, rather than overpowering, which I find to be the case with a lot of Pan Asian places.

Jasmine rice and raw papaya salad

Even the laksa - which I'll be honest here, was more like kaukswe- was delicious! Not overly peanut-ty, served with a variety of condiments, and a large bowl full. Very tasty.

Chicken Laksa with condiments

The sea perch was fantastic- I think some might have complained that it was a little too sour, but I love the taste of lemon, and relished every bite. The portions were just about perfect – we managed to polish everything off without feeling hungry, but yet with enough place left for dessert!

Sea perch with lemon and chilli oil

And oh, what a dessert it was. Fruitoffee, a non conventional take on banoffee pie – which was much like a sundae, except warm. The bottom of the glass was a mixture of condensed milk and extremely salty peanut and caramel crunch. Topped off with a dollop of whipped cream and assorted fruits – this was a heavenly end to the meal, and different from the usual sorbet – ice cream, chocolate cake situation. Absolutely fabulous!

Fruinoffee sundae

Koh definitely topped my charts this restaurant week. I hope they offer us brand new awesomeness the next time round, but even if they don’t they’ve definitely got one reservation in me!

Suzette, Je t'aime!

Can you say “Le YUM” in French? Suzette Creperie may not be the most obtrusive of the French restaurants that have suddenly mushroomed in the city, but it is certainly, by far, the most authentic one.

Tucked away in the heart of Nariman point, this little place is large enough to host 15-20 people at best, but the line of SoBo MILFs, hipster looking firangs, and local office goers that waits outside is enough to tell you that you’re in for something special.

As you enter, you are immediately transported to gay Paris, into a little rustic café with warm wooden tones;minimalistic, but tastefully furnished with a wrought iron bookshelf sporting an assorted collection of art, travel, and French culture books, and a few scattered posters and paintings. Simple sophistication.

But décor aside, I want to jump right to the interesting part and say that, being an avid Francophone and gastronome- Suzette has some of the freshest and most authentic French cuisine I have had the privilege to taste. Their selection of salads and savoury crepes is a little limited, but everything I’ve tasted so far has been nothing short of sublime.

My eternal favourite is the Chèvre crepe, filled with goat’s cheese, subtly flavoured with honey and walnuts. The crepe Méditerranée is a close runner up, a flavourful, though not overpowering. The salads are nothing spectacular; I would recommend that you save room for dessert.

Now, after making the laborious decision owing to the sheer delectable variety of their dessert menu (yup, it’s one of those that makes you drool at everything), we decided to stick with the basics and order a Nutella crepe. One bite in, I could hear choirs of angels singing. It was DIVINE.  If you manage not to die of a foodgasm, and are tempted enough to go for a round two – order the Caramel Praline crepe. It is equally good, and with a side of cold cream- it is bound to send you to gastronomic Shangri-La.

Replete and groaning from the sugary goodness, you can choose to try one of their authentic French teas, which will help you come back down to earth a little. Or, you can pack a “smoozie” for later– the banana honey one makes for a good breakfast treat if you don’t mind leftovers.

The total damages are very reasonable for the great meal you get here. I would highly HIGHLY recommend Suzette to anyone seeking a rendez-vous with authentic French cuisine. As for me, I envision a number of delightful little trysts to come with this charming place myself, and am already counting down the days.

Bon appetit.


Phone : 022 22880055 
Address : Ground Floor, Atlanta Building, Nariman Point, Mumbai   


Guzzle Quotient: