On entering the ‘Flavours’ all-day dining restaurant of Hotel Hometel, Industrial Area, Phase I here, an enticing aroma of Cantonese, Hunan, Szechuan and Beijing cuisines, skillfully prepared by the chefs’ team lead by Executive Chef Bidesh Biswas come wafting.
The restaurant is hosting a 10-day food festival – ‘Chinese Feast‘ which is serving a sumptuous spread of Chinese delicacies with a few Japanese, Thai & Vietnamese Cuisines in a dinner buffet, 7-11 PM daily from Jan 23 to Feb 2, 2020.
Chef Bidesh Biswas said,”We have used some popular Chinese cooking methods. Like our Cantonese cuisine has been made by steaming, stir-frying and roasting. The dishes here include different kind of dim sums. Hunan cuisine, consists of recipes from Western Hunan Province in China; its known for its hot and spicy flavors, fresh aroma and deep colours, we have tried to maintain the region’s cooking traditions. Szechuan or Sichuan food has been made by use of five spices -fennel, pepper, aniseed, cinnamon, and clove; added to these are the trademark chili and Sichuan pepper.”
Nabendu Acharjee, General Manager, Hometel Hotel said, “The menu has been crafted in such a way that on each day there will be different dishes on offer apart from the regular cuisine. We have timed the fiesta with the Chinese New Year which falls on January 25. The USP of the festival is the culinary expertise of our chefs. Original Chinese dishes are served by tweaking them a little to give them a slight Indian flavour, so that the food suits all palates. It gives me immense pleasure to also announce that on Republic day – Jan 26, a R Day brunch will be held and all defence personnel will be offered a 50 percent discount.”
Chinese & Oriental food lovers are in for a treat as some first time in Chandigarh cuisines are available. The non-vegetarian offerings have Dry Chicken in Dry Chilli Szechwan Pepper, Chicken here is prepared in Szechwan style which makes the flavor a wee bit pungent and spicy too due to liberal use of garlic, chilli and Sichuan pepper. Fish in Garlic Wine Sauce is prepared using wine sauce made of wheat & rice providing authentic taste & seasoning to the dish. Other favourite dishes are Rice Coated Steamed Fish , Lemon Grass Chicken with Fresh Cilantro Sauce & Prawn in Hot Garlic Sauce from the different regions of China.
The vegetarian spread has Chinese specialties like Szechwan Wontons, Tofu in Hong Kong Style, Vegetable Dumplings in Coriander Chilli Sauce, Exotic Vegetables (Baby corn, Bell Peppers, Zucchini & Broccoli) in Ginger Chilli Sauce.
Sums up Chef Biswas, “Banh xeo, the famous Vietnamese pancake will be offered with both veg and non-veg fillings at a live counter. To give your meal a great finish the desserts have also been prepared with a Chinese touch – there’s Apple Cinnamon Rolls & Fried Ice Cream – which is Crumbed Ice Cream fried to a Golden Colour.”
Dinner buffet for two —Rs 1800
