Holiday Inn’s Italian restaurant Roma gets a menu revamp

The new menu has 39 authentic dishes from various regions of Italy including Sicily and Lombardy
Holiday Inn’s Italian restaurant Roma gets a menu revamp

Stadia in Holiday Inn was one amongst Kochi’s favourite sports bars during the World Cup season. A month after the finale, we return to the luxurious hotel—this time on an invitation from the executive chef who has just re-engineered the menu at their Italian restaurant, Roma.

“During my 16 years in the industry, I have worked with Italian chefs in places like Mumbai and Memphis. So, we decided to completely restructure the card with 39 authentic dishes from various regions of Italy including Sicily and Lombardy,” says chef Jitendra Nakhwa, as we sit down in the fine diner which exhibits signs of subtle remodeling with the introduction of a few paintings, a mini fountain, and a wine rack. Minutes after being seated, we’re served their house-made focaccia bread alongside a dip of sun-dried tomatoes as Jitendra goes in to bring us our antipasti. 

Curated touch
The menu has a signature dish with secret recipes in every course and the first is a carpaccio di filetto di manzo; essentially raw meat. Even though beef is really popular in Kerala, a similar uncooked version would be hard to find.

Uber-thin slices marinated with parmesan oil achieves a balanced flavour with shaved waxy parmesan cheese, sweet balsamic vinegar, and mildly bitter rocket leaves. Use crispy bread to complement the supple meat and it makes for a great warm-up platter.

“We’ve introduced dinner buffets on Saturdays as a part of introducing authentic Italian cuisine to connoisseurs in Kochi,” the chef informs. The phrase ‘contains diary’ on the menu—alongside other allergy/intolerance warnings at the bottom—is only a subtle heads-up for the rich and heavy cannelloni. Alongside typical ingredients like spinach and ricotta, the slushy dish (consistent enough not to fall off the fork) has mushroom stuffing and béchamel sauce.
 

Authentic deal
Cliché though it might be, pizzas themselves make a course in Italian fare. Among the seven names they offer—diverse with vegetarian, seafood, and meat options—the one with a spicy and salty pork pepperoni is our pick. Mozzarella follows in the wake of the thin crust piece I pull away which hides a surprising sweetness (think caramelised onion) and herbal flavours (from the rosemary).

Crumbling our belief that confit is an exclusive French cooking style, a rosemary duck version is sported on the penultimate course. “It’s the name for a slow-cooking process and our version is done up over 12 hours,” he informs, as we try the dish with a crispy skin and the meat cracked up from long hours under the grill. 

The gooey mashed potato and poached pear doused in cranberry jus aid the rather dry texture of the meat. An unimpressive chocolate rum cake with vanilla ice cream does not dull this excellent gastronomic debauchery.
 

Open from 7 to 11 pm.
 

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