Vegetarian fish curry anyone?

Potatoes taste as good as basa on Navaratna's brand new menu at Le Royal Meridien
Kurkure paneer tikka
Kurkure paneer tikka

Every time we give Le Royal Meridien's Navaratna a gander, there's a certain old world comfort that comes with the unchanging interiors. The gold encrusted chandeliers, the excessive wooden panelling, the hint of opulence all round, it's all quite up there - and smacks of a machinery that serves food fit for royals, to us gentry. 

As we sit down to savour the wonders of their zari-bound new menu, the sitar player, who serves as the in house entertainment for the evening, switches from his classical routine and begins strumming everything from Led Zep's Stairs to Heaven to a considerably more contemporary sitar-y version of Bryan Adams' Back to You. Not quite royal music, but hey, you could hum along.

<em>Kalan melagu peratal</em>
Kalan melagu peratal

It's a sentiment that becomes sort of a recurrent theme as course after course makes its way from the well-appointed kitchen to our table. The names on the signature section of their new menu scream opulence, and by extension, an inherent richness that comes of using plenty of the good stuff to make their many curries. Rather surprisingly, as we wind our way through the rather tepid Murungakaai Charu -  an exercise that thankfully did not require us to employ the technique we use on lamb shanks to get the marrow out, on drumsticks - we realise that that gaudy richness that is synonymous with Royal Indian cuisine has been toned down with health-conscious diners in mind. 

Even if you're someone who doesn't deign to look at the vegetarian section while ordering, I would recommend you give those delectably made Dahi Kebab a shot - it's a mouthful of crunch and creamy curd all at once and was easily the one thing I wouldn't have said no to a second helping of. Or a third really. 

The mains are what one would have to categorise as strictly standard. What's comforting is that a lot of it is aimed at making people remember food from their roots. Wherever they're from. And there's a little slice of home right there for you folks who are homesick and need a royal pick-me-up. 

<em>Galouti kebab</em>
Galouti kebab

Once the mains arrive, it become sapparent that you can either drown your rotis in the creamy Sonfiya Murgh or just keep it plain and simple and douse it in their trademark Dal Makhani, that arrives with a generous dollop of butter on top. Personally they both work as comfort food so there's no reason why it has to be a toss-up really. 

The one experiment that I couldn't quite wrap my head around was the chef's much recommended Saiva Meen Kozhambu (Vegetarian fish curry), which, well, tasted like fish curry, looked like fish curry, felt like fish curry, but had pieces of potato masquerading as well curried bits of basa in the mix. Decidedly disturbing for a fan if fish curry, but you couldn't help but marvel at how close they'd gotten to actually fish curry without adding a morsel of fish. That's a rare catch, that is. 

Navaratna's new menu is now available at Le Royal Meridien. Average cost for two is Rs 2,500. Details: 22314343

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