[Rating:2/5]
7th April was World Health Day 2009, and saw The Ashok Hotel attempting a culinary makeover with the introduction of healthier recipes and ingredients. Invited to the Ashok Coffee Shop by Chipo@Perfect Relations, I was looking forward to the experience. My dining companions included Pamela Timms of eatanddust.com, Hemanshu from Eating Out in Delhi (eoid.wordpress.com), Deepinder from FoodieBay.com and Angad Sodhi from Mail Today.
Arriving at the Ashok Coffee Shop, we met up with Chefs Rajiv Chopra, Gaurav Varshney and Montu Saini, and were introduced to the reasons behind their makeover attempt. The management would like the cuisine at the Coffee Shop to embrace healthier culinary practices and churn out food that’s heart and soul friendly… which is quite different from soul food, as I’m sure most of us would agree. Anyhow, they’ve started this concept of a Chef’s Table, which needs to be pre-booked and will have bespoke menus prepared for the event, in consultation with the guest and the Chef. Based on Chef Chopra’s introduction to the subject, the Chef’s Table will feature… olive oil! He was careful to point out that this is only being introduced for patrons of the Chef’s Table. Apart from this, the Coffee Shop will also offer it’s guests brown rice and new varieties of cheese. They’re also (going by the buzz) big fans of sugar substitute Stevia, which apparently is 300 times sweeter than sugar, is herbal and has no (known) side effects.
We were served a meal consisting of:
- Roasted Tomato Soup
- Chilled Beetroot Borscht
- Whole Wheat Pasta and Rocket Salad
- Jardiniere Salad with Feta Cheese
- Mediterranean Beetroot Salad
- Raw Zucchini Salad
- Assorted Breads
Accompanying the above were desserts:
- Phirni
- Shahi Tukra
- Seviah
- Tiramisu
- Lemon Mousse
- Sugar Free Petits Fours
- Atta (wholemeal flour) cookies
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Now that the reporting bit is done let’s begin the part about expressing opinions.
Simply put, the entire experience could have been managed much better if bloggers as a species hadn’t been underestimated and more attention were paid to the details. Now, this may not be true, but it certainly was what I felt. Why else would a chap toss some vegetables together, throw on a splash of a modified vinaigrette and present it to us with a ‘voila’, no less? I mean, that’s something I’m teaching my 7 year old! The ‘Parmesan basket’ in which it was served didn’t appear to be Parmesan, though I may be mistaken about that.
- The breads were at least 12 hours old and were closer to breadcrumbs I’d say. The ‘healthy’ sandwiches were hard slices of brown bread with an undressed mixture of sprouts and vegetables. Most of us, when making a sandwich, instinctively toss in something to act as a binder, even if it’s something as ordinary as whipped yogurt, so the contents stay in place when the sandwich is being eaten. Not here though.
- All the desserts, without exception, were a big thumbs down, at least in the Indian context. None were anything close to sweet.
- The Tiramisu wasn’t a Tiramisu and was sprinkled with generous doses of instant coffee, instead of cocoa powder.
- The Shahi Tukra had clearly been sitting there for quite a while, as it turned into a soggy mess when touched with a spoon.
- The sugar-free chocolates and petits fours were nice and would have been a credit to the chefs until they were queried about the slightly sweet taste. After a few minutes of insisting they were entirely sugar free, we were informed that the chocolate is actually purchased as is and they were ‘told’ it is sugar free by the vendor. Tsk tsk. Also, cake is a major constituent of Petits Fours, which was missing here.
- The Atta Cookies had an overwhelming taste of artificial sweetener.
- The croutons in the Roasted Tomato Soup were soggy without a hint of their usual crispy nature.
The Lemon Mousse and the Kiwi Cheese Cake were technically well done, were it not for the utter lack of sweetness. The Borscht was nice, but was missing the traditional addition of sour cream or yogurt. The Roasted Tomato Soup was nice.
Honestly, I didn’t see anything spectacular about using Olive Oil for Indian food or the spread we were served. Sure, it’s a step in the right direction. Going by the experience meted out to reviewers however, I’d say the average guest should wait a while before trying out the ‘new menus’ at the Ashok Coffee Shop.
To their credit, I will say the presentation of everything was excellent.
- Sid
How disappointing for you. What was the reaction of your co-diners? I can’t say that I recognize many of the dishes apart from Tiramisu and cheesecake.
@toni: unfortunately, opinion was united on this.
What a shame, why don’t you all offer your expertise to the Chef to help him optimize the dining experience?
Hello Toni: I’m sure all the Chefs there are quite well qualified already…
But they don’t seem to be able to make the most of what they have do they?
Well, what I can u for sure is that Stevia leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Not something I will use till my health allows it.
And now that I have read the whole thing, I would say all the big names are left with is presentation. They don’t have a vague idea as to what taste buds are meant for.
I’m still waking up in a cold sweat at night over the Stevia!
@Pamela: I’ll say. Pity really.
ROTFL @ the sugar-free chocolate and the petit fours! I think that a lot of restaurants underestimate not just bloggers but diners in general, assuming that they can’t tell their mayonnaise from their bouillabaisse.
Wow it sounded incredibly disappointing. The presentation does look great though. Instant coffee instead of coacoa powder, are you joking? Im no chef but I knwo thats terrible
Stevia in itself is a herb that many leading chefs are experimenting with – people who otherwise wouldnt want compromise the taste of a dish for a teaspoons fo sugar. One that comes to mind is David Kinch at Manresa, a 2-Star Michelin restaurant. In fact David Kinch grows his own (or rather his partner does) Stevia in the garden which is really an extension of the restaurant.
So I think problem is with the misuse of Stevia here in this healthy meal non-sense – someone counting calories shouldn’t be eating a Tiramisu and Shahi Tukra, and others should be eating only once in a while.
@Monika: Yes, it was coffee powder. Quite surprising!
@Siddhartha: True. As of today, I’ve given up artificial sugar (which I use once in a while personally) altogether. Too much about the side effects of aspartame without at least a little substance to it.