KOCHI: Time travel may be fantastical concept but when one steps into Ember, museum restaurant, at Le Meridien, it’s like a true ride back into the bygone era. The new restaurant opens its door for food aficionados into a space embellished by thousands of year-old sculptures, manuscripts, musical instruments and paintings. While being tranquillised by its old-world charm, the chefs of the house will captivate your tastebuds with the flavours of ancient culinary heritage of India served in a contemporary style.
Touted as the first museum-themed restaurant, the concept is the brainchild of general manager Saji Joseph and executive chef J P Singh. “There are around 600 artifacts on display in the restaurant worth `3 crore,” says Syamjith Venugopal assistant manager, F&B.
Among the artifacts sourced from Kerala Folklore Museum, Thevara, the Roman wine jar displayed on the entrance of the restaurant is the oldest piece. “It dates back to 1000 BC,” says Syamjith. Figurines of deities, tribal masks, ornaments and swords are among other priceless artifacts on display at Ember which can be bought by the diners too.
The priceless Siva-Parvathi piece, unearthed in Tamil Nadu, dates back to Chola age, is a sight to behold.
After soaking into the ambience, treat your tastebuds with the handpicked menu rich in taste and authentic flavours from the past. “In the menu we have taken dishes from around the country which includes both North Indian and local flavour. For instance there is nalli ka roganjosh from Kashmir and Achinga chemeen ularthu from Kerala,” explains Gladwin Anthony, chef the restaurant.
Tread on the gastronomical journey with soups like palak lasooni shorba (spinach and garlic thin soup), seafood rasam and murg badami shorba (chicken and almond flavoured with whole spices). From the starter platter, try chef J P Singh’s innovation ‘smoked salmon pani poori with spicy and sweet water and for vegetarians there is tandoori paneer tikka, stuffed with dates and served with fruit chaat and Malai nimbu jhinga which is accompanied with tandoori fruit chaat and mint chutney. Then other must haves are murg tikka sampler (boneless chicken cooked in red, green and yellow marination), galauti kebab (delicacy of Lucknow served with saffron parantha), lamb burrah kebab (recipe from Mughal era where lamb chops are cooked and served with raw pappaya achaar).
Moving on to the main course, one can titillate the taste buds with Konkan lobster curry. “Konkan lobster is served with ‘urulakizhangu ulli mezhukuvaratti’,” says chef Gladwin. Plated main course and desserts are another specialty of the menu. Then there is Allam kodi, a chicken curry made in Andhra style, Moge wala kukkad and manga meen curry from the non veg platter. The vegans can dig into dhingri dholma (stir fried cottage cheese and mushroom flavoured with garam masala) and smoked dal makhani. Ask the chef how smoked dal makhani is different from the ordinary one, he says, “black lentils are slow cooked overnight on tandoor and cooked in cream and butter.”
The maincourse can be accompanied with Lucknowi biryani available in vegetable/mutton/prawn, pulao or house specialty breads like coconut and apricot naan, smoked mozzarella and green chilli naan or the Kerala flavour inspired gunpowder (idli podi) and curry leaves naan.
For the sweet tooths, a meal won’t be complete with the plated dessert of homemade pistachio kulfi with langcha and kesar rasmalai. Other delectables are gud payasam with caramalised banana and papad; coconut and jaggery samosa with shakravati crumble and ice cream and much more.
“Both a la carte and five-course set menu are available for the guests,” adds the chef. Foodies can enjoy these at Ember from 6.30 pm to 11 pm.
