Arabian nights

And a mind-boggling array of food and drinks is what you can indulge yourself in at edesia every friday evening

And a mind-boggling array of food and drinks is what you can indulge yourself in at edesia every friday evening

The region might be up in flames with rebellions breaking out in one country after another, making it out of bounds for travel-happy Indians like us to travel there. But when have distances ever been a deterrent? So while we can't bodily travel to some of the countries from the Middle-East, we can leave our tongues to do the exploring.


The restaurant has done a good job at creating the ambience

Belle-ing the cat
It could well have been a story straight out of the Arabian Nights. While in the afternoon it is a formal,
sit-down, businesslike restaurant, every Friday evening it magically transforms into settings straight out of a place somewhere in the deserts of Iraq, Iran or any other Middle-Eastern country. There are no sheikhs, though, or belly dancers either if you are expecting them. However, there are cute tents where you can smoke the hookah and a genial genie.

100 and counting
The Arabian-style hospitality begins right at the entrance with attar sprinkled on you and a welcome drink (we recommend the rose flavour) that is offered to every guest. I must give you a warning here: do not attempt to try everything that's displayed at the buffet counters. There are more than 100 dishes, so make your peace that you can't eat everything. There are mocktails, cocktails and flavoured hookas.

Point taken
What I liked was the fact that the restaurant has not taken the theme at face value and actually done research on food. So Middle-Eastern here isn't restricted just to Lebanese. I tried Ezme salatoni, a spicy tomato salad from Turkey and Jumbri salad, a seafood salad from Syria which were good.

There was a wide variety of hummus and I really liked the Hummus bi tahina (Chick peas paste with tahina) and Tazazki (cucumber with yoghurt). There were olives of different kinds apart from the regular green and black. I would recommend the stuffed olives and the dolmas.

The Harissa and coriander marinated prawns and Garlic mayonnaise and sumac marinated fish (Iraqi) were worth a second helping. I totally loved the Lambu00a0 Ouzi (Jordan) which was whole lamb cooked in its own fat and with rice. Yummy! For main course, I tried some nicely cooked Lamb tagine (Lamb stew cooked with za'atar, cinnamon, mint coriander, chick peas & prunes). And after a long time, I felt very very full.

At: Edesia, Crowne Plaza Today, Okhla
Timings: 7 pm onwards (every Friday)
Ring: 46462000
Price: Rs 1,699 per person

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