|
One of the trends of recent years in ethnic cuisine has been the
growth of top quality restaurants in locations outside our major
cities, often run by chef/patrons who gained their expertise in top
restaurants in the centre of London or one of Britain's other major cities.
We were fortunate enough to enjoy the latest example of this trend
when invited to visit his new restaurant Mango Lounge in
Windsor, by onetime Cinnamon Club Chef Ashwari Kumar.
If location is as important as Conrad Hilton said then Mango Lounge
has it in spades - right next to Windsor railway station and
overlooked by Windsor Castle, within touching distance of royalty.
The restaurant is welcoming and designed to offer a light, friendly
atmosphere suitable for the enjoyment of some seriously good food.
We sat down for our meal in the company of cookery book writer par
extraordinaire, Mridula Baljekar who is very enthusiastic about the
place and we were soon to understand why.
Chef Ashwari has that certain touch - there is no doubt about it. We
ate off the special menu but chef seemed to want to be certain we
tried everything and offerings ranged from an amazing Tiger Prawn
Martini (giant warm water prawns wrapped in rice and deep-fried
presented in a shot glass layered with a trio of chutneys and topped
with a dash of Martini) to Rice crusted scallops on a bed of lightly
spiced cauliflower and chickpea mash ; Duck Spring Rolls with
fragrant lemon grass and fiery chilli and Potato and Chickpea patties
on a bed of masala chickpeas.
The main courses were an embarrassment of culinary delights
including, Murgh Hyderabadi, a wonderful Lal Maas accompanied by a
deep bodied Pinotage, fiery Chettinad Gosht and silky Khumb Kali
Mirch,
With taste buds singing and stomachs groaning we still could not
ignore the fantastic sounding desserts and were delivered the final
coup de grace with Coconut & lime Brule with cinnamon kulfi ;
Cardomom spiced warm dark chocolate mousse ; Cinnamon sticky toffee
pudding and Rum and raisin kulfi. Not only a meal fit for a King (or
Queen in our instance) but most of the Court as well.
If Ashwari and his team can retain the passion for the food and drink
they are showing we are certain the good people of Windsor (and the
Castle) will take the Mango Lounge to their hearts and others will
travel from miles around to enjoy a very special dining experience.
|
