Damu's Heritage Dine - A unique culinary experience!

To be honest, our over all dining experience at Arunachal Pradesh was nothing much to write home about. That was until we came across Damu's heritage dining which kind of blew us apart. This indigenous dine in housed almost in the middle of nowhere nestled somewhere along the interiors of the charming Chug Valley simply won our heart's over.

This fine dining restaurant prides on artisanal Monpa cuisine which is largely cultivated in house and consists of a pastiche of items made from millet, barley, buckwheat et al. The food is served as a set course meal and for once being vegetarian didn't make you feel out of place. The food tasted fresh and felt totally organic. The ambience gave a very radiant and colourful swirl. It was a boutique style restaurant housed across 2 floors with one of the floors making you witness the fresh greenery at the outset whereas the upper floor had a better design but was within a closed frontier.

We chose the open green space and began our foray with an item termed as 'Phursingh Gombu' which is a traditional dish made from corn flour dough shaped like tartlets with a juciy black lacquer overflowing over it. The black liquid tasted a bit bizarre but felt very unique and kind of medicinal. I guess you need to get acquired to such a taste but nevertheless it was quite an experience.

Next up we devoured a delightful green soup made up of tonnes of herbs where we could literally see swoons of those greeny leaves engulfing our liquid soup. This one felt extremely soothing and comforting being so rich in taste. On the main course section we also got to try a noodles made out of buckwheat. It almost appeared like being crusty on the outset but was anything but that. It was flavourful and went well with the accompanying salad.

The 2 dishes which were outright standouts happened to be the millet based momos and the green leafy tacos submerged with kidney beans aplenty. Both these were simply lip smacking awesome and felt so nice on the palette. The spinach effect pulverised it to a notch high above everything else.

We were also served rice which appeared a little thicker than normal which went well with the kidney bean lentil gravy. We were given a similar version of the rice as a sweet laced with a touch of jaggery. Apart from this we also had a shot of millet based pancake with sweeteners dolloped on top.

More than the taste of the food, this fine dining escapade was more to do with the experience which just hit home and felt so comforting and heart warming. We were taken care of magnificently well and explained about the finer points of each and every dish along with also knowing about the history and tradition of such a cuisine. On the whole it was a delectable experience which one should not miss especially when traversing across this neck of the woods.

Pakwan - Articulately rich and royal veg fine dining experience!

Pakwan, since it's inception has been garnering rave reviews about it's food and that was enough reason to rouse the curiosity button of my taste buds. So when I heard about an invite coming my way, there was palpable excitement to grab this opportunity with both hands.

Pakwan is shrouded in T Nagar in the quiet lane of Kuppuswamy street which is off Bazullah road. You need to be a little cognizant with regard to the directions. Once you enter you are greeted with a royal ambiance encapsulating the surroundings. We were given the special room which was all lit up and beautifully decorated. It had the aura of a mughal empire and the vintage palace charm certainly seemed regal in it's appearance.

The food in simple parlance can be described as spectacular. We were literally fed a largesse of variegated items and virtually every one of the dishes made our mouths glee with ghee. Just the aroma of colors and flavours will have you hooked in and once you start laying your bites it becomes a ravenous feast by itself.

We began with a melange of mocktails which came in all iridescent colours. They had all sorts of assorted mix and match of flavours and among them the orange chaska which is an orange drink with a tinge of chilli ignited the tongue in glorious fashion. The pink hot lips was a refreshing drink and the milk based shakes also set the tone tingling the excitement. The kaleidoscopic swirl of drinks set us up for more wondrous stuff to follow.

Next up was the soup side of things. The tom yum soup was good and so was the creamy fungi broth. But what really opened the floodgates was the delightful Dal Palak shorba and the Badami shorba. I simply couldn't have enough of these 2 soups. They just had a riveting essence in them making it quite addictive. Never has a soup gotten me craving so much ever before.

Once the liquid layer of the radar got amicably done with, it was time to hit the solid state of affairs and first up were the starters. The one thing which got us all aroused were the Panneer Dum Anari. They were soft rolled up golden yellow pieces of panneer with a stuffing inside which just melted jocundly in the mouth. The chilli tikki were of the cutlet types and went well with the green chutney. The french fried type sesame potatoes with a twang of sweet chilli sauce was another winner. And for the Italian twist we had a Fungi balls with a lovely chilli mayo dip and a baguette covered in abundance with cheese and brocolli. As special request we also got served their loosened spring roll kind cheese kurkure which was remarkable with cheese oozing from those brownish tubes.

There were further condiments in the form of a palak kurkure chaat which had crispy spinach pieces garnished with curd, namkeen and green chutney and 2 fares of salads viz mexican corn and insalata caesar salad. The salads didn't appease much. They were just as how they should be but being taken on a journey ride of rich and sumptuous delicacies, the salads seemed a bit subaltern in relation to the stuff unfolding adjacent.

The main course was another breath taking feature. We had a bunch of Indian bread with jhalandri mushroom, panneer multani masala and Dal Pakhwan for company. The side dishes were marvellous especially with just the look of the pannner evincing a smirk of excitement and the black dal simmered in an buttery aromatic gravy was dal-icious. Also had a little shot at their biryani creations which seemed flavorful and rich in taste. On the Italian front, we got a Pakwan delight pizza which was scrumptious and dancing along with a bountiful blush of cheese. And also we got the baked macaroni with brocolli which again was baked to perfection containing inset pieces of brocolli and olives not to forget a gregarious coating of that melt in the mouth cheese.

We rounded off proceedings with a motley of desserts comprising of the Indian Malpua and Lichi rabdi which were so creamy and totally slurp material. And on the western side were delivered strawberry panacotta and a glass of Banofee. These felt a little short compared to the scintillating taste of the sweets from the North of India. And for ice cream we were treated to a ravishing cold scoop of pan ice cream signalling the end of one of the most sterling meals I've had in a really long time.

The service was immaculate. It was probably the most organised dinners I've ever been to. Everything was conceptualised in advance from the menu for the day with the seating arrangements to the number plates. The food was ready well on time and the meticulous planning bowled us over. Food apart, we really felt the hospitable white glove treatment in all it's splendour.

The rates are not being considered as this was over an invite. But let me tell you that for the offering in store, Pakwan will give you ample satisfaction. They are also soon to launch specially designed buffets which will be a great addition especially for the corporates.

There are few restaurant's serving vegetarian only cuisine that can talk the talk and walk the walk when it comes to the spread and taste of food on display and Pakwan certainly is one in this esteemed category. For me personally, Pakwan can be considered the torch bearer if you're looking for an articulately rich and royal veg fine dining experience.