Service with served up with style
ordered. Their server immediately took the dish away and had it replaced with another. The couple apologized for the bother, to which the server replied, “No bother at all. If you’re not happy, then I’m not happy.” The customers obviously appreciated the server’s words.
Papadum
As usual our meal began with a glass of beer and India Gate’s complimentary, ultra thin papadum. Some pieces had a plain, beaded white surface while others were flecked with cumin seeds. The papadum tasted fresh and crisp in the way newly bagged potato chips do. Dips of tamarind, sweet and sour, and minted yogurt accompanied.
The Mulligatawny soup came with or without chicken. With chicken, it would have been a meal unto itself. I had the lentils only version, which was filling enough. There is no single recipe for this soup – rather hundreds – so it’s impossible to say what is true Mulligatawny soup. Applying the pedestrian label, curry soup, is probably a better way of describing it.
India Gate has all new, white porcelain dinnerware, so the Mulligatawny soup came in a beautiful wide-brimmed bowl, with brim decorated by
a sprinkling of colourful spices and herbs. The red lentils gave extra eye appeal. Onions, fresh herbs and spices like cumin and coriander gave the soup aroma and flavour. The addition of cream made the soup delectable.
Breads galore
A wide selection of breads appeared on the menu: naan, paratha, kulcha and roti. We tried the onion kulcha and garlic naan. The naan was more straightforward, embedded with fresh garlic and cilantro. India Gate’s kulcha was thick with onions and spicy. Clearly a good dose of hot pepper had been employed. It was a delicious, moist, hot bread.
Chicken pakora is a wonderfully moreish snack. The basket of golden, boneless chicken chunks, coated in a light batter of chickpea flour — I think with a light chilli flavour — came with spicy carrot pickle and mango chutney. Indian cuisine features a plethora of pickles, relishes, chutneys and inventions like raita and kachumber. Indian cuisine simply wouldn’t be as enjoyable without these condiments. I thought the chutney and chicken pakora made a good match.
Bombay fish looked appetizing in a shiny, stainless serving bowl. It smelled good too. Pieces of cod had been cooked in a tamely spiced, bright, red sauce. Cod marries well with proud sauces. In this case, chilli, turmeric, tomatoes — and perhaps a touch of tamarind — were employed to make an impression, and did so.
Succulent shrimp
Biryani — a fancy basmati rice dish — can be made with many different ingredients, lamb, goat, chicken et cetera. My favourite is prawn or shrimp biryani. India Gate’s prawn biryani, is a favourite. Basmati rice is cooked in fragrant boiling water. Sautéed, spiced shrimps are eventually mixed with it and the dish is finished off. This one included coconut, cooked egg white and cashews. It was excellent and the shrimps were large and very succulent.
Rashmi kebab at India Gate is made with ground lamb and ground chicken. The meat is seasoned with garam masala and various spices. Then the lamb is wrapped around a skewer, with the chicken being wrapped around the lamb. Finally, it’s lowered into a tandoor and cooked until brown. The result is a juicy delight, if you like your meats mixed.
If you want to make something taste exotic add cloves. I tasted cloves in India Gate’s lamb vindaloo, along with many other spices frequently used in Indian cuisine. The menu said, “rare spices.” It also included potatoes – not so rare – but some chefs like to add them. This vindaloo of braised lamb was exquisite. Only a reddish stain remained in the dish by the time we were done.
Within a few minutes of finishing our dinner, server Dennis arrived offering a small tray of steaming hot hand towels. The last time I experienced
such luxury was on an Air Canada flight. We were bumped up to executive class. It was nice to leave India Gate with warm, clean hands but, for me, that final gesture really spoke to the kind of restaurant that India Gate has become, a dining room with class, one that’s serving some of the very best food in the province.