A few days ago, I had the opportunity to visit Hotel Lake Palace at Kadinamkulam (more or less Puthukurichy area – nearest landmark is the V-Tracks Theatre)… This is actually a 5-Star hotel that opened less than 2 years ago and the location is overlooking the Kadinamkulam Lake… Even though it has always seemed like the place is most popular for their Bar (rumour has it that initially there was just the bar and they upgraded to the 5-star hotel to be able to keep their Bar License, which was only available to 5-Star hotels as per the law enacted by the Kerala State Government of the time), I have always found their food to be extraordinarily good thats worth each of those 5 stars that they have got with everything made to order fresh, which also means that if you are in a hurry and looking for a quick bite, this is not the place for you…
So, for this visit, I was not in the mood for any of the Continental/Haute platters that I usually get and so, I went for their Seafood Chowder to start followed by their Crispy Vegetables and Mixed Fried Rice and then for dessert, their Blueberry Cheesecake…
So, the first to arrive obviously was the Seafood Chowder… Chowders are thick and creamy rich soups which are always made with a cream based broth and then thickened with a roux… The roux can be based on wheat flour, potato flour, etc… Here, they appear to have used the wheat flour… Being a Seafood Chowder, it had pieces of a variety of seafood in it including pieces of fish, prawns, shrimp, clams and squid… Celeriac stalks and Coriander leaves were seen in the soup as well…
First of all, its nowhere nearly as thick as I expected it to be considering that its a Chowder… In fact, the soup felt quite lite… The pieces of seafood in the soup were cooked perfectly and the whole dish indeed had the taste of the sea in it and was seasoned perfectly as well with the taste of the fish stock, ginger, garlic, black pepper, celeriac stems, cilantro, the cream with the roux and of-course the seafood… Undoubtedly, one of the best soup with seafood that I have ever had…
As I was having the soup, they brought in the Crispy Vegetables… This is not an item in their menu, but they will make this for you if you ask as my mom did in a previous visit and its something that I love having from there as a starter and as a side dish especially with Fried Rice like I did this time… This is essentially an assortment of sliced vegetables which include, Carrots, Onions, Tomatoes, Cauliflower and Potatoes, which is fried in corn flour batter till absolutely crisp and then sautéed in a Szechwan style sweet and spicy garlic sauce and then served topped with some scallions (spring onions)…
The sauce they use is just incredibly flavourful and its very clear that the vegetables used were freshly cut… Incredibly clean and vibrant this dish is as can be seen in the pic… I could eat this as it is all day but I found it to work incredibly well as an accompaniment to their fried rice… I must also mention here that although there are other places that do this dish, but I am yet to find any option thats even close to this one here…
Then came the fried rice… I went for the Mixed Fried Rice this time… Essentially this is the hakka style fried rice made with Vegetables and Herbs (Scallions, Cilantro, Celeriac Stalks), Chicken, Egg and Seafood as well… The rice appeared to be slightly brown in color, which made me wonder if its a variant of whats known as the brown rice… Being hakka style ofcourse, the seasoning includes just a touch of soy, salt and pepper…
Once again, amazing Fried Rice with freshly cut vegetables and all the proteins cooked with absolute perfection… Seasoning is absolutely perfect and the whole flavour profile is incredibly clean, as in one can easily taste each and every ingredient distinctly… Undoubtedly, this is what I consider the very best Mixed Fried Rice option in Trivandrum right now…
Last but not the least, the dessert arrived, which I chose to be their Blueberry Cheesecake… This is the first time I am having this particular item from here as usually me and my parents go for ice creams or their tender coconut pudding if available, which was not available today and so I went for it for a change from the ice cream 🙂 It came served topped with a strawberry jus, some whipped cream, a cherry and a spring of mint and some chocolate fudge to the side as shown in the pic below…
Usually I don’t like non-baked Cheesecakes but this one turned out to be an exception… The flavour of blueberry along with the Strawberry jus worked incredibly well supplementing each other making the whole Cheesecake rich… The Chocolate fudge took it to a whole new level indeed… The Cherry was fresh and juicy and the whipped cream and the mint added more flavour components to it… Overall, a very fruity and refreshing dessert thats surprisingly lite to have… I am hoping to have it again next time…
So, overall a great lunch and at an incredible location… Like I said before, since everything is made to order, it is impossible to have a quick meal here… This is a place to come and have a relaxing time while enjoying great food in the process… So, heres a tip… Once you get there, place the order and then go out to the backyard, have a walk, soak in the view… If you have kids, then there is a play area for them to enjoy… Once the food is ready, they’ll let you know and you can go back into the dining room and enjoy the food… Anyways, check it out… 🙂
