It was a little while ago that I noticed when travelling that the space that was formerly occupied by the Parambriym restaurant near Kazhakuttom now has a new sign and its now called “Mughlai Kitchen”… I have been wanting to check the place out and finally I got the chance to do it… Turns this is a long overdue review as its been over a weeks since the actual visit… Thankfully, I have a habit for jotting down notes which I can refer to when writing my reviews 🙂
Regarding the decor, once I entered the restaurant, I realised that there was absolutely no change except the name in the menu from the old Parambriym restaurant… Everything else, from furniture, to the wall paintings to the utensils ended up being exactly the same that it made me wonder if all they did was to change the name of the place… I even spotted some of the old staff as well… 🙂
On browsing thru the menu, it felt like most of the items that used to be there before are still available and so, I went for two of my favourite items from the old times namely the Chicken Manchow Soup and the Fish Fingers… Also, I was in the mood for a Falooda and as per the board outside, they seemed to sell the Bombay style Falooda and so, went for a Falooda as dessert…
So, the first to arrive was the Chicken Manchow Soup… As those who regularly read and follow my posts would know, the Chicken Manchow Soup is my favourite kind of soup and if a restaurant menu has that, then I will definitely have that… Essentially its a Spicy soup made with a thickened Chicken Broth seasoned heavily with Black Pepper and Ginger and then of-course with some Chinese Greens (Coriander, Spring Onions, etc) and then topped with Fried Noodles…
First of all, the soup that I got here ended up being a bit too thicker than how I would’ve liked… But its a minor issue because I really liked the overall taste of the soup… The flavours of the Chicken, the Chillies (they used Red Chilly flakes in addition to the Black Pepper), Ginger, the Greens and the Onions were really well balanced for me… The Fried Noodles felt a bit too thick and made the already thick soup a bit too heavy than how it should’ve been… 🙂 Clearly, taste-wise, I have no complaints… 🙂
After I was done with the soup, the waiter brought the Fish Fingers… When placing the order, the waiter informed me that the Fish Fingers is their speciality and is the hottest selling item on the menu… So, obviously I have to try it 🙂
Fish Fingers are essentially breaded and fried pieces of Fish Fillet that are cut in such a way that each piece looks like a Finger and hence the name Fish Fingers… 🙂 Its usually served just like Fish ‘n’ Chips, with Tartar Sauce… Here however, its served with some chopped Cabbage and Carrots and some Mayonnaise as can be seen in the pics below…
Turns out the Fish was delicious… Very well cooked and juicy…The fish felt like Indian Cobia having a basic seasoning of salt and pepper in it… Classic breading… Clearly it has been deep fried and was served piping hot… The Mayonnaise however didn’t really taste like Mayonnaise to me at all… Rather it felt like just salted Butter with some garlic infused in it… That part quite frankly, I didn’t like at all… The fish on its own felt fine but because of the basic seasoning, I felt it really needs a dipping sauce and if you ask me, Tartar Sauce would have been absolutely perfect here… But sadly I can only hope that they will fix this very soon…
Once I was done with the Fish Fingers, the waiter asked me if he can bring out the Falooda that I had ordered for dessert… Upon my confirmation, he went back in and brought the Falooda out and placed it in front of me… It looked nothing like the image I saw on the board but it indeed was a Falooda and it came as can be seen in the pics below… So, the Falooda on this side of Subcontinent is usually an Ice Cream sundae with Fresh Fruits, Dried Fruits, Rose infused Vermicelli and Poppy Seeds (Khus-Khus)… So, this one that I got has some Butterscotch Ice cream at the bottom over which there is a layer of fresh fruits (Apple, Papaya, Banana, Grapes, Orange) above which there was the layer of Poppy Seeds above which there was the Vermicelli with Rose Milk, above which there was a layer of Dried fruits and Nuts and then at the top there was a scoop of Fig and Honey Ice cream, which was topped with some more Fresh Fruits and Tutti Frutti and of-course Strawberry, Butterscotch and Pista Sauces were used across the layers and at the top…
First of all, I liked how this Falooda looked as I think its simply beautiful… However, this Falooda ended up tasting quite different from the Faloodas that I am used to and it really felt more like eating a Fruit Salad with Ice cream to be quite frank… That being said, both the Ice creams that were used and the Rose Milk felt to be really good and refreshing… The problems I had with this is that first of all, I wish the fruits were a bit more riper… Rather than fruits tasting how they should be, I felt that they were a bit bland leading me to conclude that it was plucked and used in a hurry before time… Secondly, the Poppy Seed Layer felt bland too… I think if the seeds were mixed into the Rose Milk, it would have felt much better… So, once again I am left hoping that it will get fixed when I visit again… 🙂
So, altogether a lunch that left me with mixed feelings… The Chicken Manchow soup even with its minor flaws remains as my favourite of the day and I can’t wait to back and have that soup again… Hopefully very soon… 🙂
