(Photographs by Avran Ittyipe)I abhor a buffet. Usually. The endless spread of food and decorations are deviously designed to deceive the eye more than satisfy our gastronomic fantasies. And the process of selecting can be tedious too. Every dish is nibbled at and then without a single thought the entire plate load of food is left to be cleared away, so I can then resume trying the remaining array of dishes. And it is on the third round that I realize there is only one dish that is worth eating or it is better to simply stick with curd rice and pickles. Well, in other words the badly tossed up dishes that pass for most buffets can be tiresomely boring. Forget the wedding arrangements. It is predictably worse when the plate is so godam heavy, the queues long, the seating arrangements are just anywhere you please and your worries about saving your beautiful sari from curry stains are endless; needless to say all this makes the buffet even more unappetizing.
So one Saturday night, when the lights were low and we were wondering where to go, every place in the city has been tried over and over and that goes for Casino too, but nevertheless we landed up at Tharavad Restaurant, Casino Hotel. When the bearer insisted I go for the buffet, I begged off. I really didn’t want to eat a whole lot of junk but he persisted, he said it was good. So I reluctantly consented, a little weary there.
But then there is no denying it was one of the best buffets I have ever had, considering the last good one I had was sixteen years ago, in Goa, and that was a breakfast buffet. Those breakfast pancakes with syrup are still a memory that I relish.
And that was the case here too. I fell hard for the Fish Orley. Crispy and delicious it was one sensation that I helped myself to shamelessly. Three or four times. Even as I harp on Fish Orley let me tell you the rest of the spread was good too. The pork roast, the beef in oyster sauce, the cheese balls, the boston bake and sweet, sweet desserts to top it all off. Every dish was carefully made, not just thrown in for the number, but lovingly done to please the eye and quieten the rumblings of the stomach. Every bite was worth the effort.
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Fish Orley with Salads
Recipe for Fish Orley
Fish: 2 fillets of seer fish or red snapper
Coating ingredients
Flour: 100 gms,
Egg: 1,
Salt: a pinch,
Pepper: a pinch,
Chopped capsicum: 1 tsp,
Chopped tomato: 1 tsp,
Egg: 1,
Salt: a pinch,
Pepper: a pinch,
Chopped capsicum: 1 tsp,
Chopped tomato: 1 tsp,
Method: Mix flour, egg, salt and pepper and leave to rise. Add the finely chopped pieces of capsicum and tomato to the flour mixture. Dip the fish fillet and deep fry. Serve with sauce.
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