KOCHI: Scrumptious seafood at its best! That is exactly what the Pavilion Restaurant at Hotel Abad, Chullickal, is dishing out for its Seafood Bonanza food fest. From continental to authentic Kerala delicacies, the menu has a whole lot of delectable dishes to choose from. Chef Vinod K S, an expert in seafood cuisine, says seafood delicacies are an all-time favourite. “We have listed some of the popular dishes on the menu this time, too,” says the chef. The menu is compartmentalised into separate sections. There are seafood starters, soups, main course, naadan delicacies, house speciality meal by itself, rice and noodles and pasta.The restaurant was bustling with people and Chef Vinod, shuttling between the kitchen and the restaurant, spared some time to explain to us the specialities on the menu. From the list of starters he selected three dishes - jhinga bhajiya, Chinese net and seafood toasties. Jhinga bhajiya, as the name suggests, is something similar to bhajiya we usually make at home but with marinated prawns dusted in besan flour and deep fried. It was a tasty treat. Fried crab balls was something new. It had deep fried seafood and vegetables in coin cakes. But the star of them all was the seafood toasties. The mixed masala seafood stuffed in bread and deep fried was a lip-smacking crunchy and creamy delicacy. “Children love it for it is not spicy,” says the chef. We can’t but agree. That was truly irresistible. And not just for children, we believe.Moving to soups, we tasted quite a few like seafood shorba, Peking calamari and hunan clam. The seafood shorba with prawns, squid and a dash of cream was a thick soup. It was mildly spiced and was indeed refreshing to the core. Much more tastier than the usual shorbas that we get to taste. The Hunan clan, a chef’s speciality peppered with mussels, was passable. What we loved the most was Peking calamari soup, again a chef’s speciality, which was light with just enough spice. From the main course we had stuffed fillet fish. Stuffed with mushroom, parsley and cheese it can be had with mayonnaise. Truly delectable. The fest is worth visiting just for the fish fillet and seafood toasties.We also tasted seafood kothu parotta, jumbo thirutha roast and pathiri, nazi goreng (an Indonesian delicacy with seafood rice flavoured with oyster sauce and topped with fried egg), Alleppey prawn curry and Farfalle zexti prawns (herb flavoured farfalle with creamy cheese sauce). What makes the fest special is that each dish featured on the menu has an exotic flavour. The pasta is recommended for children and also adults who are not counting on calories. It is indeed rich with dollops of cheese. Those who love Kerala specialities will enjoy the thirutha roast with oodles of Kerala spices. Nazi goreng on the menu was a slightly Indianised version of the Indonesian treat. But it appeals to the Kerala palate to a T.The fest is on till July 31. Drop in any time between 12 noon and 3 pm or between 7 pm and 11 pm.
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