The Spice Route journeys from the Malabar Coast in Kerela, India to the ends of South East Asia touching on the tastes and flavors along the way.
Set in the gorgeous Imperial Hotel, the restaurant Spice Route has been designed by Rajeev Sethi. It was painstakingly created over a period of 7 years. Based on the principles of Feng –Sui, the space is filled with striking, intricate elements, antiques and details from all over South East Asia. The results are quite stunning and really worth experiencing.
I think the Spice Route is much more about the ambiance than the food, which was a little disappointing. As one of my friends at the table put it perfectly – the food was rather “underwhelming”.
I’ve had much better. I definitely thought that the appetizers far outshone the entrees.
I felt the cuisine primarily caters to heavily Western clientele that patronizes the restaurant and thus it has trouble being authentic.
There were however a few bright sparks on the table and it really did make for a lovely setting to spend an evening with good friends.
Here is some of what we ate:
CHEEMEEN PRAWNS
These Kerala style prawns, stir-fried with coconut, curry leaves and black tamarind were probably one of the better dishes of the night.
CHICKEN WITH BLACK BEANS
This appetizer dish was pleasant tasting – nothing outstanding.
TOM YUM & TOM KHA KHAI
The soups were pretty good.
PAPAYA SALAD
I really liked the dressing on the papaya salad. It was tangy and really woke up my palate.
DUCK RED CURRY
This was terribly disappointing, as duck makes for one of the best meats in Thai curries. This curry was almost bitter; it wasn’t well cooked and just not tasty.
SAUTÉED MIXED VEGETABLES
LAMB
BASIL CHICKEN
All of the above dishes were mediocre – nothing remarkable and quite forgettable.
MY RATINGS FOR THIS MEAL
Food: ☆☆ 1/2
Service: ☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆☆
Cost: $$$$
I recommend: Chemeen Prawns, Papaya Salad
