‘What’s in a name’ is a phrase that has
been bandied about for eons. When one tosses about a name like ‘Love’ for a
restaurant, one begins to wonder what the chefs are cooking with and whether
they will indeed deliver an experience that you will in fact, well, love. Rest
assured, at the Love Restaurant at The Park Calangute Goa, the chefs do just
that. Celebrating an exclusive Coastal Seafood Festival by introducing a
special menu, the chef’s unique contemporary take on the very best of coastal
Indian cuisine is an ensemble that has been created with a deep respect for
ingredients used.
There are plenty of appetisers on offer.
These include the likes of Whitebait Bezule, which are crispy fried whitebait
that are then tossed with chilli and curry leaves, Coconut Cream Scallops,
which are marinated scallops with coconut, chilli and cumin, cooked over a
griddle, curry leaf and lentil crusted shrimps with ginger and coconut chutney,
crab cakes with Alleppey style mango curry aioli, oyster fritters tossed in a signature
kokum sauce and crispy fried squid ‘koliwada’ that is served with tamarind and
ajwain aioli.
If there is place for the expansion of the
waistband beyond the first series of servings, one can partake of the baked red
snapper with Kerala red rice risotto, sautéed asparagus, and chilli kodumpuli
sauce. However, for those who prefer a more Burmese feel to their food, the
banana leaf wrapped karimeen with steamed rice and banana blossom thoran as
well as the Grilled ‘chingrimalai’ style prawns with steamed rice and
panchphoran vegetables are to die for. However, nothing on the menu feels
repetitive, with the kane fish fry with tempered vegetables, herb rice, gassi
sauce as well as the lobster with raw mango gratin, creamed cumin scented
potatoes, sautéed broccoli making a palatable impact. In similar vein, the crab
masala served with kottuparatha, pepper gravy sets one’s taste-buds off in the
opposite direction.
There are no particular dessert options
that go with the menu in question, yet this feast will ensure that you
certainly have no belly space left to complain about that little niggle.
