The Vainguinim Valley in Dona Paula is fighting a strange situation. The 24-year old
5-star resort property is better known as Chances Casino, which in all
obviousness is the name of its casino housed inside the property. Over the
years, the popularity and success of the casino has completely overshadowed the
other offerings of the resort property and this is precisely the issue that the
resort is looking at fixing now. The process began a few months ago with a few
changes in the management. The new General Manager, for instance, has his focus
on the restaurants, among other things, and in a first of many to come, the
resort property is having a sizzler festival starting next week. Executive Chef
Samira Mistry, another new recruit, is at the helm of affairs. The management
plans on utilising Chef Samira’s over-a-decade-long experience of working with
5-star properties in Mumbai and Dubai, to change a few things here in Goa.
‘Sizzle in the Rain’ – the sizzler festival begins on August 15,
2017 and will go on till August 21 at the resort’s North Indian Frontier
specialty restaurant, Samarkand. We have been told that the ambience and the
vibe of the restaurant, thanks to the tastefully designed décor, accentuate the
overall experience of dining. Unfortunately, we couldn’t review it as this
sampling session was held at the Chances Café, because of technical issues.
The festival features a menu of 11 sizzlers, all of which are
served with buttered vegetables, French fries, stuffed capsicum and Corn Mornay.
I tried the ‘Oohh Lala’, which was basically stuffed chicken supreme with
mushroom, spinach and cheese, garlic and herb rice. The garlic pepper sauce
served with the sizzler worked for me and the thick and heavy Corn Mornay was a
nice side dish to have. The stuffing of buttery mashed potatoes inside the
capsicum, and the buttered mushrooms made the sizzler more appealing. Other
non-veg variations on the menu include the likes of ‘Tikka Oye!’ – a juicy
chicken tikka, birasta rice served with makhani gravy, ‘Chicken Steak’, ‘Xacuti
Prawns’, ‘Surmai Steak’ and more. There’s something for the vegetarians too –
one can choose from Cottage Cheese Shaslik, Exotic Veggies, Veg Manchurian
Sizzle and Veg A La Kiev.
The portions are
decently sized and after polishing off a sizzler, chances are that there won’t
be much room left for another. Unless of course it is a sizzling brownie (it is
a sin to say no to one). The gooey brownie served with chocolate sauce and
vanilla ice-cream will make you slouch in your seat and bring in a heavy sense
of lethargy.
The resort has a lot
of hopes pinned on this festival and from what we experienced, the festival
should be able to spin things in its favour. In a bid to revamp a few other
things at the resort, the management plans on organising a few more festivals
dedicated to chaat, dosas, etc in the near future. The Chances Café will be
seen serving pizzas soon and if things go as planned, baking workshops for
women on Sundays, is also in the pipeline.
For
now, the sizzler festival is a chance that you can gladly take.
