Food tasting session at Uday Suites, Trivandrum

When we were told that the menu of 'Uday Suites' has been completely revamped after three years and they are calling for tasting session, we knew we had to try out the new menu. This time we thought of asking couple of foodies if they would be interested to come for this and we got three youngsters very active foodies' company for the dinner. We got warm reception from Faisal Basheer, the Chef and Dhanesh Thampi, the Manager of Udaya Suites. After initial greetings and knowing each other and the facility, we were all set for the dinner.

The fabulous dinner started with ‘Italian Broccoli Almond Cappuccino’ with toasted bread. The soup was served in a cup with froth just like how you would see in cappuccino. Soup was creamy very light green in colour with Broccoli and almond pureed , with fried garlic and basil leaves seasoning. Every spoon had something to bite (broccoli/almond) very soothing and  a good start.

For Starters we had

Broccoli & shitake mushroom in honey ginger sauce – A Thai veg delicacy with broccoli florets and dried Shitake mushrooms. The dish gets a dark colour from the dried shitake mushrooms which are kept in warm water for couple of hours and cooked. The dish had strong flavour of ginger and sweetness of honey. Mushroom were perfectly cooked not chewy and had their distinct flavour. Broccoli was crisp and added color to the dish. My first time and loved the dish

Prawns in Chilly Coriander  - Medium prawns mildly cooked with garlic and chilly floured with coriander leaves. Perfectly cooked prawns mild flavours of the garlic and chilly makes it a good combo with the broccoli soup.

Travancore spicy chicken satay  - Grilled Spicy tender chicken breast in a satay stick which looks like Sheek kebab.

Wild mushroom fricassee – It’s a beautiful dish, was so impressed to see Squire puff pastry filled with button mushroom, bell pepper and olives with rich creamy gravy ! I think children would love this dish.

Main course

Kashmiri Murg Kesar Korma – Kashmiri style tender chicken delicacy with rich creamy gravy and Saffron Petal. Absolutely delicious , we had with Appams and the combination was ultimate !

Fish Tikka Pahadiwala -  This is Chef’s signature dish and I have never heard or had Fish in Spinach gravy ! The dish is prepared with Tandoori fish Tikka cooked with creamy Spinach gravy and mix of coloured Bell Pepper. Goes well with fulkas and a must try preparation.

Fish Ghee Roast        -  Inspired by Mangalorean cuisine – Seer fish with spices and curry leaves roasted in ghee. Dry item and a good side dish to have with rice in our case we had Kashmiri pulav which had lots of flavours and sweetness of cherry and raisin and pineapple and the contrast flavour of the fish roast was like blast of flavours in your mouth .

Rogan Josh – Another signature recipes of Kashmiri cuisine.  Hot and spicy and perfect curry to have with the Kashmiri ‘Pulav’ or ‘Phulkas’ 

5 adults and 1 portion of these dishes was just the right quantity of food for dinner, must say chef was very mindful of quality and quantity and ensured no wastage of food J

Desserts

English Apple Pie – Caramelized apple filled double  crusted pie – Perfect sweetness and not too heavy 

Blueberry Cheesecake – An Italian delicacy , with Blueberry and Baked cheesecake – absolutely no sourness J

Cowboy Almond Brownie – Rich gooey chocolate and almonds slightly over baked 

Glossy Orange Blossom -  Caramel custard with Orange flavoured flame heated - western sweet delicacy 

All the desserts were excellent , my personal favourites being Cheesecake and Brownie.

Must say you enjoy food more when you have company of people who enjoy food and are full of ideas – we were lucky to get company of young and enthusiastic Anjana, Aslam and Muhammad.  A must try place for people in Trivandrum and food is very reasonably priced for the quality and quantity and the ambience. The Lunch/Dinner buffet per head is Rs. 499/- + taxes which consists of seven Vegetarian dishes + three non-veg items and four desserts + ice cream. Perfect place for team lunches/dinner.