Gastronomic Flight: January 2018

It’s that time of the year again; when we all are set to party!!!

If you all are also in the celebration mood and want to get swing on the foot-tapping music, drown yourself into the cocktails / mocktails, savor on to vegetarian food, witness some amazing fire show and dance till dawn; then Palden Norbu, the E-hotel at Eskay Resort, Borivali (West) are soon opening their doors in the month of Jan 2018 for public.

Humbly nestled in the heart of Borivali in the midst of concert jungle of Mumbai, The E-Hotel is a luxurious yet serene escape. The life size statue of Gautam Buddha at the entrance brings the sense of peace and tranquility. The total area of 7.5 land has 1.5 area of swimming pool, tennis court, spa, beautiful garden, lawn, gym, restaurant, banquet and breath-taking rooftop lounge.

Life size statue of Gautam Buddha

Birds eye view from the roof top lounge

The unique name ‘Palden Norbu’ got my curiosity in action and when asked for the story behind the name, I was told that the owner is a strong believer of Gautam Buddha & their philosophy, hence the name. Infact the entire resort is designed keeping in mind the principles of Buddha. And ‘Palden Norbu’ is a Tibetan name, in which ‘Palden’ means ‘Glorious’ and ‘Norbu’ means ‘Jewel’. This rooftop lounge depicts the name perfectly.

Ambience:

This spacious place was beautifully designed with seating area on one side and DJ area on the other, which was separated by a Bar at one end. A fountain in the midst of the lounge was something that caught my attention. The beautiful landscape created on the rooftop, completed the lounge environment.

Dance Floor

The highlight of this place was the fire-show. One should not leave without watching it. Its a breath-taking entertainment.

Fire Show

At the bar, the bartenders entertained us with some of their cocktails shaking skills. Few drinks that we tried were:

Mocktail:

Smoky Passion fruit: A perfect blend of passion fruit, lime and lychee infused in the smoke. It had strong smokey flavor with a tanginess of passion fruit, mild sweetness of lychee syrup & a zing of lime.

Smoke Infused for Drinks

Smokey Passion Fruit

Cranberry Mojito: The blend of cranberry juice muddle with mint leave to give it a freshness.

Cranberry Mojito

Cocktails:

Lean clean and green cocktail: An interesting cocktail, I called it a green detox cocktail as it was blend of parsley, spinach, kiwi and cucumber topped with vodka. All that detox elements :)

Lean clean and green cocktail

Fifty shades of grey: Vodka based drink, sweetened with ice cream and garnished with pearls of pomegranate. An unusual combination but little too sweet for a cocktail.

Fifty shades of grey

Cosmopolitan: Again a Vodka base, mixed with lime juice and cranberry juice.

Cosmopolitan

Smoky Whiskey Sour: The blend of sourness of lime and sharpness of whiskey infused in the smoke was great a combination.

Smoky Whiskey Sour

Green Apple and Strawberry Shots: The bartender stacked them all into a pyramid to create a visual effect.

Green Apple and Strawberry shots

While we were mingling around, few starters were getting circulated. The finger foods served to us were:

Finger Foods / Starters:

Achari Baby Potato: The spicy and sour masala had coated the baby potatoes well. This had a prominent ginger flavor. However the “Achari” flavor was missing or might have got lost in other over-powering spices.

Achari Baby Potato

Paneer Malai Tikka: The paneer was melt in the mouth. It was marinated well in the creamy sauce with a hint of cardamom and cumin flavor singing through.

Paneer Malai Tikka

The Crunchy Paneer Teriyaki: The paneer was soft from inside and crunchy from outside. Tossed in the teriyaki sauce which added sweet, tangy & umami taste to the dish.

The Crunchy Paneer Teriyaki

Cheese Parathas: This was humble whole wheat flatbread (well-known as paratha), stuffed with cheese, tomatoes and onion. A dish, which one can never go wrong with it.

Cheese Parathas

Main Course:

The main course was a buffet spread, set for us. This consisted of Vegetable Biryani, Steamed White Rice, Veg Green Thai Curry, Paneer Makhanwala, Indian Flatbreads (rotis), Sandwiches and for dessert Assorted Pastry (strawberry & chocolate).