Bland Date

Koreans focus on the nutritional balance in their meals and usually have everything at one time. It was an exception to serve food in seven courses,explained a Korean interpreter as she translated the words of the chefs. Sauteed or grilled,unfussy,small in portion,non-ostentatious and bland — these would be the obvious words to describe this dinner. The first course had wheat pancakes that looked like small,coloured wraps holding fish and vegetables. One was saffron flavoured and yellow; another was made from spinach and was green,and the third had the flavour of the beetroot and was a nice,light red. Light red,oops,that’s not even a colour!

It was obvious that Chef Park Hee Don and Chef Han Chul (Hans) Bae who have flown in from Korea to whip up these meals are purists. No spicy aromas encircled you,even if you sniffed hard consciously. Everything was like an unhurried procession of sauteed vegetables,grilled seafood,ginseng and Ginko nut soup and such. The strongest flavour came from the Ice of Omija,served as a fourth course to refresh the palate,much like what is followed in Oriental meals. Omija seemed to be a divine mix of rose and camphor,very memorable and distinctive. These ingredients weren’t listed so discount them as imagination. But the grilled tenderloin served with a blackened wild mushroom and soya sauce reduction was super.

As a hardened Hindustani,who loves a good tadka of red chillies and fussy aromas,I found the cuisine rather bland. But what wins over my obviously limited taste is the healthy configuration of Korean food; the absolute absence of anything fried or even remotely seduced with oil. That makes it a winner. Even when you get the Bokboonja flavoured jelly with fresh fruits as dessert,you don’t feel as if you have been eating all evening. Try it,especially if you are a health food freak and don’t mind a bland date.

The food festival is being held at Machan till September 25. Lunch buffet: Rs 1,800 (plus tax). Special Sunday lunch buffet: Rs 2,500 (plus tax),without alcohol. Contact: 23026162