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Ziya is to The Oberoi,Mumbai,what Lionel Messi is to Barcelona. Ziya is a fresh replacement for the old and fading favourite,Kandahar...

Ziya is to The Oberoi,Mumbai,what Lionel Messi is to Barcelona. Ziya is a fresh replacement for the old and fading favourite,Kandahar,for Oberoi,while Messi has succeeded Ronaldinho as the playmaker for the Catalan football club. The Oberoi,damaged during the 26/11 terror attacks,will be back in business from today. Another restaurant,Tiffin ,has been re-christened Fenix and Bayview Bar is now Eau Bar,while Vetro still retains its name and character.

Ziya puts a huge emphasis on presentation and merging different influences. The contemporary Indian restaurants décor is predominantly gold,but manages to be elegantly opulent and not garish. The bricks in the show kitchen are gold. The gold was baked into the bricks, informs Steven Kalczynski,the amiable new American General Manager of the hotel who promises excellent but less-reserved service. The focus,of course,is on the food. It is surprisingly well priced; an average meal should be Rs 2,300 per head (inclusive of tax without alcohol).

While all the attention will be on Ziya,Vetro,the Italian restaurant,is underrated but outstanding. Tuomas Heikkinen,the new chef,has worked at Locanda Locatelli in London,and,for the past three years,at Travertino at the Oberoi,New Delhi . The restaurant is the same as it was before the attacks,albeit with subtle gold cloth chairs in place of grey. Instead of the anti-pasti buffet,though,Heikkinen will feature oysters flown in from France .

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Fenix,the all-day dining option,has mostly changed in name,barring the beige-and-red colour scheme. The name,a take on the mythical phoenix,was chosen from a list of suggestions by the hotels staff. The place is boringly dependable and features sushi (80 varieties) and western comfort food.

The only disappointment for us is Eau Bar that feels like a half-hearted attempt to be contemporary. Bayview was a 1970s club bar with old people smoking cigars and having gin and tonics. Now we expect a younger crowd, says Liam Lambert,president of the Oberoi group. Eau has creative lighting,including internally-lit orange glass tables but still we cant imagine anyone under 35 frequenting it,given the same piano and live jazz music.

For now,though,watch out for Messi.

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