Italian Delights and an Anniversary Special at Travertino, The Oberoi New Delhi

Day 11 in New Delhi and it was our Wedding Anniversary on Wednesday. And what better way to mark it than to utilise the voucher I had won at the 'SelfieAtOberoi' contest at the Palate Festival at Nehru Park last November? A couple of e mails later, it was all arranged and we walked into Travertino the exclusive Italian restaurant at the Oberoi in time for a leisurely lunch.  

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Starters, breads and our delicious mocktails

Travertino' is an elegant restaurant encased in the warm Italian stone Travertine,(hence the name) Entering through a large teak door, we found ourselves in a sophisticated dining space with beautifully laid tables topped with sparkling wine glasses, silver lined plates and crisp white linen.Skylights and a tall, glowing Travertine stone wall provide ambient lighting, and we were even luckier to be there on a beautiful March afternoon with sunlight streaming in through the skylight and adding to the beautiful ambience of the afternoon.

Bright, airy, welcoming and all set up 

Greeting us warmly and leading us into the restaurant were Mehak, Niyati and Deepica, the courteous and smiling ladies at the Oberoi, who spoilt us through the afternoon, as well as Chef Vincenzo who kept us informed about all the varied and delicious courses.

Once our delicious mocktails had arrived, a bread basket and the accompanying oils made their way to our table.This was followed by a Broccoli foam with almonds- just a tiny bite on a beautiful platter and very enjoyable.

My first course was a delightful combination of poached pears and a goats cheese salad.What I particularly enjoyed was the combination of the sweet and savoury flavours, a perfect balance that whetted the appetite for what lay ahead. 

My first course-Poached pears and a goat cheese salad-delightfully refreshing

Avi's first course-the Minestrone soup

All Smiles- With Chef Vincenzo Di Touro from Naples who chatted with us between and during each course..

Chef's Special-Ravioli with peas filling and shrimp

My main course- Sea Bass, beans and its accompaniments

Avi's main course- Grilled Sword fish and salad, new on the Menu

And then it was time for dessert-I chose the berry cheesecake and Avi chose the Tiramisu and he actually told me that it was the best he'd ever eaten! Says a lot..

Time for dessert- My choice-Berry Cheesecake with raspberry sorbet and coulis while Avi chose the Tiramisu.

There is no way that I can close this piece before detailing what happened next. Mehak, the Asst Manager F and B brought a platter and then followed a fabulous chocolate cake with Chef Vincenzo and the team walking in to wish us a Happy Anniversary. 

I admit it, I was really touched- it was a wonderful gesture that really did make our day! 

Meeting and exceeding customer delight with a delicious chocolate cake

One of our most memorable anniversaries- Thank you Travertino!

So there it is, the story of our first and very memorable visit to Travertino,but it certainly wont be our last...

Mongolian Barbeque, the Golden Oryx Way

Its always great to try out new and interesting cuisine and thats one of things we love doing-be it at at home, the occasional street food or at great little restaurants.  So this post is about Mongolian Barbeque, the Golden Oryx way. Mongolian Barbeque is a stir fried dish that was developed in Taiwanese  restaurants in the 1970's. In this cuisine, meat and vegetables are cooked on large, round, solid iron griddles at temperatures of up to 300 °C (572 °F). The interesting thing is that despite its name, the cuisine is not really Mongolian  and is only very loosely related to barbeque. The preparation can also derive from Japanese style Teppanyaki, which was popular in Taiwan at the time.  All set for the evening The Golden Oryx, one of Muscat's finest Chinese restaurants is an interesting place for exclusive and quiet dining. Offering a  rich blend of Schezuan, Cantonese, Thai, and Mongolian delicacies in elegant surroundings the Golden Oryx has endeared itself to a cross- section of Omanis, Asian and European expatriates for over 21 years.While we love the entire range offered by the restaurant, a couple of weeks ago, we decided to check out the Special offer on the Mongolian barbeque and am happy to share the experience.

Since the concept of the Mongolian barbeque is literally DIY - 'Do it Yourself' any way you like it-so if thought you didn't like it- you can go back and do it again. Of course, since you mix your own ingredients, you also take all the credit when you get it right.   The Chef's already at work

All set for the evening

Our first course was soup and while Avi chose the chicken sweet corn, Neha and myself went in for a delicious Hot and sour chicken soup.

And so on to the mains- the Mongolian barbeque.

We chose choose various ingredients from a display of thinly sliced raw meats (beef, lamb, chicken, seafood and vegetables (cabbage, tofu, sliced onion,carrots, spring onions, sprouts mushrooms, capsicum) and put them in a bowl.Delicious sauces to add flavour were provided-garlic sauce, spicy garlic, garlic , ginger, peanut, barbeque and sweet and sour.We added them to our selection and handed it over to Chef Kwon who was working a large, flat, very hot griddle and because of the heat of the griddle, the food was cooked in front of our eyes in just a matter of moments. 

Chef Kwon creates my dish

Elegant decor 

Eager anticipation -Avi, Neha and myself

Once we had our bowls, we paired the stir-fry with rice and numerous other condiments such as Soya  and  green chilli sauces that the restaurant provided.

Accompanied by a glass of white wine, this was a great meal and even though the meal deal offered us the opportunity of going in for a refill, we couldn't manage  it beyond the first serving.

My Mongolian Barbeque -delicious

Great meal, great ambience and a really great family evening out!

Brand new Waffle Sandwiches, Mousse Glasses and Chocolicious Treats at The Chocolate Room Oman

Any good restaurant is definitely about much more than just the food. It has to have a total package, of which the front house service,  customer care and the efficiency of response to feedback rate very high on my list. For the growing 'chocolate lovers' community in Muscat, there is a great place where one can head to and savour a wide variety of all things 'chocolicious' and definitely meets all the criteria I've just listed. Located in Al Marafah Street, Mirbat Tower in Ghubra, The Chocolate Room which has just celebrated its first anniversary, is  open, airy, well lit with a wide ranging menu for people of all age groups. 

The exciting new range-Chocolate, Nutella  Mousse Glasses, Marshy Berry and Peanut Banana Waffle Sandwiches


We've been there a number of times and enjoyed each of those visits.Last evening we were invited to the Soft Launch of a new range of waffle sandwiches and Mousse Glasses by the Store Manager Jergen Enriqeues and had a really great time trying out the 'chocolicious' range of goodies that were brought out one after the other.

Jergen tells us how these new introductions were created.

Jergen ( who is a trained Barista) and his team went about developing and creating these new dishes in a very patient and methodical way.As he describes it, "the first time creation of the banana peanut waffle sandwich topped by a milk chocolate sauce as well as a delicate cinnamon sauce was good, the second version better and the third version exactly what we were looking for." And take if from me, the version that we ate last evening was absolutely delicious!

The Peanut Butter Banana Waffle Sandwich 
Topped by a milk chocolate sauce and a delicate cinnamon sauce which uplifts it to an entirely different level.

In store decorations marking the one year celebrations

My regular low fat cappuccino- tastes even better than it looks

The Marshy Berry Waffle Sandwich- strawberry, raspberry and a blueberry concoction topped with a delightful marshmallow sauce

The grand finale- Nutella Mousse and an exotic Dark Chocolate Mousse  topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips

It was a really great evening and what we enjoyed most was the understanding of the kind of time, effort, topped by a huge amount of passion and commitment it takes to create highly innovative  potential best sellers

All smiles- Avi and Jergen 

My personal favourite - The Marshy Berry Waffle sandwich

With Valentines Day approaching and a glorious February weekend to boot, I'm positive that the exciting introductions at the Chocolate Room Oman are all set to  delight young and old alike.  And before I close, I'd like to congratulate Team Chocolate Room for the hard work, team effort, enthusiasm and culinary passion that have helped the outlet grow by leaps and bounds in the very first year of its operations in Muscat.