by Miss Terry Diner
The latest restaurant in the Royal Cliff Beach
Resort’s line-up is the Maharani, making it their 10th restaurant in the
resort complex. Up and running for just on one month, the Dining Out team
of Miss Terry and an appropriate Indian friend lunched at the Maharani in
the company of general manager Andrew Wood, resident manager of the Grand,
Ranjit Chandrasiri and executive chef Walter Thenisch and to be joined
later by Akhilesh Singh, the Indian chef, himself a graduate of the Hotel
School in Delhi.
The restaurant is set in the main building, beside the
walkway leading out on to the terrace above the beach. It has commanding
views of the Gulf of Siam and Koh Larn and much attention to detail has
been done to give it a mystical Indian ambience, with archways and
sculpted window frames. There is an exterior area with sea breezes, or the
glassed in and air-conditioned section adjacent to it. We chose the sea
breezes.
The service and the table settings are typically Royal
Cliff - excellent, with nothing left to chance. Even the cutlery is a new
design, with each piece hand-crafted.
The
menu is a multi page 60 item affair and begins with wine recommendations
from the cellar master, complete with the rationale behind the choices.
These need not be over the top either, with a Zinfandel on offer for only
900 baht. We decided on the Ruppertsberger Reisling Kabinett 1998 at B.
1200 and it certainly went well with the Indian cuisine.
The menu proper begins with (naturally) “Starters”
(B. 120-220) with poppadums, a minted onion bhaji (onion fritters),
samosas and prawn butterfly on offer. These are followed by 9 tandoori
specialties (generally around B. 300) with lamb, chicken and prawn, some
combined with cheeses.
Next up are 6 chicken items (again around B. 300)
cooked in different curries such as balti chicken madras in the coconut
milk or peshawari kadahi murgh in the tomato gravy. Following on, there
are 3 fish dishes (around B. 300) and 4 paneer (cottage cheese) items
mainly at B. 195. There are 5 vegetarian specialties (around B. 160)
including an interesting bhindi masala (okra) and an aloo gobi masala
(potato and cauliflower curry).
Finally there are the dals (B. 140-160), 10 Indian
breads, 4 rice dishes revolving around the two types, bismati and biryani,
and 3 desserts which include the interesting Indian masala tea brewed with
spices and herbs. By the way, there is a standard “chilli rating”
scale beside the different items, so you know what level of spiciness you
are ordering.
We
ate from a large selection of the dishes on offer and referring to my
notes I present the following impressions - the pick of the starters was
for me the prawn fritters, a light batter and plump prawns; the chicken
tikka was a very delicious and mellow flavour; the lamb tikka masala was
sensational and a meal on its own; the jhinga malai prawn curry with its
creamy sauce decorated with edible silver leaf was not only novel, but was
the dish of the evening for me. For my Indian friend, he was most
impressed with the bhindi masala and the mint parantha bread (and the very
pretty Indian-Thai waitress!).
To be perfectly frank, the Maharani Restaurant provided
Miss Terry with the best Indian food I have ever experienced. Under the
name “Maharani” are the words “Flavours of India” and this is
where this restaurant excelled. There was none of the heavy-handed
harshness with spices that you are so often presented with under the guise
of “Indian” food. You could really savour and enjoy the different
flavours. Not a cheap night out (or lunch), but the “best” never is;
however, it is not in any way “over the top”. If you are an Indian
food lover, or just want to try something different, the Dining Out Team
can only suggest you make a booking now. The highest recommendation
possible. An Indian jewel in the crown of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort.
The Maharani Restaurant, Royal Cliff Beach Resort, 353
Pratamnak Road, telephone 038 250 421.
