With the completion of the 20th anniversary of TK’s oriental grill, Amit Rohilla, Chef De Cuisine, introduced a new menu at Hyatt Regency. By Arjita Mishra
How does the idea of having lunch and watch the chef making it infront of you at the same time sound likeIJ Well, at TK’s Oriental Grill at Hyatt Regency you will not only experience the best of oriental cuisine but will also receive personalised service and a lively environment. Chef louis Johnson is very particular about the food that leaves his kitchen. “We want our customers to learn about their food and not just enjoy it,” he said as he got busy at his live counter.
Hyatt is celebrating 20 glorious years of catering to its visitors and to celebrate the happy event, chef Amit Rohilla has curated an entire menu. From there, he rolled out garlic chips for us (made with fried Kashmiri garlic and sprinkled with a pinch of salt and roasted ground black pepper).
Chef Johnson shared his recipe, “The garlic should be kept stirring continuously so that it does not get burnt.” The chips were crispy but the taste of ginger was a little bitter. It was served with Japanese yuzu sauce which made the dish even tastier. He also gave some tips, “Roasted black pepper enhances the flavour of any dish. Also, you can add a zest of lime to reduce the bitter taste of garlic.”
Our next dish— seared cottage cheese, broccoli, asparagus, spring onion and Thai basil coriander sauce — was from the vegetable teppanyaki ala carte menu. Chef Johnson let us know that the cottage cheese needs to be tossed at short intervals because only then will it impart a light golden colour. “You have to be cautious while cooking cottage cheese because if you overcook on one side, it will turn black and you will not be able to enjoy it,” he said. The taste of the basil pesto sauce and garlic soya sauce dominated the taste of the vegetables. “The vegetables should not be eaten all at one go because then all the flavours get mixed up and you will not be able to savour any vegetable,” he pointed out.
Next, he presented us with a yakitori of cottage cheese, mushroom, spring onion, bell pepper and zucchini. Usually yakitori is made from chicken which is grilled on fire. But for vegetarians, the chef prepared it from vegetables. When we took a bite of mushroom it melted in our mouth and left a sweet aftertaste.
Of all that we tried there, the banana leaf tofu was the best. The chef heated the tofu (wrapped in a banana leaf) with the few drops of oil on the cook top. When it was heated enough, the chef opened the banana leaf and poured a sauce made from herbs. He said that tofu can also be eaten raw. “And if you want to cook it, always do it on a low flame,” he added. The tofu was really soft and dissolved in our mouth while the sauce reminded us of the flavour of manchurian gravy.
Ganmo tofu steak, spinach, bell pepper, bean sprout, sweet spicy sauce was another cuisine from the tofu family. This tofu was made up with boiled potatoes, sprouts and herbs, and was crispy from the outside and soft on the inside. “In short, we can call it a complete food,” said chef Johnson. The sauce used in the tofu was tonkatsu sauce which was made up with the apple, carrot, et al. “The sauce is made from different fruits but the extract of apple is more,” he said. The tonkatsu sauce which was spread over the tofu gave the dish a subtle sweet taste.
Okonomiyaki pancake, tonkatsu sauce, wasabi aioli was another dish presented by the chef. It was spread over the cook top like dosa batter. “This dish is very similar to the uttapam of South India as different vegetables like capsicum, carrot and spring onion are used in this,” chef told us. Mayonnaise and tonkatsu sauce was spread over the pancake.
For dessert, the chef chose to treat us with bread, stuffed with vanilla ice cream. The bread was deep fried in oil, which made it very crisp, and it went very well with the ice cream.