International Culinary and the Secrets of Indian Kitchen A Calicut Notebook Fusion Love Story
As you near the threshold of the restaurant, an irresistible aroma of freshly cooked multi-cuisine dishes evoke your senses and a message is soon delivered from the brain – you are hungry! A friendly-looking staff welcomes you and once you are seated, belt up for a roller-coaster ride through flabbergasting flavours with a surplus of food-fusion surprises from the savory kitchens of ‘Calicut Notebook’.
The interiors of the restaurant add to the mood with indoor plants that wiggle up the many glass-bottle vases. A slight yellowy moonlight-like hue lits up the place creating an auspicious mood.
What can be a better start to an appetizing meal than a salad? The Calicut Notebook exclusive of ‘Pazhassi Salad’ is the starting station. Served in a majestic silvery dish, the salad is an Indian version of Thai concept. The salad comprises chopped onions, ginger, desiccated coconut, Thai chili and peanuts in portions. A combination of these is wrapped in a honey & jaggery syrup coated bok choi leaf. Indulge in a sweet-spicy affair as your taste buds wake up to enjoy the rest.
Once the salad-effect in your mouth resides, comes the graceful ‘December Margareta’ in a sugar rimmed glass. The mocktail is the best combination of watermelon and pomegranate in right proportions. Calicut Notebook boasts of a wide variety of mocktails, most of which are their own discoveries. Another must-try mocktail is ‘Green Fire’ that combines the citrus tanginess with the hot flavours of chili and ginger. The chili placed atop the glass is a signal to this spicy touch of it.
The impact that a soup creates before a meal is quite big. Knowing this fact, Calicut Notebook brings out its own very amazing soup varieties. The French and pan Asian inspired ‘Satay De Potage’, is a combo of chicken satay with baby spinach veloute. The spinach gives it a beautiful shade of green. The soup in the colourful pots comes with a green leafy-salad alongside and olives in green and black with the red of cherry tomatoes. The soup leaves you craving for more, which is why you should try another of their special soups – The ‘Queen Goong Soup’, a tiger prawn broth with Thai herbs
Wait till you are amazed by the long array of mouthwatering starters at Calicut Notebook. The ‘Shrimps in Avocado’ is a visual treat as it is served as proud prawns curled atop a juicy sauce above a green crunchy cucumber. One bite of the starter, and your taste buds are taken to an out-of-the-world experience. The creamy sauce is themed on avocado with the sweetness of pineapple, and flavours of mayonnaise, lemon and pepper. Before you delve into this, comes the ‘Grilled Chicken with Avocado’ a tempting affair of gourmet grilled chicken steaming hot, served with chiffonades of carrot and cucumber alongside slices of rich avocado.
The starter rightly named ‘Wasabi Chicken Satay’ is a Wasabi based marinated chicken satay served with a curry sauce. The wasabi adds a pungent-but-pleasant condiment to the juicy chicken satay that comes with a sauce made of yellow mustard, wasabi, garlic and Thai chili. The restaurant’s equal importance to presentation is vivid in all its dishes. The Wasabi Chicken Satay comes garnished with vibrant edible flowers that is worth a try. The ‘Pandanas Chicken’ variety of a starter is cooked from tender chicken marinated and wrapped into an attractive shape in Pandan leaf from Thailand and then deep fried. The interesting presentation of the dish triggers one’s curiosity and tickles one’s taste buds. Just as you unwrap the chicken from the Pandan leaf, your mouth waters like the au jus dripping from the chicken when pressed with your fork. Another seafood addition to the list of starters is ‘The Blanket Fish’, as cozy as a blanket, it comes all rolled and clad in tempting flavours, finally tied into a knot made of spring onion. As you untie the knot, the drama unfolds. No doubt this has turned out to be the favourite of many Arabs and Europeans!
Calicut Notebook specializes in starters like no others. No wonder why people come all the way to Calicut Notebook and appetize themselves just with the relishing starters. And I bet, reading this, you are already salivating. But the main course is yet to reach the table!
So stretch a little and recline to the food mood. The main course has one of the most succulent dishes in the menu, the ‘Squid Tawa Grilled’. The palatable squid rings marinated in Kerala spices and pan grilled is sure to make its way straight into your list of favourites. The ‘Alleppey Chicken Curry’ with chicken pieces cooked in traditional Travancore spices and thick coconut milk is the perfect combination to a soft spongy ‘Vellayappam’. As you delight in this exquisite combo, arrives the mighty ‘Mutton Pallipalayam’, a sumptuous treat to be explored and embraced. The ‘Parathas’ are crispy and extremely tempting while the traditional Kerala ‘Pathiri’ waits to join the riot of flavours in your mouth. And if you see a smiling staff coming up with a fire blazing pot, all sizzling and bubbling, do not panic; this is the Calicut Notebook Fish special – ‘Thappu Vattichadh’ – the history of which stretches back to the times of yore. It is prepared using Dum cooking method that is exclusive to traditional Malabari Mappila families.
If you are someone who can’t do without rice in your diet, no worries, The Calicut Notebook ‘Bamboo Biriyani’ will give you more than you want. Chef’s special Biriyani steamed in Bamboo pot and served in the same is a hearty meal indeed.
As the roller coaster ride swoops down the menu, you reach the delectable desserts! The ‘Choco Beach’, a secret fusion magic, looking as exotic as it tastes. The dessert is served in an edible double-layered bowl of white and dark chocolate with cream and chocolate syrup. Another must-try dessert in the list is the ‘Banana Crepe’ that blends stuffed bananas with caramelized orange zest and ice-cream scoops.
By now, if you are full to the brim, do not hesitate to order a ‘Dancing Tea’ that literally dances, or you could go for a Zaffron-mint Tea. And if you are still craving for something sweet, order yourself a delicious dewy Coconut Pudding!
