Our taste buds literally went numb from all the Chinese and Indian food we gorged over the last few weeks. We were craving for something offbeat and ended up booking a table for two at Souk- a Mediterranean restaurant in Taj Bengal.
Contemporary decor, minimalistic seating arrangement, theatrical kitchen and soothing lights, in moments we fell in love with the opulent look of the place. True to its name, Souk - meaning Arab market or bazaar - offers a medley of flavours from Moroccan, Greek, Turkish, Egyptian and Arabic cuisines.
We attentively surfed through the menu and found a host of salads, hummus, kebabs, stew, pasta, seafood and lamb dishes. If you have limited knowledge of Mediterranean cuisine, we recommend taking suggestions from the expat chef. We started off with the Hummus Turki - tossed with chickpea puree, piri piri olives and extra virgin oil, and Muhammara (on the spicier side) - fiery red pepper dip with walnut and pistachio. Paired these with pita bread, which we found a tad less crunchy. As our mate is a health freak she had opted for Tabbouleh- traditional Arabic parsley, tomato salad with burgul, mint, lemon juice and olive oil. We loved the fusion of spicy and subtle flavours. For the mains we ordered for their signature Lamb Istanbul Kebab and Samak Salalah (bhetki marinated in traditional piquant sauce).
For desserts we ordered Baklava (a traditional Labanese pastry), Rose Petal Ice Cream and the decadent Chocolate Chiffon Cake. We loved the taste of Rose Petal Ice Cream - freckled with specks of rose petals and served on brittle sugar biscuits. That's what you call happy endings!
