Barinder Saluja, Chandigarh,May 6 : Right arm over the wicket and he’s bowled him, it was a GOOGLY ; these are the words of a commentator in a cricket match when a bowler bowls a Googly to a batsman and he is clean bowled. This is what the concept of this very food festival is, which has been conceived by the chef Ashish Bali along with his team at the Hometel Hotel here in Chandigarh. It indeed is a googly in the form of food instead of a ball. A pure veggie delight, which is a lookalike of non veg and tastes exactly like non veg, will definitely tickle your taste buds, does not includes meat, chicken or egg. We can say that it is nothing but pure vegetables, which actually clean bowl’s those who tasted it; aka it was a googly.
The menu showcases extensive selection of vegetarian ‘tongue teasers’ from around the world, all beautifully cooked to mesmerize your taste buds. A huge spread for a endless variety for those who carve for vegetarian dishes – Vegetable Hot Dog,Veg Drum Stick,Veg Tandoori Nugget, Veg Prawns,Veg Salami, Veg Shami Kebab,Vegetarian Ham,Veg Classic Fish along with Mirch Malai curry,veg shahi fillet curry, Veg Kaju Kofta,Veg Shami Kebab would certainly offer you with a unique experience. All are Non Veg dishes but in Veg style. “We are the first one in the Northern Area to have introduced this type of eating concept. Keeping the Vegetarians in mind we have developed this type of cuisine in which nothing is non veg, everything is entirely VEGETARIAN or one can say that we have tried to give a non veg taste in vegetarian style”, describes the chef Ashish Bali. “All the dishes are made up of Soya base and vegetables, we have not even used egg in our cuisine”, added Ashish. When asked that why Soya as base, chef replied, “Soya as base is used because firstly it is purely veg and definite shapes can be given, also it has got the same proteins as in non veg & gives somewhat identical taste and aroma.” He showed Veg Prawns cooked in Malai, which were exactly lookalike of actual Prawns.
Food festivals always hold a special niche in a restaurant. Food festivals are very regional centric and does not come with a particular taste. It always brings up the various flavors and various cuisines all over. The Googly food festival explores the new heights in taste and the variety in food where the vegetarian food looks like non vegetarian and tastes like non vegetarian. The buffet of this food festival includes Starters as snacks which include Tandoori nuggets with garlic mayonnaise, jalapenos balls with mince and masala fillet with sichuan sauce. Soups, Salads, Indian, Oriental, continental, desserts are in the regular courses along with Live counter which serves sandwich bars, chocolate babka, ciabatta tandoori ham, fajita fillet, steam sausages, ham burgers, which are sounding non veg but are purely veg.
Hometel Chandigarh, a hospitality landmark in the city, has been appreciated for the quality of food that is being served. It has, in the past too, hosted successful festivals like “Rampuri Food festival”, “OKTOBER fest”, “HALLOWEEN NIGHT” and “CHINISESE FOOD FESTIVAL”.
This festival, too, would be a real treat for both vegetarians and Non vegetarians lovers, infact these dishes have much more protein content than a non vegetarian dish. festival is on till 15 of May with buffet system costing Rs. 495 (plus taxes) in lunch & Rs. 545 (plus taxes) in dinner.