The kitchen at Cream Centre is a distinct, chaotic world, cut away from the air-conditioned, softly-lit dining area. It’s Saturday evening and there’s a queue of diners at the entrance waiting to get in. This was going to take time.
While weekends mean double the work for the chefs at Cream Centre, a specialty sizzler festival only heats up things at the kitchen further more. With double the orders to take, newer dishes to prepare and longer working hours, the chefs have their hands quite full. But they aren’t complaining. “It’s a challenge and it always feels great when you are able to live up to expectations,” says R William, General Manager of Cream Centre, Chennai. The sizzlers in the festival menu have been carefully planned to offer an assortment of ingredients, sourced from various cuisines from around the world. “We wanted to bring out the essence of every cuisine - from Continental, to Oriental and Indian. That is the USP of this festival,” he adds.
This means, every single dish is unique by itself - with an array of vegetables, breads, gravies and pastas served on the sizzling hot skillet. The Lahori sizzler, for instance, has steaming hot vegetable pulao, served with Lahori tak-a-tak gravy vegetable and kadhai paneer, topped with hara-bhara kabab and potato fries. Spicy on the palate, this gives you flavours closer to home. The Continental sizzler on the other hand, is a stark contrast, fatty and creamy, with Penne Arrabiata served with vegetable au gratin accompanied with chick peas, cheese stick and herbed potato wedges.
While some of these innovations in the festival menu leave you with an urge to experiment more, others like the pav bhaji sizzler come across as a desperate attempt to add variety, in vain; excessively oily, bland on the palate with nothing novel to offer. While the festival menu does not include dessert, the sizzling brownie and the fruit factory, from the regular menu are a must-try.
The festival is on at Cream Centre, Nungambakkam and RA Puram, till October 15.