CHENNAI: The Hybrid restaurant in Mercure Hotel, Sriperambudur recently launched a new menu featuring dishes made with locally sourced produce and ingredients. This menu boasts a section dedicated to healthy food to satiate the heart and tummy of fitness freaks.
With a high ceiling and vibrant interiors, the cafe bar and lounge is divided into multiple spaces that act as a meeting spot, a retreat or a stylish entertainment hub. The new menu offers a dynamic selection of cocktails, beverages and interesting dishes.
The highlight of the menu is the ‘Healthify Me’ section. It is unusual to see a bar cater to the health needs of conscious eaters. Mainly featuring salads and soups, the menu mentions the calories and nutrients per serving. The phrase ‘healthy food’ usually conjures up images of green juice and bland steamed vegetables, but Mercure serves exactly the opposite.
The quinoa tabbouleh salad with apple, amounting to just 112 calories, is the star dish of the menu. This classic Middle Eastern salad upgraded with quinoa is a tiny nutritional powerhouse loaded with protein. Another classic is the utterly delicious insalata caprese, a simple Italian salad made of fresh, sliced mozzarella, tomatoes, and sweet basil, seasoned with salt and olive oil.
The varied and mouth-watering line-up of starters include the tandoori jhinga made with juicy prawns marinated in curd and Indian spices, served with a slight char on top, as well as the kung pao chicken, cooked with cashew nut, dry red chilli, soy and honey and chilli fish.
The dish that even has non-vegetarians reaching for a second helping is the malai broccoli. A healthy and delicious vegetarian snack with florets of broccoli laced in a rich marinade of cashews and hung curd. It’s a flavour burst in your mouth.
“The malai broccoli and quinoa salad are a major hit among the customers. Apart from this, we have introduced a lot of Asian dishes to the menu. We also have fusion burgers like the paneer tikka and the chicken 65 burger. This is now a place for both fitness freaks and those who prefer a hearty meal without bothering about calories,” said head chef Chaitanya GNV.
Of the Asian cuisine options, the wok-tossed seafood topped with sesame oil and served with sticky rice is the showstopper, being healthy and delicious in equal amounts. One can also try the herb-crusted fish in a caper butter sauce or opt for nasi goreng, schezwan noodles or tawa pulao.
The meal reaches the perfect crescendo with the chef’s special oreo cheesecake.
Price for two: Rs 1,500. Visit Mercure Hotel, Cp 8 SIPCOT Industrial Park, Sriperambudur, or call: 67118500