Tandoori, tandoori, tandoori

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My friend's sister, who I haven't seen in more than a decade, is spending Lunar New Year in Hong Kong. We decided to catch up over dinner, and after she expressed interest in Indian cuisine, I made a booking at Leela. It's been some time since I last went to see what Chef Manav Tuli, and one always leaves his restaurant happy and full...

I was hoping to fly under the radar - even though I knew that B Bestie scans the booking logs - so I wasn't surprised when James greeted me... as I strolled in through the doors while on a work call. We placed our orders, and my friend and I proceeded to take turns ducking out for more work calls.

First up was a serving of khakra (ખાખરા). Always a nice snack to tingle one's palate.

I don't think I've ever had a coconut lassi before, so I decided to try one. I was gonna take it easy tonight and keep my alcohol intake to zero, but...

Fish cheek rasam - the first indication that Chef Manav knew I was here was when these arrived with his compliments. The fact that we've got seabass cheeks at the bottom of the cup shows how Manav is adapting to life in Hong Kong...

This rasam (రసం) is tamarind-based along with spices like cumin and turmeric. I liked that there is a nice little bit of heat to warm me up.

Lucknowi tokri chaat - the signature snack. Tokri chaat (टोकरी चाट) came with ingredients like lentils and sev (સેવ), served in a tokri basket made of potato that has been deep-fried. We had tamarind sauce, sweet yogurt, and mint chutney both on top and on the side, along with pomegranate seeds and micro coriander and amaranth. As always, we mashed it all up so that all the ingredients mixed well together.

Baked duck Chettinadu samosa - one day Manav will have to explain to me the characteristics that define these as particularly Chettinadu, but interesting to see that these now come with shredded duck.

Baked corn Chettinadu samosa - I love corn, so I also found these tasty.

Goan peri peri prawns - inspired by balchão de camarão, the black tiger prawns came in a peri peri sauce and were wrapped in paratha (परांठा), meant to be consumed as one would a taco. This was OK.

Tandoori squid - I wanted to try this since I had just seen B Bestie post about it, and it looked almost as good as the picture I saw. Got that Shenga chutney going so this tasted VERY nice with a mild level of spice and some acidity.

Tandoori eel - another extra from the kitchen. We know Manav likes to play around with non-traditional ingredients and preparations, and loves to shove different stuff into the tandoor. Here's some eel that was apparently inspired by their neighbor Unagi Yondaime Kikugawa (うなぎ四代目菊川) across the street.

The spices do work with eel, and helps to cover up the muddy flavors of the eel. Kinda interesting.

Whole roasted tandoori spiced Three Yellow Chicken rice - this was when my eyes rolled up... because we had already ordered another chicken dish - and it wasn't this one! Manav was trying to kill us with kindness, and wanted to make sure we didn't walk out of the restaurant...

But I couldn't really complain, could I?! Roast chicken is always nice, especially with all the tandoori spices. Needless to say we barely made a dent, and my friend packed most of this home for her kids.

Yunnan porcini mushroom pulao - morels and rice just go so, soooo well together, as I discovered at Nine One. This version - which came on the side with the chicken - had lots of aromatic cloves.

Thrissur crab curry - this came with kaffir lime leaves, which naturally made it very fragrant. Nice and sweet to the taste, and definitely a crowd-pleaser.

Smoked butter chicken - Foursheets' favorite, so it became a must. Always love that smokiness.

Kumaoni raita (कुमाऊंनी रायता) - this was a lot more dense than I had expected, and very nice.

Naan - together with the TWO rice dishes, this got a little too much in terms of carbs. But it had to be done.

Kothamalli lamb biryani - so this was the biryani that had to be ordered in advance, and it was definitely worth the wait. Like Manav's other biryani dishes, this also came with a paratha crust on top.

We were much too full for any dessert, but the Masala chai (मसाला चाय) was always welcome.

So I gave in and tasted a little bit of wine that the ladies were enjoying:

2023 Alvaro Palacios Camins del Priorat - very ripe and very oaky, with forest and potpourri notes.

2018 Luis Cañas Rioja Reserva - the nose was a little sharp at first, and riper, more intense. Later on the wine got softer on the palate.

We had a fun evening out. While my friend still hasn't made it to Chaat, I know she had a good time and prefered the shorter trip home. Many thanks to Chef Manav for all the extra goodies, and grateful to James for taking good care of us. We will be back, as there is so much to learn about the various regional cuisines in India, but maybe next time Manav won't try so hard to kill us...