Gaylord @ TST

Indian cuisine reminds me of the good old university days when dining out was a luxury. There were only a few Indian restaurants where I studied and it was usually on a special occasion that my friends and I would head out to dine; and Indian cuisine was one of our usually top picks. Those were the good times! This meal was with the same old crowds mentioned so it did bring back a lot of memories. We picked Gaylord because of the relatively more comfortable environment compared with those in Chung King Mansions.



We were assigned the VIP room at the end of the dining hall. Perfect! A perfect environment to talk and catch up with good old friends. I would not consider the decor and environment as authentic at all but it was nice and cozy, a bit westernized in my opinion. Apparently they offer buffet that night but we opted for a la carte because we were all too lazy to walk out to get our food all the time. HAHA



(1) Chicken & Vegetables Samosa
This was a classic standard dish to order as starters and I love them as always. I prefer the vegetables samosa this time but I think they used a little bit too much dough. For some reasons, I have a very strong feeling that these samosas were grabbed from the buffet table.



(2) Tandoori Mix Grill
It was served on a sizzling hot plate with a delicious smell filling the room. The chicken was too dry though while the prawn was wonderful with just the right amount of flavors and seasonings. The Seekh Kabab (lamb sausage kabab) was the highlight of this dish and that was why we ordered an extra dish to share.



(3) Seekh Kabab
It was wonderful, the flavors were great. The minced meat was tightly packed to form the sausage but it was soft on every bite. Great texture, not bad at all.



(4) Paneer Tikka Lajawab (Grilled Cheese)
An interesting dish in my opinion. It was grilled cheese, grill block of cheese to be exact. However, there was lack of cheese flavors and texture was like tofu but only harder. It was so-so, a new dish to me for sure.



(5) Chicken Korma
One of my favorite non-spicy "curries." The sauce was rich and deep, very nice. Yes it was creamy, which means heavy on the cream but it tasted very good, I don't mind at all. If my understanding is correct, the authentic way to prepare curry is to use onion based cream / paste which takes a long time to prepare and master as well. Many places now opt to use milk / cream / flour as a substitute for convenience I think. That was my feeling towards this dish and I can be wrong.



(6) Chicken Madaras
I used to be very reluctant to eat hot and spicy food but gradually I am slowly having a higher tolerance for it. One is because I want to be able to enjoy a wider variety of food and two is because I have the belief that the hot food would help me sweat out the humidity inside my body. I am not sure how true that is but hey I am enjoying the food ! haha ... The chicken Madaras was rather spicy in a good way of course. The flavor was very strong and the sauce was a lot thicker than the Korma for some reasons. It seemed to have a very strong herb taste though.



(7) Achaar Gosht (Lamb)
I only had a few spoonful of this dish because while the sauce was rich and flavorable, it gave me a sour kind of taste like Kang Som (sour curry) in Thai cuisine. Don;t get it wrong, I love Kang Som and I once made it myself at the Blue Elephant Cooking School in Bangkok, but just not quite the same since it was a totally different dish! And yes, the curry served was quite spicy as well!



(8) Aloo Gobi (Vegi)
This dish was more about the paste instead of the curry sauce and it was alright. There was a mixtures of various vegetables which I could not really distinguish myself. I do taste a lot of cauliflowers and alot of herbs. A fair dish in my opinion.



(9) Naan / Paneer Kulcha / Roomali Roti
How can an Indian cuisine go without Naan! In additional of the Naan, we also ordered some cheese Naan (Paneer Kulcha). Both types of Naan were a bit disappointing because they were overly thick and firm, closer to pita bread than Naan in my humble opinion. The handkerchief size Roti was thinner but it was rather greasy. I was expecting better Naan from this place especially with an open oven area showing customers the making process of tandoori rotiyan. Chung King Mansions, I am coming back very soon!

Likes:

• very comfortable environment compared with Chung King Mansions
• Seekh Kabab - flavor was great and texture was lovely.

Dislikes:

• Naan - too thick and too firm
• Paneer Tikka Lajawab (Grilled Cheese) - lack of cheese flavors, or maybe it is suppose to be like that?

Avg Spending: HKD 100 - 200 per person

Gaylord Indian Restaurant
1/F, 23-25 Ashley Road, TST
Tel: 2376-1001