Good news for mango lovers

Mango – the queen of fruits is to die for in the summer. Chefs over the years have created various dishes from this fleshy and juicy fruit to tend to a gourmet's palate.

Proclaimed to be the only-one-of-its-kind, The Spice Route at The Imperial is poetry in design. For this summer the Southeast Asian restaurant has come up with a menu which boasts of mangoes. The whiff of newness reflects now in this year's menu featuring Chef De Cuisine, Veena Arora's selections and creations inspired from regions of Kerala, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. The menu promises to steal hearts with specialties put together with ripe or raw mangoes, complemented with chef's specials.

The raw mango flavour comes alive in Yum Mamuang Kung Krob – Thai spicy and tangy raw mango, and crispy prawn salad, in Maambalam Katrikai, Curried baby eggplant and water chestnuts flavoured with raw mango and coconut paste and in Amba Currya, a chef's Special Sri Lankan raw mango and assorted vegetable curry. The old favourites have been retained in the menu like Ga Xao Hot Dieu amongst other delectable offerings for a melt-in-the-mouth experience for mango lovers.

The restaurant has been designed to reflect the journey of spices from the Malabar Coast in Kerala through Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia to Thailand and Vietnam. The restaurant is completely hand painted with vegetable and flower dyes by mural painters brought in especially from a temple in Guruvayur in Kerala with a tradition. In the words of Chef Veena Arora, "Summer Collection menu has been close to my heart since the time The Spice Route opened doors, and invokes timelessness for me, each time I start planning it. The name takes inspiration from the fashion fraternity and the menu is whipped up to dish out something unique for the patrons from the landmark kitchen.

The interesting raw and ripe mango based recipes are refreshing like the advent of summer ought to be and a celebration of the season of course. Most of them are my own creations, wonderfully complemented by rice, chicken, prawns, sole fish, veggies and exotic spices. I have somehow tried to keep the fruit central to the palette layering and balancing it with other flavours."

The chef has delicately balanced spices with mango in all her offerings, for a heavenly treat to the taste buds. To freshen up your mind and soul try to hop in to indulge in some juicy mango dishes.