With the start of a new year – and with January being our quietest month – I was keen to take advantage of a little downtime to explore some new flavours.
Following a professionally hectic but fulfilling 2024, I headed to India and Thailand at the start of January with my partner for a culinary adventure. As a city of in excess of 20 million residents, Mumbai in India was quite the eye-opener. More cosmopolitan than most of India, Mumbai’s food scene was spectacular with a particular highlight lunch at Ekaa, a modern fine dining restaurant that skilfully combines European techniques with flavours and ingredients from the subcontinent. Utilising underused and little known botanicals, they also had one of the most impressive cocktail menus that I’ve enjoyed in a longtime.
The bustle of Mumbai was replaced by the peace and tranquility of Coconut Island off the coast of Phuket in Thailand. It goes without saying that the fish and seafood was spectacular whether served in our hotel or in the beachside cafés in the local village. A personal highlight was steamed sea bass with Thai herbs and spices but – for spectacle – the hotel shared a private BBQ feast with us, packed high with fish, steak, chicken and utterly delicious squid.
Inspired by my travels, I’ll be adding a few twists to my menus this year. Stay tuned!
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