on our last night in delhi, maria and i decided to try véda.

it's on driving around with enrico that i saw their sign from the road and from it's name, i thought it was from the same owners as veda in hong kong which we particularily like.

so we went on the 1st of january and drove there in an absolutely crazy traffic. cars. motorcycles, buses were honking at each other in an absolute mad symphony. plus, our driver kept cursing the ''jam-jam-jam'' in this loud and thick indian accent. at one point, everthing came to an absolute standstill, everything stopped, became completely quiet and there, i think everybody realised that nothing was going to move for a long while. indeed, it took us 1 1/2 hour to reach the place which normally should have taken us 1/2 hour. a cultural experience, beleive me...

anyway, when we got there, we were quite happy to have made the trek. we found out that the owners are not the same as in hong kong and, other than meaning ''knowledge'' in sanskrit, the name is actually an acronym from "very exotic dining ambiance''.

the atmosphere was quite special. it is dark with a red glow from the lighting. walls are covered with mirrors with all kind of shape and sizes. it feels velvety, lush, mysterious. the music was loungee and the overall warmth of the place made us feel quite at ease.

unfortunately, the service did not start very well when we ask the head waiter what they recommended. ever the tradesman, he transparently advised on their tasting menu which was the top super most expensive item. when we asked him questions about it, he seemed bothered and made us feel that he would rather have us leave the place rather than explain his menu. so i told him to get us our wine.

the other waiters who take over from the guy, more than made up from this lapse. their recommendations and explanantions were very good and we enjoyed our food tremendously.

we shared:

- kararee bhindi - fried okra with red peppers: tasty, salty, lightly spicy but a little bit dry

- kohe awadh - lamb shank with savoury sauce: delicious, smooth, savoury spice, mouthwatering

- achari panneer tikka - cottage cheeze: tasty, perfect texture, savoury spcice, succulent

- basmati rice - plain: aromatic, flowery, not sticky, and perfect with the sauce of the lamb

all were prepared in a ''nouveau genre'' and modern style. the presentation and taste was excellent and very tasty. writing about it now makes my mouth water....

for wine, we decided to try indian wines (a choice the headwaiter sneered at). so we chose the grover vineyards cabernet-shiraz which was quite tasty, very much fruity, but balanced and succulent (read some spice and complexity) enough to want to order another glass. however, for my 2nd glass, i tried the sula vineyards shiraz which was disappointing in the sense that it was too fruity, was nnot a very good representation of its kind - it felt more like alcoholic grape juice than a shiraz. maybe it was the storage or the transportation and this is why i brought back a bottle so that i can taste later with other people and get their opinions.

in any case, an altogether a great experience that i recommend and we will certainly go back on our next trip to delhi.

veda - h-27 connaught circus, outer circle, new delhi tel. +91 5151 3535

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