Chocolate Affair at Romano’s

Mumbai, India

Madagascar, Ecuador, Ghana, Ivory Coast have something in common! Yes you guessed it right, they are all chocolate growing nations. As Indians we all by know how to lick the silk off your wrists but little did we know that that chocolate is mostly vegetable oil. Now surely I am preaching chocolate here but I ain’t the master, I am still learning more about them and this time it was slightly different. I am a 50% + chocolate bar person and not fond of chocolate desserts, imagine the confoundment when I experienced a 5 course meal all with chocolate at Romano’s, J W Marriott Sahar.

A main dish with chocolate didn’t come as a surprise as I had already savoured Mole the Mexican classic but what caught my fancy was an entire concept around chocolate which was quite audacious. ‘Hare cooked in chocolate sauce and served with polenta is a common feature in Northern Italy and this was my inspiration for this concept.’ beamed Roberto Zorzoli the head chef of Romano’s. With only 12 seats for a dinner session, this meal of mine started with a Chocolate, maple and whisky cocktail. All my scepticism was pushed aside with my first morsel of the chocolate and ricotta filo parcels and even more with the parmesan soup laced with silky white chocolate.  With luxury comes the experience and it couldn’t get better when Roberto constructed each dish on a trolley by the table as fellow diners watched in awe.

The pumpkin gnocchi with Arriba chocolate meringue, the white asparagus with saffron coulis and chocolate arancini continued to mesmerize. My last course was a dark chocolate and espresso tart and I couldn’t resist a bold glass of Chene an Indian wine with the same, I still would have preferred a chocolate bar to the tart though. I had a smile on my face throughout the meal as I applauded the hotel’s attempt with every passing course!  The promotion is on till the 3^rd and a 5 course meal with 4 wines is priced at INR 4250++ a head.

P.S: read some basics on Chocolate here