Spent most of the day getting sleep, glorious sleep. Slept for 11 hours, despite the hard bed and antimalarial drugs trying their best to thwart my objectives. I woke up ready to relax and prepare for my meal that was waiting for me at Souk, an arabic restaurant atop the mighty Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai. For beginners, it’s not the Taj Mahal that everyone is thinking about, but it’s a VERY impressive hotel/palace but some time ago. It’s the same place that John Lennon and Yoko boarded themselves up in their hotel room for all that time.
I’ve been to this hotel everyday to pick up Steven, my coworker from Tucson. Needless to say, this place blows my hotel out of the water. Opulence doesn’t even come close to defining this place.
I arrive via air conditioned cab around 7pm and me and my dining parter stop off at a hotel bar (one of three) for some cocktails. Quickly learning that nearly all cocktails contain ice (strictly verboten because it is made of local water), choosing a drink was difficult. I went with my cocktail of choice, a gin and tonic. It was fairly drinkable with no ice, and got me in the mood to consume what would become one of the best meals I’ve had in quite a while.
A brief, ear-popping ride to the 18th floor of the hotel lead us to the Souk. Immediately we were greeted by at least 3 people all wanting to make sure we were comfortable. This place was swank. Lots of Moroccan and Turkish flair, but without all the sand.
Our dinner consisted of:
Mezze (appetizers):
Hummus bin Lahm (hummus with crispy lamb and toasted pine nuts)
Kibbeh (ground lamb and bulgar wheat meatball)
Falafel (not you typical hippie falafel, this one was good
Labneh cheese
Main course:
I had the Tagine bel hout (Fish with chickpeas, olives, dates, and prunes served over couscous an cooked in a tagine clay pot)
Steven had the Anadolou Kebab (Lamb kebab, served Turkish style)
For Dessert:
I had the Knafi Jibni (ricotta-like cheese with a shredded pastry coating and pistachios)
Steven had the Bistilla au lait (Almond paste with thin layers of pastry)
To wrap everything off, we both shared Turkish coffee (tar, with a hint of coffee flavor) and a round of Apricot shisha (molasses tobacco smoked from a hookah/shisha/narghile). I was full in every sense of the word. All the flavors of the spicy minced lamb with the savory couscous and sweet saffron-milk desserts were having a party in my stomach. The slight nicotine buzz was relaxing both mind and body, putting me in a state of pleasure that a person rarely visits. A quick cab ride home to my slightly-less-than-posh hotel and here I am, posting my joy to you, the reader.
Did I mention that the food is paid for by the company I work for? Yeah, I’m really beginning to like it here. This isn’t work, this is a vacation!