From India's ganderi kebabs to Ethiopia's mutton curry and lip-smacking Japanese Sushi, the best of world cuisine is being showcased at the "Palate Fest" here.
The three-day gastronomic extravaganza, which opened at the Nehru Park today, offers food lovers an irresistible line-up of country's finest restaurants, chefs and musicians.
With a fine blend of art and culture, the Ethiopian as well as Mexican Embassy are showcasing delectable meals keeping the focus on the street food from the countries.
The stall of the Ethiopian Embassy has a special set up displaying the traditional coffee ceremony at their stall.
"This is the first time we are participating in the fest. We wanted Ethiopia to be showcased since it needs to be promoted among people of India," says Sanjay Dhingra, Cultural Advisor at the Ethiopian Cultural Centre.
Street food from Mexico such as taquitos, tostadas, versions of quessadillas and water-based tamarind, guava and lemon drinks are being served at the Embassy of Mexico stall.
"We are mostly focusing on the street food. Mexico and India share a lot of similarities in their food as well as spices. It is really good that the food is being recognised at several places around the world including India," says Smriti, owner of the restaurant La Bodega.
With experimental Thai dishes, sausages and coconut ice cream, city-based hotel Radisson Blu Plaza has brought 'unique touch to traditional Thai cuisine'.
"We are experimenting with Thai dishes by adding our chef's unique touch to Thai sausages and ice-cream. It has been specially created for the fest and is on trial basis. If we get positive response we will include it in our menu at the hotel," says Sumit Bansal from the hotel.
Non-vegetarian delicacies such as chicken skewers with peanut sauce and grilled pork sausages is attracting huge crowd at the hotel's stall.
"Such fests are a good way to attract new customers. It has a lot to do with the visibility and for that matter we have kept our prices quite low," he added.
Visitors can also indulge in a range of delicacies from Taj Mahal Hotel's international eatery Machan and Indian gourmet dining destination Varq.
The menu presented at the fest features a selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes such as Chicken ganderi kebab, Nadru ke kebab with tomato chutney, Rawalpindi chole with Amritsari kulche followed by delectable desserts including Machan's classic Bull's Eye.
"We wanted to create a fun atmosphere for people and let them have a good time at our stall. Most of the dishes offered here are part of our selected cuisine back in hotel's restaurants. We especially want youngsters to come here and try our delicacies," says Megha, a representative from the hotel.
The Kebab dishes at their stall come at an affordable price of Rs 350.
Different flavours of coffee along with mocktails are
being served at the stall of Hotel Pullman New Delhi Aerocity. The hotel has bought variety of sumptuous sushi from their kitchens.
"We want customers to try the authentic Japanese flavours. Such a fest is really important because the trend has completely changed now.
"The hotels are coming out of their comfort zones to showcase themselves and it serves as a great opportunity for us also to participate in such fests and connect with people from all backgrounds who usually are no able to come to the hotel," says the restaurant manager.
Hotel The Park has kept Italian as the theme of their stall and are serving thin crust pizza along with various versions of pastas while using authentic Italian ingredients.
"Our hotel is famous for thin crust pizzas so we are launching it here in myriad flavours with variety of pastas. We are using authentic Italian ingredients such as Burrata Italian chesse along with organic herbs and porcini," says Chef Nakul from the hotel.
Hand-made Raviolis is amongst the signature dish by the chef at their stall.
The fest is set to continue till February 12.
