As Macau becomes a more prominent destination on the itineraries of intrepid Indian travellers, the past few years have seen a number of new Indian restaurants popping up around town. And while many of them are certainly authentic and tasty, there is one that really stands out in terms of quality and creativity.
Opening in early 2013, Golden Peacock at The Venetian Macao was awarded its first Michelin Star late last year, making it one of only nine Michelin-starred Indian restaurants worldwide and the only one in Asia.
Last month, it launched a diverse new vegetarian and non-vegetarian a la carte menu with some truly special delights.
Highlights include Sona Mor Shikampuri, made of bananas, sweet potatoes and golden apricot; Goa-style Scallop Ambot Tik, pan-fried Scottish scallops served on top of spicy tomato jam; and Badal-e-Jaam, baked Italian purple eggplants served with homemade yogurt and sour cream on top.
The driving force behind these innovative dishes is Chef Justin Paul who hails from Kerala in the south of India and has been working in Macau for seven years.
“Often when I go to Indian restaurants I feel like all the curries have the same taste, so I didn’t want do that style,” he notes. “This restaurant is totally different from other restaurants. Our style is totally different and even our recipes are a little bit different. We use authentic ingredients but every dish has a particular flavour.”
On our lunch menu the day we visited was one of Chef Justin’s latest creations, Kandari Murgh Tikka seasoned with cumin seed,coriander seed, and Kashmir chilli. Not only is it succulently delicious, but its presentation on a tall silver metal skewer is also very impressive.
“We only use organic chicken, and we marinate it for 18 hours, so that’s why it has this vibrant red colour. For garnish we add garlic powder and real silver flakes, pomegranite, and baby beetroot chips.”
Chef Justin is more than happy to share his cooking techniques with guests, but when it comes to his new Dal Sath Nizam, made of seven kinds of lentils, pink onion, royal cumin, tomato and Kashmiri chilli, he is tight lipped. What are the seven kinds of lentils?
“It’s a secret,” he says with a smile.
Well, ignorance is bliss and so is the flavour of this new dish.
And when dining at The Golden Peacock, make sure you leave room for dessert too. On our menu was the delightfully refreshing Anjeer Pista Kulfi, a type of homemade Indian ice-cream with fresh figs and pistachio.
“Anjeer means fig and in India we use lots of figs. We bring in fresh organic milk from Japan and slowly reduce it from one litre to 200 millilitres which takes three to four hours,” explains Chef Justin. “Then we add the pureed figs and some cardamom powder and freeze it.”
The result is a very light, textured ice cream with subtle fruity flavours, the perfect way to finish a flavorsome meal.
As well as it’s prized Michelin star, Golden Peacock has also received other honours including a listing in Hong Kong Tatler’s ‘Best Restaurants Guide for 2014’. It is also one of only 20 Macau restaurants to be recognised by the South China Morning Post in the 2014 edition of its ‘100 Top Tables – a CEO’s Dining Guide’.
The choice of cuisine ranges from Northern and Southern to Jain cuisine, prepared by a team of 17 chefs more than ten of whom are from India. Nearly everything is prepared in-house, and all food is Halal.
With its extensive a la carte selections and buffet, all at very affordable prices, it’s no wonder Golden Peacock has become one of the most popular Indian restaurants in town.
But the toughest critics will always be Chef Justin’s compatriots, so what do they think of his innovative style?
“Our Indian guests are actually quite surprised. They don’t expect to find Indian food like this in Macau,” he responds contentedly.
