[300th Post] Buddhist Peace’ Menu, Vivanta By Taj, Gurgaon

People, who know me, know my love for meat. You will be surprised to read this as I share my rare experience when I enjoyed eating vegetarian that was steamed or poached. This was one of the finest dining experiences; I had in a very long time. I asked for multiple helpings and yet it was refreshing even after having a hearty meal!.
I wondered, what prompted Latitude, the all-day dining restaurant at Vivanta by Taj, Gurgaon to come with a new Buddhist Peace’ menu. When we asked Executive Chef Neeraj Choudhury the same question, he shared” Swearing by the ‘Bon Vivant’ philosophy, Vivanta by Taj, Gurgaon has always believed in doing things differently and introducing novel innovations. We are delighted to present the Buddhist Peace Menu that has been conceptualized to help our guests maintain a healthy and stress free lifestyle whether they are traveling for work or on leisure. We hope to be able to promote an active and well balanced way of life through our offerings”.Buddhist cuisine is about purification of soul, disciplined consumption of food and is mostly vegetarian and yet is hearty and warming!  I was interested in understanding the concept and the menu. First thing that I noticed was that most of the dishes were either cooked using steam or poached with minimum oil (in some dishes no oil actually), and lot of organic green vegetables handpicked by chef himself.Another interesting aspect of this exclusive menu is selection of green leafy vegetables like spinach, pakchoy, fresh coriander and beans and cooked either by steaming them or stir fry so that essential nutrients can be retained.
Menu which is handpicked has appetizers, main course and desert options. Here comes the most interesting part of the entire experience. It started with chef’s little introduction on the menu and live demonstration of how to make “steamed popiya roll”. I it is one of the most popular dish in most of the Asian countries. Lot of chopped vegetables to wrap with popiya(very thin paper like creep made out of wheat flour). I simply loved this dish. The roll had crunchy vegetables and was very fresh. I loved every single dish on the menu. Vegetable Bao; Steamed Popiya Roll; Asian Bowl Soup were absolutely delicious and light. After having Asian Bowl Soup Ii felt that if I keep having this every day, I might lose some weight as well. It was so light and refreshing and ofcourse keeping in mind the concept of Buddhist cuisine, I found it energizing too!I would love to come back here whenever I feel like having some delicious yet super light food. Exemplary food and memorable meal is what Buddhist peace menu is all about – Way to go Latitude!