Zanotta: Leela Ambience, DLF Phase 3, Gurgaon

Indian Travel Places January 17, 2022 Food Review 662 Views

Restaurant Name: Zanotta: Leela Ambience, DLF Phase 3, Gurgaon
Phone: +917674918034, +911244771234
Address: National Highway 8, Ambience Island, DLF Phase 3, Sector 24, Gurugram, Haryana 122002 India
Time: 06:30 PM – 11:30 AM
Meals for two: Rs. 4,000
Cuisines: Italian
Facilities: Wheelchair Accessible, Full Bar Available, Romantic Dining, Indoor Seating, Table booking recommended, Luxury Dining

Zanotta: Leela Ambience, DLF Phase 3, Gurgaon: Decor

“When one door closes, another one opens” is what happened to me this week. When the Delhi restaurant I was headed to suddenly became out-of-bounds because of a government diktat, Gurgaon’s dining options beckoned! Zanotta is located on the 6th floor of the Leela Ambience Gurugram Hotel and Residences to give it its full title. Open only for dinner. if you sit facing the highway, all you see in the dark are flashing rows of diamonds and rubies (front and back lights of fast-moving traffic for the more prosaic!) The restaurant is a textbook case of sensible pandemic related protocol. The first question I was asked was if I would prefer table service or to help myself. Apparently, some diners prefer helping themselves at the table to avoid contact with possible sources of infection while others, myself included, know that all staff members in the hotel have been doubly vaccinated.

Zanotta: Leela Ambience, DLF Phase 3, Gurgaon: Food

The menu consists of a la carte as well as two categories of degustation: Lambro and Po. We chose the a la carte and from the amuse-bouche itself. I knew I was in gastronomic heaven: a roll of Parma ham atop a perfectly ripe baby fig poured over with melting blue cheese. A blob of green apple puree added a tang to the miniature masterpiece. The next course was a burrata salad (Rs. 975) in which the burrata was made in the hotel. Fresh as if made that very hour (it probably had!) it had multiple micro flavours and was served with salad greens grown hydroponically. Traditional seafood saf-fron broth (Rs. 875) consisted of lobster shells, mirepoix (finely chopped vegetables for sauteing), risotto rice for thickening and a splash of sambuca was deeply savoury. The first plate (primo piatto) was polenta with tomato coulis, porcini cream, basil oil and porcini chips (Rs. 1350). The star of this particular show was the polenta itself: delicately flavored and textured very differently from our very own maize (a different varietal of corn is used for making polenta). The secondo piat-to (Rs. 2250) was Chilean sea-bass with cauli cream. The hotel has an unfairly talented pastry chef who served us panna cotta with berry gelato on a bed of fruit coulis. It looked sensational and tasted light and tangy: perfect after a sensational meal.