I was sceptical before my dinner in Amaya – almost sure that it’s just another fashionable Indian calling itself modern (I’ve been to so many of them), but all that is modern is the fancy interior and crazy martinis, or, worse, European cuisine mixed with Indian spices.
In fact, it was a little bit of all of the cases above, but I loved my Indian meal at Amaya more than any other Indian meal I’ve had recently.
Yes, the interior was modern and the cocktails were pretty (I had a pomegranate martini, one of my favourites), and some ingredients, like oysters or lobsters, are not typical to Indian cuisine. But everything remained true to the Indian food spirit.
The oysters were cooked in coconut curry sauce, while big chunks of lobster were simmered in Indian spices. What surprised me most, that both of these mixtures worked perfectly and still remained “Indian food”.
There were also traditional Indian flavours such as spicy chicken grilled in tandoor steps away from your table or mango lassi good enough just to have for a dessert. Not forgetting the crispy nans and delicious raita.
Usually, good things happen unexpected, and that night was one of those good things.
