Veda - Indian Fine Dining at InterContinental Mauritius Resort Balaclava Fort

Today we travel back to Mauritius! Had this meal a month ago, so I'd better blog about it before I forget how everything tastes like. Anyways we travel back to the InterContinental Mauritius Resort Balaclava Fort, and to its' Indian restaurant named Veda.

Initial reservations are that it's a bit oddly located, being "away" from the rest of the resort, and that there is an irritating mosquito presence (maybe due to the thick surrounding foliage). Perhaps the restaurant could do with some discreetly placed mosquito repellent devices, although I don't know how effective those are in an outdoor environment.


Some of the tables are absolutely gorgeous, but unfortunately for us, these are for the honeymoon-ing couples in the resort. A quick word with the waiter and he tells me that he can set it up for anyone who asks in advance, too.


As a starter - papadums with onions, some sort of curry, and a third dip which I've forgotten, haha. These are THE BEST papadums I've ever eaten. Thin, crispy, fragrant and not a single hint of oiliness.


The amuse-bouche however is a bit ... disappointing. Wikipedia tells me that the amuse-bouche is supposed to be "a showcase for the artistry and showmanship of the chef as well as one-upmanship among restaurants," for which this particular dish has failed miserably. I can only describe this as a bite-sized plain roti prata with some mixed greens. And yes, it tasted as plain as it sounds.


No matter - the appetizers quickly restore our faith in the restaurant. We're on the set dinner - for which I choose the Chicken Tikka. Tender and moist and cooked to perfection with delicious Indian spices. I wouldn't mind eating multiple servings of this appetizer as a main course.


The darling goes for the Fish Mahi Tikka. It's similarly deliciously spiced - but a bit of an oddity we noticed was that one of the fish fillets was nice and tender, but the other was a bit tough and firm. Two fillets from two different fish?


The appetizers are followed by a cold soup. Don't remember what soup this was (the menu only says Chef's Specialty of the day). I do remember that it was spicy and tangy and had a hint of mango and banana, but overall I guess I greatly prefer my soups hot, and not cold.


On to the mains, then! This is the Khaibri Gosht (Lamb Shank Cooked in Milk). Delicious. The cooking style is aromatic and decidedly Indian, without overpowering the taste of the meat. Which, incidentally, was nice and tender.


These are eaten with a selection of chapatis and naans, which were a bit crispier and less thick than the naans that you normally get in KL.


Being quite stuffed, we still have to make room for dessert - Shahi Tukra (bread with condensed milk and nuts), served with Pistachio ice cream. I like the dessert, other than the fact that it's very sweet (as are practically all indian desserts and sweets).


Oh, there's also live entertainment in the form of a Sitar group. I can't comment about how authentic or good the group was, of course, but the music was nice and not intrusive.


Overall, it was a wonderful dinner, with delicious food, great ambience and good service. No prices available as the set dinner was part of our room package.

Segala - Intercontinental Resort, Balaclava Fort, Mauritius

Lots of the higher-end resorts here in Mauritius are of the 'do everything and eat everything here,' Club Med-style variety - you pay for the room, and (depending on how much you want to pay of course), all the food and water-sports and other activities are "free." So it's perhaps not very meaningful to provide a food review of these restaurants, because the only people who dine here are guests of the hotel.

But anyway, the InterContinental Mauritius Resort Balaclava Fort is one such resort. And the Segala is one of the restaurants at the resort - if memory serves me right, it's the 'mediterranean seafood and grill' restaurant. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo when there was actual light in the sky, but it's located right next to the sea, and on the beach.


Practically all restaurants here are open air and non air-conditioned. Which is fine because the weather at night is cool, even during the summer. Here we dine with the waves as the background music, accompanied by a lone singer/guitarist, so it's mucho relaxing.


Selection of breads to start the night. Interestingly, instead of butter we're served with a trio of spreads which are (from front to back) Goat Cheese, Eggplant Caviar and Pumpkin Cream. Pretty funky stuff. I like the Cheese and the Pumpkin, but since I don't like Eggplant the middle spread was a bust for me.


We go for the set menu dinner, which has two choices for Starters. This is the Smoked chicken breast with pears and walnut vinaigrette. I don't know what the chefs marinate the chicken in, but it's delicious, so I can forgive the simplicity of the dish.


I don't enjoy the Grilled vegetables Terrine with roasted peppers salsa and creamy cheese sauce as much. It's a bit plain, and has too much eggplant (which I don't eat), and bell peppers (which I don't like).


For the main course, we have the Grilled Marlin Steak. It's seasoned and cooked deliciously, but the fish itself is pretty tough (for fish standards, of course). I don't have any real reference point though, as I've never really eaten Marlin before. Could be that these big game fish tend to have much tougher meat than other fish.


The darling's Marinated beef filet with black peppercorn was ordered medium but came closer to medium well, so a tad bit on the dry side, but otherwise the beef was pretty tasty, and the black pepper sauce wasn't overpoweringly peppery.


For dessert, there's only one choice: Fresh Coconut Tart with Coconut Ice Cream. A bit of cheating going on in the kitchen here: The Tart is just a generic base tart with some coconut shavings, and the ice cream isn't really coconut - it's milk flavoured with coconut shavings to make it taste coconut-ty.


No prices available because this set dinner is part of our room package, but if we didn't choose the set dinner we'd have been given 600 Rs (RM 61.20) credit to ordering ala carte from the menu, so I guess that would be as good an estimation as any.

Overall, the restaurant was above average, and if we were staying long we'd have no hesitation going back for repeat visits - but again, I doubt anyone from outside the resort would drive all the way out here just for a dinner.