At the elegant Veranda, the curry is to dine for

By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic

Chef Rohit Prasad prepares curries for the lunch buffet at the Veranda. The Bombay-reared Prasad has worked in Scotland, Australia, Japan and Thailand. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser The Veranda Cafe Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hawaii 5000 Kahala Ave. 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. daily 739-8780 Very good

I ambled up and offered a hearty "Congratulations!" to the team for winning the award. I was introduced to a young man named Rohit Prasad, until recently an intern chef at the hotel but now in charge of the daily curry buffet lunch at the Veranda Cafe.

Prasad was born and reared in Bombay. He grew up watching his "mum" prepare foods. That led to an education heavy on hotel management and the culinary arts. His education began in India and led to Australia, Thailand, Japan, Scotland and now, thankfully for us, Hawai'i. After a few moments of chitchat with Prasad, I knew that I'd soon be paying a visit to sample his curries.

For $15.25, this curry buffet lunch is a bargain, especially given the gorgeous surroundings of the Veranda, a location that'd make a Hollywood set designer sob with envy. It's an open-air room with very high ceilings, a gorgeous chandelier, comfy couches, small tables and a baby grand piano. With languid breezes flowing through the room and outstanding service, you're about as close to paradise as is possible on Earth.

On a normal day, three curries are at the ready, with several satellite offerings of curry-specific condiments. Each curry is matched with a special kind of rice, be it fragrant jasmine rice for the Japanese curry, sticky rice for the Thai curry, or special Indian rice with nuts, dried fruits and exotic spices.

Indian breads are flash-cooked in a wood-fired clay tandoor oven. Naan is chewy-good, perfectly suited for sopping up the saucy loveliness of the curries. Papadums are crisp, cracker-like lentil wafers, and bhatura are flash-fried, puffy and soft breads made with buttermilk and yogurt.

Drinks such as ginger melon lassi (made with yogurt, slightly tart and sweet), an unusual cucumber lime-ade, and plantation iced tea are served.

The best curries are chef Prasad's Indian and Thai offerings. Among the Indian choices may be lamb or beef rogan josh, a very popular northern Indian delight. Its primary flavors come from toasted and ground whole spices such as coriander, fennel, cardamom and cloves. His version is made with a rich, caramelized onion-tomato sauce, kissed with saffron. Goa prawn curry takes its name from India's formerly Portuguese coastal state. It's an orange blend of dried red chilies and turmeric. Chicken curry is matched with pureed spinach. Indian curries are often enriched with a bit of butter and cream.

Thai curries usually have brighter flavors than the deeper, earthier Indian ones. The Thais love citrusy tastes like lemongrass and kaffir lime, along with galangal (a Thai ginger) and fresh basil leaves. The yellow seafood curry contained mussels, clams, fish dumplings and shrimp. The red crab curry is married with fresh Thai chile peppers. Thai curries are smooth and silky, made with coconut milk.

Delicious condiments accompany all the choices here and allow guests to customize their taste experience. I sampled four different chutneys recently — mint-cilantro with yogurt and cumin, a sweet-sour tamarind version, a perky tomato one, and a thick, sweet and fruity mango chutney. Other garnishes include roasted peanuts, fried shallots and toasted coconut. Pineapple-cucumber raita (a cooling dish made with yogurt), chile pickle (spicy hot for us fire-eaters!) and a refreshing shredded green-papaya salad round out this lunch.

Dessert is included — various sorbets, fresh fruit (berries and tropical fruits), cake — and I'm told that my favorite Indian desserts will be offered soon. These are gulab jamun, small dumplings in sweet syrup, thoroughly addicting; and halwa, a traditional Indian pudding, made with farina (or cream of wheat), butter, sugar, raisins, nuts and vanilla. It is cooked, allowed to cool and cut into squares.

The Veranda is at the makai end of the hotel lobby, next to Hoku's and upstairs from the Plumeria Beach Cafe, and provides this curry fix seven days a week. This also is where the afternoon tea service takes place (2 to 5 p.m. daily).

Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com.