Flambe at Ambrosia

Food is not my cup of tea. Nevertheless, this one time I had to make an exception as the food involved alcohol. Ambrosia, on 100 ft road, Kormangala is an international cuisine restaurant and is celebrating a 2-week flambé festival. If you have not heard the Ambrosia’s jingle on the radio yet, Flambé, is a French style of cooking where along with great culinary skills, there is certain importance given to the visual delights of cooking as well. Food is half-cooked in the kitchen and the final touches are given tableside on movable cooking stations. Generous amounts of alcohol, mostly wine or brandy are dashed out to set your food on fire along with delectable sauces, selected cheeses and an assortment of spices.


Winter chill in the air, a festive mood around, the flames from Chef Vinod’s working station near the neighboring table and I knew I had a perfect evening in the making. A menu created especially for Ambrosia’s Flambe festival with an impressive lineup of options made the choice difficult. Zeroing in on Beef Burgundy for the main course I left the choice of starters to the chef, to serve their best. And as we devoured the Bruchetta, Chicken Wings, Mutton Sheekh & Prawns Gamboroni, I couldn’t stop wondering how the kitchen at this restaurant was bringing forth different cuisines to such perfection. Known for its international cuisine the menu is the dream of any food lover with delicacies from France, Jamiaca, Spain and more countries across the globe. There is a lot of Indian in there as well. The small little country flags on the menu help you know where the food is from. The starters made me determined to go back for more over the next few weeks.

And finally came the part I was waiting for most, I could feel the juices flowing as the trolley was pushed next to my table. I watched Chef Vinod adding in the flavors and flambéing my beef with red wine. Only liquors and liqueurs with a high alcohol content can be used to flame foods, and those with a higher proof will ignite more readily. Beer, champagne, and most table wines will not work. Spirits with 40% alcohol are considered the best choices for flambé. If the spirit is pre heated a little before adding to the food, it works really well. Ambrosia uses brandy and dark rum for some dishes apart from using red or white wines in some dishes.



I knew why preparing food was an art when I saw my beef on fire. I think apart from the flavor flambe technique adds to your meal, the process also works on building your appetite, atleast it worked wonders on mine. Served with Herb rice the meat was tender, the flavor right and the aroma inviting. White wine is suggested with white meat and red wine with Red meat. Big Banyan has done well with pairing their wines for the flambé festival. A glass of wine is complimentary with the flambé menu.



As I did justice to the entire helping on my plate I planned to skip the dessert until my partner read to me about the Drunken Banana – a Jamaican desert. Cinnamon flavored strips of banana tossed with butter and brown sugar, flambed with dark rum. Caribbean to the core. Back was the trolley at our table, this time to churn up a rich in calories, but irresistible serving of this very unique dessert which makes you want to forget the damage it may cause to your waistline. Vowing a stricter workout session at the gym the next day, I pushed guilt aside to commit the sin.



Food for two during the festival or otherwise is priced very reasonably and is not likely to set you back by more 1000 to 1200 including a glass of wine.