A Train Wreck of Tradition

DELHI’S MOST elegant restaurant is named after a train. Not just any train but the most famous and luxurious train in history, the legendary long-distance passenger train that began its journey in Paris and ended initially in Vienna, and later went all the way to Istanbul at the edge of Europe and the beginning of Asia.

That’s why it was called the Orient Express.

The train’s first journey was on June 5, 1983, and, over the years, its name became associated with glamour and intrigue, more so after Agatha Christie’s detective novel, Murder on the Orient Express, came out in 1934. The book has been turned into film and television series several times, long after the train ceased its run. Indian Railways’ Palace on Wheels which took you all over Rajasthan was modelled on the train, but failed to match its elegance.

Orient Express made its last journey on December 14, 2009, by which time cheaper, faster air travel made it redundant with people no longer having time for leisurely train travel. In a futile effort to survive, the owners had made various changes in stopovers and routes but none of them worked.

One could never be overdressed in the dining room of the Orient Express. For dinner, you were required to wear formal evening attire. Men came in a black tie while women in their best fineries and decked in diamonds. The cuisine was extravagant, fresh local produce was bought at the train’s stops. You could have caviar, champagne, and whatever else took your fancy. There was a piano player in the bar.

At the end of the line, in Istanbul, the passengers stayed at Pera Palace, a hotel especially built to host them. At one time, it was the only hotel in town that provided hot running water and had the only lift in all of Turkey.

Once upon a time, Indian long-distance trains also had separate dining rooms, among others, the Frontier Mail and the Deluxe Express that ran between Bombay and Delhi. The carriages were not connected in those days. I used to get off at a station where the train halted and then hop into the dining room compartment. It was a leisurely dinner since I was stuck there till the train reached the next station when I could return to my seat. The food was served on crockery, not thalis. Deluxe was India’s first air-conditioned train.

To name a restaurant in Delhi the Orient Express, gave it immediately an aura of exclusivity. Located in the bowels of the Taj Palace Hotel in Chanakyapuri, it opened to the public on Christmas Eve of 1983. The land was allotted to the Taj Group by the government at a generous price to build a luxury hotel to host international delegates to the Asian Games that were being hosted in the city. The construction was hurried to meet the deadline, the design could have been better, but the hotel was up and running by the time the games started.

The restaurant has an air of opulence and the service is impeccable. I go there occasionally on Saturday evenings after a particularly stressful week. I go alone to unwind, sometimes with a magazine to keep me company. The waiters are attentive without being fussy. I like listening to Lawrence Ireland play soft music on the piano. He has been here at the bar for 25 years. When he sees me enter, he strikes up my favourite tune, ‘Moon River’ from the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Even on Saturday evenings, on what is supposed to be the most popular evening for eating out, the place is practically empty. Orient Express must be losing money, but it is essential for all five-star hotels to have a continental dining room to cater to foreign guests. There was a time when it had fixed three or four-course menus and it was difficult to get a table. No longer. For some reason, the management decided to take the à la carte route, the practice of ordering individual dishes.

Thirty years ago, I took my teenage daughter there for her birthday. They presented her with a travelling bag with the restaurant’s name embossed on the attractive bag. She was thrilled and took it back to New York as a memento.

I remember the time when there were few non-Indian restaurants in Delhi outside the big hotels and none of them had a liquor licence. Today you can order Japanese, Italian, and other cuisines in Lodi Estate and Greater Kailash with top-quality wines on the menu. These restaurants are kinder on your wallet. Orient Express and other eating places in posh hotels are hurting from this competition.

The menu of Orient Express is continental with selections from several countries, but the emphasis is still on French. I always order their delicious Camembert cheese soufflé. It is their signature dish and the recipe has been passed down from chef to chef over decades.

I suspect the ban on the consumption and sale of beef in Delhi since 1994 also has something to do with the decline of the Orient Express. A French restaurant that does not serve beef is like a Punjabi restaurant that does not serve chicken! The most memorable steak I have eaten was not in New York but in a Parisian bistro, Le Relais de L’Entrecote, a stone’s throw from the Arc de Triomphe. The juiciest and most tender sirloin steak is carved at your table. It comes with a walnut salad and you won’t find better French fries anywhere, thinly cut and fried to perfection in tallow.

Orient Express has only 10 tables and can accommodate no more than 36. An aisle running through the middle prevents joining of tables. That, unfortunately, discourages large groups from booking unless they are prepared to sit in the bar area and miss out on the ambiance. Once a teenager’s birthday party was in progress while I was there. She didn’t seem very happy as the family and friends were scattered on separate tables of four.

It is the kitchen that lets the place down. The food is no longer up to the mark and my visits to Orient Express have been fewer over the years. My enthusiasm further declined on a recent visit when I caught the chef cutting corners.

I had ordered the risotto from the menu and, to my surprise, it was on my table in minutes. It is Italy’s comfort food. It looks deceptively simple to make, but it isn’t. It is impossible to cook risotto properly in less than 30 to 40 minutes. That is why a good restaurant will always warn you that it will take time to serve risotto. You cannot rush the dish.

The basic ingredients are olive oil, parmesan cheese, white wine, butter, and Italian rice, not basmati. Mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme can be added to taste. You need lots of water since the rice is simmered and stirred constantly to absorb the flavours of other ingredients. When the chef at Orient Express made ‘risotto’ for me, he simply boiled rice and added everything. That is why the dish was ready for me in less than 10 minutes. You don’t expect that in a restaurant of this repute and at these prices.

By the way, I would also not recommend their scallops. The chef doesn’t have a clue!