Chef Sumera Bhalla is shy on camera but very expressive with flavours and presentation. Her restaurant ‘Amavi’ which means ‘I loved’ ranks number one on Trip Advisor’s list of top restaurants in Goa. Her passion and vision is to make a world class restaurant which consistently delivers on all aspects of quality dining of Michelin standards in a beautiful surrounding.
Based in Calangute, the restaurant has striking contemporary design and is housed right next to an art gallery called Art Chamber. The ambience creates a complementary setting for the food, which is even more exquisite to look at. The tender Beef Wellington has elegant splashes of puree with aesthetically stacked mashed potatoes and vegetables as sides. Another top favourite is the Warm Danish Cheese Cloud, which tastes just as heavenly as it sounds, is served with figs, walnuts and a light salad.
Delighted customers are also served an amuse-bouche before and after their meal. The one after is a grape sized kokum treat that pleasantly pops open in your mouth. There is a selection of signature cocktails as well as wines to accompany one’s meal as well as a selection of liqueurs that one can add to their coffee. However, if you would like to end your meal with a dessert, the Whimsical Chocolate Espresso Sampler not only provides a variety for the table to share and is dramatic with the pouring of hot chocolate melting a chocolate shell.
Chef Sumera graduated top of her class at Dadar Catering College, and again topped her batch at the Oberoi School post graduate course in food technology. She went on to be sous chef at the Oberoi hotel and Royal Carribean Cruises where she was promoted to executive sous chef and later executive chef. Moving to Goa, she became a partner at I-95 which caught the attention of the gastronomic community in Goa.
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