The restaurant is wearing a red look, with red Chinese paper lanterns, the red coated waiters in keeping with the festival.

For the Hong Kong Food Festival, three chefs, Kent Lee, the executive chef from the best restaurant in Hong Kong, Treasure Inn Seafood Restaurant, have been flown in to recreate the speciality dishes of Hong Kong. The varied cuisine of neighbouring cities of Canton, ChuiChow, Shanghai, Peking and Sichuan have been brought courtesy Hong Kong Tourism Board, Cathay Pacific and Riviera.

At The Palms, Chef Lee's team uses exotic ingredients combined in a simple cooking style to achieve culinary perfection. It's low on oil, and steaming and stir frying are the popular cooking styles, which are effectively combined with the subtle use of natural oils and garnishes.

The Palms offers various combinations. For instance, a salad buffet or desserts, sandwiches, can be had individually at Rs 350. Then there are soups and salads, soups and sandwiches, soups and desserts, salads and desserts, salads and sandwiches, sandwiches and desserts - which can be had for Rs 450 each. The triple combinations like soup, salad and desserts; soup, salad and sandwiches; and salad, sandwiches and desserts can be had for Rs 550 each. On Sundays, The Palms has a brunch from 12 noon to 3 pm at Rs 750. Capturing the major culinary glory of Hong Kong, the food offered is a delectable mix of sea food, vegetarian and meat dishes. The tender baby corn and bamboo shoot in a brown gravy is the ideal starter. The spicy bean curry is a tad bitter but the asparagus with garlic is a great hit. The steamed Yanghzau rice goes well with the dishes. The noodles, done in an authentic Hong Kong manner, are a bit dry and crisp.

There is an action station where the stir fries are done. Here you can sample Hong Kong popular sea food dishes like squid and shrimp. Served tastefully, the succulent fish is divine. The buffet selection is for Rs 750 plus taxes and can give you a good sampling of Honk Kong's famous cuisine.

Sulekha Nair