5Spice Route
Inside The Imperial Hotel, this well regarded restaurant is a treat for the eyes as well as the taste buds.
Intricately designed to reflect the eastward journey of spices from the Malabar Coast in Kerala, through Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand to Vietnam, Spice Route has a menu of correspondingly pan-Asian cuisine.
Standout options are Thai-style lobster stir fried with ginger and mushrooms, and vermicelli payasam with cashew nuts and raisins.
The dining area is divided into nine sections corresponding to the nine aspects of life. Each section is decorated accordingly — wealth is plated in gold leaf, for example.
Stepping into the restaurant is like entering an ancient archaeological site where pillars from the 16th century heavy with woodwork crowd the entrance while stone sculptures and murals depicting mythological gods and goddesses fill the walls.
