La Terrazza Review
From Moscowiki
| La Terrazza |
Cuisine: European
Address: 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya ul., 19, Sheraton Palace Hotel, Mezzanine Level
Metro: Belorusskaya
Tel: 931-9700
Fax: 931 9703
Web: www.eng.sheratonpalace.ru
Open Mon-Fri from 12:00 until 24:00, Sat-Sun from 06:00 until 24:00.
All major credit cards are accepted.
They showed us their Snapper, so we had a taste!
By Neil McGowan
If Mediterranean cuisine is too often a shorthand for shoddy Italian-influenced food, then La Terrazza is an elegant and well-thought-out antidote that takes up the challenge seriously. Alongside the prosciutto and parmesan are Berber dishes from North Africa, Sicilian specialities, and luscious fat kalamata Greek olives - all temptingly arrayed in an Appetiser Buffet that takes centre stage. Best Performance in a Supporting Role goes to the munchable breads of all kinds - produced in-house, and currently appearing in other hotels around the capital too. The atmosphere is intimate (in all, about 30 places only) and relaxed, rather like a stateroom on the latest generation of cruise-liners? Indeed one can imagine a galley below, in which kitchen-staff from all points around the Med are slaving over the star turns of their local cuisines. The furniture encourages unhurried lounging, and the tables are minor art-works in themselves.
Management and service are tip-top, and obviously gain from being part of a Hotel Group that trains staff to exacting international standards. Not only is there an English-language menu in sparkling, gaffe-free English - you can order from it in English with waiting staff who understand it fully (none of that! what number is it on the Russian menu stuff). There's attention when you want it, privacy when you're obviously deep in discussion, and the staff are knowledgable about the whole menu when you're looking for recommendations. If you can't afford any cock-ups on your night out, this is safer than Kruggerands - but without the jaded feeling of 'hotel chain' cuisine.
Main courses sit in the $20-45 bracket, and are accompanied with a wine recommendation for each dish. I had a melt-in-the-mouth Red Snapper, deliciously light, served on a bed of Pernod-infused vegetables and arranged with the minimalist finesse of a painting by Rothko. I couldn't, though, agree with the menu recommendation of a powerful Chardonnay with it - a light Vinho Verde would have done it better justice. My companion also enjoyed fish - the Mediterranean Treasure, with a delicate saffron sauce and light vegetables. The wines - at $8-14 per glass - don't seem to be priced on the same level as the food, although a current flyer promotion in the Lobby allows you to enjoy a free glass with your meal. The spectrum of mains would enliven the most jaded palette - quail ($24), jumbo shrimp ($38), lamb ($27) and deer ($32.50) all feature in innovative presentations from a European Chef de Cuisine recently returned from working in North Africa.
We fasted all Women's Day to leave room for the serious stuff - the desserts. Imagination has really taken flight here -and we were driven to sample three, despite the huge portions. 'Coffee on a Spoon' ($10) is a cappuccino parfait that's refreshingly not-too-sweet, whilst the house speciality, 'Sweet Pizza' ($9 pp, minimum portion for two people) is a chocolate patisserie confection employing secret technology to super-concentrate the calorie-count per cm2. Leaving both in the shade were the Peppered Strawberries ($13) - sumptuous mouthfuls you won't want to share with anyone, except for a taste to make them jealous.
La Terrazza is obviously aimed at expense-account guests staying in the hotel, and isn't a cheap night out. Neither, though, is it an "average hotel eatery". It perfectly fits the bill if you have business guests to entertain socially in the evening (the restaurant opens only at 5pm), or as a place to take your visiting parents after they've patiently sighed "yes, dear" at your favourite local "finds". But even without the family in tow (or paying), the magnificent Appetiser Buffet ($11.50) is far too extensive to pass muster for starters alone! and for only $19.50 they offer the chance to "make a meal of it", literally. Considering there's Parma ham, stuffed Portobello mushrooms, an enormous whole parmesan cheese, home-made houmous, fresh-made focaccia and bruschetta, exotic salads, artichokes and more, this is a far cry from the "leftovers in mayonnaise" slung-out elsewhere, and you can gorge happily until dessert-time comes. For a momentary fantasy-escape from workaday Moscow, it'll cost you less than a Mediterranean cruise, at any rate.
11.03.03.
