(From top) Actress Koneenica Banerjee at the Zen seafood festival; a dish from the Chinese express lunch at Chinoiserie. Pictures by Pabitra Das

If the seaside is a little out of reach, you might find some peace away from the sun at Zen.

The oriental restaurant at The Park has a line-up of the freshest catch laid out for its ongoing seafood festival.

The starters are as varied and filling as the main course. If you are passionate about prawns, kick off your meal with Raw Papaya Salad with Char Grilled Prawns and Prawn Cakes with Plum Sauce. If crabs are what you crave, check out the Crabmeat and Mushroom Spring Rolls and Crispy Brandy Chilli Soft-shell Crabs.

The most visually appealing and mouth-watering item for the main course is the Stir-fried Chilli Garlic Baby Octopus that comes for Rs 575. There is also an Oriental Seafood Platter, which includes the chef’s selection of lobster, prawn, squid, soft-shell crab, octopus and fish, for which you will have to dish out Rs 1,200.

Some of the other main course choices are King Prawns in Tender Coconut Curry, Steamed Pomfret with Chinese Wine and Chilli Pepper Crab Claw. The prices for these range between Rs 375 and Rs 700.

The festival will continue till June 19.

Sinful scoops

Another escape from the sun is to be had at Indus Valley, the Indian food speciality restaurant at 53 Syed Amir Ali Avenue.

The eatery has converted a portion of its premises into an ice-cream parlour, scooping out sinful delights perfect for the summer.

Even hot options like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (hot brownies with three scoops of vanilla ice cream, roasted cashews, chocolate sauce and chocolate wafer) are guaranteed to soothe the palate.

Haw- aiian Passion (mixed fruits with three flavours of ice cream), Sozzled Beauty (butterscotch with a dash of rum) and Jamaica Inn (coffee flavoured sundae) also add a sweet touch to your day.

The flavours used include vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. The prices range between Rs 20 and Rs 99.

Busy bites

Here is a good way to spice up boring board meetings. Chinoiserie, the Chinese restaurant at Taj Bengal has introduced an express lunch for those with a packed schedule.

“We have three set menus each in the vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections for guests to choose from,” says a spokesperson for the hotel.

Priced at Rs 345 plus taxes per meal, meat eaters can have a choice of one non-vegetarian dish, stir fried vegetables, rice or noodles, soup or starters. The vegetarians have the same options except the non-veg dish is replaced by a tofu or broccoli option.