THE RESTAURANT FOOD AND DECOR

AKBAR, offering superb Northern Indian Cuisine, gets its name from the greatest of the grand Moghul Emperors - Akbar, who ruled India from 1556-1605. He was famous for the splendor of his table and for his unparalleled hospitality.

From the moment you enter AKBAR, through its large palace style double doors of black and gold, you are immmediately transported to the Moghul Court, rich in colors provided by the stained glass murals that adorn the walls and ceilings, depicting scenes of royal festivities from the reign of AKBAR, the namesake of the restaurants. Eye-Catching is the life size stain glass portrait of AKBAR that adorns the entrance. The muted backlighting softly brings out the colors and details Akbar's figure as he stands majestically holding a jewelled rosett. The softly lit, colorful leaded stain glass ceiling depicts Akbar the Great receiving the Akbar-Nama(Biography of Akbar) from Abul Fazi, scholar of scholars.

But no matter how eye-catching the decor, the kitchen must fulfill all the promise.

AKBAR brings, in the finest centuries-old Moghul tradition, treasures of the Emperor's kitchen, meticulously prepared. Certain distinctive Northern Indian dishes were introduced by Akbar to New York diners for the first time! Cooking here is a ritual performance. The basic technique of Muglai cooking is grilling or Tandoori (clay oven) preparation.

The tandoor at AKBAR is presided over by Muglai chefs, who were flown here from Bombay. The tandoori method is perhaps the oldest form in the world, certainly the most ancient in India. The "tandoor" is a large, urn-shaped , clay oven which holds a bed of white-hot coals which are lit early in the morning, generally taking 3-4 hours to produce an even heat. The main advantage of the Tandoori method of cooking is that all the natural flavors and juices are sealed in, thus retaining the basic nutritional values of the food. The meats are prepared in a marinade using yogurt and lemon juice as a base in combination with herbs and spices and then skewered, seared and cooked quickly over the coals, never actually coming into contact with the burning ash. Since, it takes only 6-12 minutes to prepare, Tandoori specialities are cooked fresh to order, and is generally very low in calories and cholestrol.