MANILA -- Have you been to Spices at The Peninsula Manila lately?

With its Balinese inspired décor and its picture frame-worthy window views of the hotel’s pool and gardens, Spices remains one of the most popular outlets of the hotel. Besides the obvious draw of the ambiance, it most certainly continues to flourish thanks to its menu — a rich and varied take on Pan-Asian cuisine, featuring food from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and India.

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India's cuisine was on full display during our recent visit, as Spices formally introduced their new Indian specialty chef Radhey Shayam to chosen media and guests. Hailing from Northern India, Shayam has had stints in Sagar Ratna (New Delhi), Red Club 96 Nanchizi (Beijing), and Peninsula Beijing, before taking the helm of Spices.

“My dream for Spices is to put it under the spotlight and attract more customers to discover an authentic Indian cuisine,” Shayam said.

During our dinner, Shayam showcased his additions to the Spices menu, and it was surprising that most of the dishes he served had a more delicate take to Indian cuisine—which is often in-your-face brash and fiery. Serving Northern-style Indian food, the dishes were deliberately toned down in terms of heat without sacrificing flavor. It’s a taste profile and spice level that should suit most Philippine palates and would also be most accessible to the hotel’s varied clientele.

Here’s what we experienced during our dinner:

1. Ambiance

Coupled with the lush atmosphere of the gazebo, diners were transported to India by the esoteric music from Indian musicians playing the sitar and the harmonium.

2. From the bar

Kicking off the night with a round of cocktails was the plan, and we were welcomed with one of the Peninsula Manila’s beverage manager Frederico Deang’s cocktails called the Manila Dawn, a tropical concoction with vodka, tropical fruits like mango and passion fruit, with some sugar cane for sweetness.

Afterwards, it was a gin & tonic party with a curated selection of gins from around the world including Opihr (UK), Arc Botanical (Philippines), Citadelle (France), and Iron Balls (Thailand). These gin & tonics mixed with herbs and fruits were the perfect libations to sip for that balmy evening in Spices.

3. Start with samosas

Samosas are a staple in Indian cuisine and is usually vegetarian. Shayam presents a new take on the classic by filling it with a forcemeat of chicken and vegetables, with a sauce of coriander yoghurt and fresh mint. Tasty and very easy to eat.

4. An Indian thali

In Shayam’s thali, my favorites included the Murgh Makhani (buttered chicken), and spicy Goat Rojan Josh (Goat Stew with ginger, cloves, cumin, and cardamom), both of which I had on top of beautiful fragrant garlic naan, between bites of papadum, or on top of Matar Pulao (basmati rice pilaf with English peas, cashews and spices).

He also had two paneer (cheese) dishes – a chili paneer and a malai kofta. The former had some Chinese flair with stir-fried peppers and a chili glaze, while the latter was a great vegetarian meatball option that had sweetness from dried fruits and heft from potatoes.

The Dal Makhani was a bit muted, but still enjoyable especially with a dollop of Raita yoghurt or the Indian salad, both also on the tray.

The Indian thali style of eating is my favorite way to eat Indian food. There’s something resplendent in getting a golden platter filled to the brim with exotic things to eat.

5. Salmon Tikka Masala

Tikka masala in my head almost always equates to chicken, and the chef subverted that idea with this dish, a North Indian specialty. The fattiness and richness of the salmon was the perfect foil to the spicy heat of the complex sauce with fenugreek and spices. In my eating life, seafood and Indian have not often matched up, and I was delighted to experience something new.

6. Tandoori Jumbo Prawns

You can’t just have one of these tandoor-cooked sustainably farmed and harvested prawns. Another seafood Indian dish, flecked with a little bit of char from the high-heat oven, seasoned with tikka spices, these prawns were best enjoyed with a dollop of coriander yoghurt.

7. Fancy Mango Kulfi

For dessert, we were served Mango Kulfi, which is my ultimate Indian summer dessert. Spices presented the fanciest version I’ve seen to date, with the kulfi (thickened cream, nuts, cardamom, and mango) frozen and shaped into a domed spiral accompanied with pistachio cremeux, cardamom crumble, and mango jelly on the plate. Best to take a bite with all the accompaniments, especially the mango jelly which provided a tart balance to the sweet kulfi.