Shraddha Lakham Sawant Bhonsle’s love for Asian cuisine is evident in her blue socks patterned with ramen bowls and chopsticks; in Sushi, the gorgeous golden retriever constantly at her side; and in the menu at Sawantwadi Palace Boutique Art Hotel, which she helms with her husband, Lakham Sawant Bhonsle. The professional chefs are from the erstwhile Sawantwadi royal family, a city on Maharashtra’s Konkan Coast, an hour from Goa. The six-guest-suite property, set within their 270-year-old ancestral palace, is a surprising setting for the flavours we experience here.
I expected generations-old royal kitchen recipes. While there is some of that, a multi-course ramen menu with handrolled noodles and flavourful broths simmered over 24 hours and intricate cutting-edge desserts, generally seen in swanky city restaurants, is not what I thought I’d be served in this quiet town. But Shraddha and Lakham are determined to put Sawantwadi on the culinary map. “We want to be known as a destination for great quality and innovative dining that most expect only in big-city restaurants,” says Shraddha. “We cook food that we are passionate about while championing the local cuisine and ingredients.”
They met in 2014 while studying at the Culinary Institute of America and married in 2019, both training and working in the U.S. at various reputed restaurants before returning to India.
Soft-spoken pastry chef Lakham is restrained in manner and method. “My style is scientific and precise. You need to be patient as a pastry chef. That is also my nature and how I plate,” he says. His creations have a muted elegance – a gentle curtsey as the meal’s finale, not a flamboyant jazz-hands flourish. “As the final impression, desserts need to be intricate and beautiful.”
Shraddha is the gregarious extrovert, brimming with enthusiasm. “I am social, emotional, and happy-go-lucky,” she says. Her relatable “up-and-down food habits and cravings” influence her offering. Her food is simply plated and hearty, from the Sawantwadi Special Eggs Benedict with a croissant base, classic hollandaise sauce, and curry leaf and chilli coconut chutneys to a Sloppy Tambda Rassa, a riff on the American Sloppy Jo, with a fiery Kolhapuri mutton gravy.
The rectangular veranda, fringing the hotel’s open courtyard, serves as a 20-seater restaurant, a friendly and laid-back space. It is part of the sprawling 6.5-acre palace complex of red laterite buildings and lush lawns. Teakwood pillars carved with scenes from the Ramayana, remnants from a local temple, flank the entrance. Fountains gurgle gently in the courtyard. The Sawant Bhonsles have long been involved in reviving ganjifa, a Persian card game with intricately handpainted cards, adapted locally with Hindu mythological figures and floral motifs. The vibrant art form features prominently, accenting the lacquerware furniture and a corner display of ganjifa playing cards.
The diverse menu features Korean, Japanese, American, Malvani, and Maharashtrian dishes. Everything, whether condiments, bread, or ice cream, is prepared in-house. The tasting menus provide a generous sense of the specialties. Highlights from the five-course dinner include a Togarashi spiced cracker, tuna with truffle shavings, sesame seeds, cream cheese, and scallions. The vegetarian version intriguingly uses watermelon, oven-roasted for three hours, followed by a 12-hour soy marinade, to effectively mimic the texture of tuna. There are creamy and refreshing cold peanut udon noodles, and the stand-out Sawantwadi po’ boy, inspired by the American sandwich, featuring a soft baked roll, crunchy rawa-coated raw banana or prawns, Vietnamese pickled veggies, and a zig-zag of tangy sol kadhi sauce. The finale is Lakham’s striking Flavours of Sawantwadi – two halves of a “coconut” with a delicate chocolate shell and a silky coconut mousse filling, a zesty wobble of kokum jelly, pineapple sorbet, and cashew soil crumble.
The three-course Ramen menu begins with a choice of gyoza, like the crunchy rectangular flat tops filled with chicken and cheese – my favourite- and mushroom and bechamel gyoza. A varied list of ramen bowls includes a pork tonkotsu and the chef’s special ramen, which I opt for, with a spicy creamy broth and Karaage chicken, a Japanese fried chicken coated in a Sawantwadi curry leaf podi. “Japanese and Korean food requires discipline and patience, from the knife cuts to the slow cooked broths, and bringing out the flavours of simple ingredients,” says Shraddha. A playful trio of ice cream sandwiches round off the meal, including an exceptional black sesame ice cream between brownie layers, and a soy caramel (a restrained sibling of salted caramel) ice cream in a choux pastry.
The lunch thalis of regional specialties are a treat. “People assume Malvani cuisine is fish-forward, but the local diet here is primarily vegetarian, meat or seafood an occasional feature,” says Shraddha. Seasonal specialties like bhogichi bhaji, made with winter vegetables like flat beans, green chana, and brinjal; simple aloo sabji with coconut shavings, soft ghavne (rice pancakes), and freshly ground thecha and methia pickle (mango, methi seeds and chilli powder cooked with mango water and no oil) shine alongside rawa-fried fish, prawns, and mutton sukka.
The bar is nestled in a corner of the courtyard, rustling up cheerful concoctions like Orange Blossoms and Margheritas, and spirit-forward cocktails like the Oaxaca, a tequila and mezcal drink. But to get a swig of Sawantwadi, the Kokum Curry Cocktail is highly recommended – a refreshing sweet and sour blend of gin, kokum syrup, curry leaves, lime juice, and soda.
The chefs also switch it up, with high tea by the pool or a picnic breakfast amid the scenic ruins of their summer palace, 40 minutes away, replete with fluffy amboliya, freshly baked cookies and pastries, and hot chocolate with marshmallows.
The dining experience is cohesive despite the diverse menu and the chefs’ distinct approaches. This is elevated, yet incredibly fun, dining. Expect the unexpected will be an enduring theme. “This is a chef-owned hotel, so the food should be unique and not something you get everywhere,” says Lakham.
Address:NH 17, Sindhudurg, Khaskilwada, Sawantwadi, Maharashtra 416510
Contact: +91 7498488318
Follow: @thesawantwadipalace
