Christmas at the Tulip

About half of the ex-pats we know are staying in the hotel where we are located (which is near the office). The other half are staying in a big hotel in Gammarth called The Golden Tulip.

To welcome some new ex-pats to town, we drove up the hill to go have dinner with them in an Indian restaurant called Calcutta on the hotel grounds.

First surprise? The Golden Tulip is decked out for the holidays. This is not a Christmas tree like you're thinking. The kinds of pines in use in the US don't exist in this landscape. But they DID find a scrubby desert pine and 'top it' to use as a tree. I think it looks magical. You don't really get a idea of scale with this picture but this is a BIG tree. I'm pretty sure that lobby has 18' ceilings.

They took the time to create a 'Santa's workshop' of sorts to display some treats for guests. It was just nice to see a business going to this trouble for their guests. Les Berges du Lac - Concorde, where we are staying, has no holiday decor at all. It's pretty, don't get me wrong, it's just not festive for the holidays. I like birds of paradise and the lobby display is impressive. But it's not Christmassy, not at all.

Next surprise? The Calcutta restaurant was very VERY good. The head chef de cuisine, Mohammed ArshadHussain, invited us to try his restaurant and we were not disappointed. I had a wonderful Chicken Tikki Chaat as a starter. This finely minced cold salad had a marvelous kick. DH and I split an order and I chugged water trying to cool the heat! Then I ordered the Chicken Tikki Masala for the main course. The perfect spice, the perfect heat. It was tremendous. I'm not sure it was as good as my daughter in law's homemade Tikki Masala, but it sure came in a close second.

We really enjoyed the dinner. The company was interesting and engaging, and the food was yum! Come see me and I'll take you to this fine restaurant. Not sure whether or not the Tulip's decor will still be viewable, but the Calcutta's food will still be good.

--Sandee Wagner