Every dish, while authentic at heart, is fantastically adopted or fancifully adapted in form. The hummus, for example, was brilliantly purple from the addition of beets, while the innocuous-looking red dip turned out to be – not the regular red pepper – but a clever blend of plantain and peanuts.

Then, as the eyes move down the list of dishes, we embark on a cruise on the Mediterranean. First, Captain Butcher takes us over to the coast of the Aegean sea with triple variations on grilled halloumi cheese to choose from – or to chew on. As hard as it was to pick among the enticing offerings of sesame and honey, barberries and pumpkin seeds, it was the last that won the day. “Pan-fried halloumi with oregano, pine nuts and raisins, please” – “That is my favorite,” replied Captain Red Head with a twinkle in the eyes. And, as it turned out, it was to become the favorite of this tour de force of Snakistan. The halloumi was fried to a golden glory, where the salts and the milk proteins in the cheese had been transformed, in the crucible of frying pan, into a supernaturally savory crust. Crispy on the outside, but oozing and gooey inside, the chewy Cypriot cheese was salty and sweet. The dish, however, went much further than a juvenile grilled cheese, as the dusty dried oregano and delicate pine nuts refined the plate to a mature sophistication.

The fairy godmother of vegetarians then transforms the Greek-Cypriot afelia – a traditional dish made of red wine, pork and coriander seeds – into a sticky fried dish of potato, cauliflower, olives and vegan cheese, not with a magical wand, but in the magical ward behind the walls, where the customers may catch interesting glimpse of the magic in situ on the way down to the equally magical loo. Nevertheless, the magic seemed to have failed on this meat-centric recipe, which regrettably turned out to be the worst concoction at Snakistan. Instead of “sticky,” the sautéed vegetables were just greasy; instead of being spicy with the coriander seeds, the flavor was just a bland curry. Furthermore, the red wine was most notably missing, although whose acidity would have been most welcomed. Perhaps to supplement the P-H balance, sliced tomatoes with a few sorry rings of onions (advertised as an “herby tomato and onion salad” but served minus the herbs) sat at the bottom of the oily vegetables. In effect, the cauliflower and potato afelia was nothing but an imitation of Indian aloo gobi sabzi – and a poor one at that.