Another North Eastern eatery hits town, this time packed in with delicacies from the different tribes of Nagaland
Another North Eastern eatery hits town, this time packed in with delicacies from the different tribes of Nagaland
If you are already a seasoned connoisseur of food from the North East, by now you might have become familiar with the tenets of Naga food such as Akhuni or fermented soya bean or bamboo shoot that is cooked with pork in a classic curry. But at Zingron, a two month-old eatery what you will get is a more complex taste of cuisine from different Naga tribes like Ao, Sema, Lotha and the Tangkhul.
Zingron
Food: very good
Service: attentive
Ambience: plain
Located on the second floor of an incongruous building that also houses a restaurant from Coorg, Zingron's d ufffdcor is something we ask you not to pay attention to. There is a lot of red going on in the d ufffdcor with the occasional Naga spears hanging from the wall and potted plants. The name Zingron translates to blessings from the heaven above in the Tangkhul Naga dialect.
Give the regular Chinese section of the menu a miss and go straight for the Naga and Manipuri dishes. The best way to go about the food here is to take the help of the staff who will recommend dishes to you. There is not much on the menu for vegetarians here though except for dried peas, yam and potato. But for those who love their meat, there's pork, beef, chicken and fish both fresh and dry to choose from.
We started our meal with the Smoked Pork Spare Ribs (Rs 210) served in traditional black, Longpi pottery tableware. The ribs came grilled in a Bhut Jolokia or Rajah Mircha (as the Nagas call it) chilli marinade. The pork was tender and literally falling off the bone and the marinade garnished with slivers of bamboo shoot was a burst of pungent flavours and heat in our mouths.
If you are tucking into the pork with your hands, our advice: don't let your hands roam anywhere near your face. The King chilli will make its presence felt by burning up your skin wherever you might have brushed against.u00a0
The Smoked Pork cooked with Anishe or yam and bambooshoot (Rs 185) a Tangkhul speciality, a Zingron special Beef (Rs 180) and Chicken Chutney (Rs 95) were our choices for mains. While the beef was a bit tough and reminded us of regular meat stir fried in Chinese sauces, it was the pork curry that took us to heaven. Tender chunks of pork complete with fat came swimming in gravy flavoured by bamboo shoot and the notorious chilli.
The yam had soaked up the flavours of the hot gravy and tasted lovely. North East food though complex in its flavours is usually not dunked in many spices. Basic ingredients like ginger, chilli, bamboo shoot and green onion do the trick. The flavours of the meat are allowed to influence the taste of the gravy.
We moped up our main course with fragrant rice and a bowl full of steamed veggies (Rs 110) Naga staple, eaten in every meal to balance out the heat generated by chillies. But what caught our attention was the Chicken Chutney we ordered from the chutney section. Shredded chicken came mixed up with King chilli, green onions, garlic and black sesame paste. The smoky flavoured chutney was good enough to be moped up with plain rice.
Eating Naga food often places you in a dilemma. While the heat kills your tongue slowly, the food is so delicious that you can't seem to stop. By the time we finished our meal, our mouths were craving a fire engine to come and save us. There was heat coming out of our ears, our tongues felt weighed downu00a0 and we literally had to sit it out till the heat in our bodies subsided.u00a0
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At: No 62, 2nd Floor, 1st A Main Road, 7th Block, Koramangala
Call: 8095755228, 40997506
Meal for Two: Rs 900
Zingron didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals.
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