Carnivores are spoilt for choice at Asia 7's Pan Asian Food Festival. Vegetarians, pass this one
Carnivores are spoilt for choice at Asia 7's Pan Asian Food Festival. Vegetarians, pass this one
Pining for some patakha Pan Asian in a city that reeks of Chinjabi and frontier fare? Time to take a trip to Asia 7, with its amber fairy lights juxtaposed against food as real as the rest of the continent gets. Chef Ly Vi Cham has flown in all the way from Vietnam (so what if he can hardly speaku00a0 English, forget interacting with commonfolk) to make the menu a modern, masaledar version of the classic cuisine they served you a decade back. "We have modified the dishes to make them suitable for the Indian palate," is all he can struggle to say. Nevertheless, his preparations speak louder and lovelier.
Being chicken: Chef Ly Vi Cham shows of the highly- recommended
pepper garlic chicken
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Through the cooking glass
It's interesting, the way the place offers you a view. Take a seat in the area that allows you a view of neighbouring restaurants through a glass wall, or, if it's quietitude you crave, opt for the neat, no-nonsense indoors. As we settled in a corner inside, we could well witness the chef's toil, courtesy the clean, open kitchen. The staff is well-aware and quick to serve, and welcomed us warmly, complete with a wet wipe as compact as classy in its arrangement. Meticulous manners always impress, provided they don't last a course. They didn't.
We embarked on our Friday feast with chicken sweet corn soup. We had a tough time spotting the kernels, but the chicken strands, well-softened by the broth, were a pleasure. In starters, grilled vegetables and tofu in BBQ proved an apt choice, with the veggies crispy fresh and the sauce tantalisingly tangy. Safer options include vegetable spring roll, sushi and momos (available both, in meat and non-meat variants). Now, for the non-vegetarians, who have plenty of reason to rejoice. It's the pepper garlic chicken that's a star here, and the crispy fish in five spice sea salt comes a close second. Don't forget to team these with their chutneys --beetroot, red chilli and coriander being the best.
In the flesh
In main course, we strongly recommend lobster in schezwan sauce, a chef's special. The flavours are as flamboyant as the colours it comes in, and the meat, succulent and fresh. The fish in Indonesian style is a sure bait, with its sparkling silver skin well-wrapped in spices. The stewed lamb in Sichuan style is also worth a mention, though the chicken in black bean was quite a disappointment. Club your meal with scotch or single malt,u00a0 if not their world wines and creative cocktails. Here's also egging you on to their eggplant specialty, the braised eggplant with garlic and chilli. In Thai fare, the yellow curry emerges winner. A good choice of staple is corn and water chestnut fried rice. Bad choice: Singaporean noodles (dry, unfresh). Their banoffee pie, vanilla mousse and chocolate tart put a sweet end to the ambient affair. If you are too stuffed, stick to the fresh fruit platter. Not forbidden, this one.
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