29th Feb 2016
Siam’ply stunning !!!
The pan Asian restaurant Shiro, which means Castle in Japanese, lives up to its name with its lofty ceiling, giant statues of Tara the goddess (the female Bodhisattva) with giant tear drop beads hanging around her neck, niched stone walls interspersed with Buddha heads and the longest ever floor to ceiling curtains, that would truly mean curtains for the laundry that would attempt to clean them 😀
The 180 seater also has a private dining space on a mezzanine level at the far end, apart from an al fresco seating on the very pleasant terrace near the bar and a live Teppanyaki counter alongside two teppanyaki tables. A tree growing through the center and another giant statue of Tara that doubles up as a fountain, complete the rustic and outdoorsy appeal of the place.
Having never had the opportunity to dine here, I was delighted at the invitation to experience their specially handcrafted Thai dishes at their Thai festival, The Shiro Collection – Thai Flavors.
Chef Priyank who has always been innovative with his creations, has come up with the novel and fresh approach of a menu that uses flavors as its focus and when you love every single one of the six that they have chosen, the experience is something straight out of tHaiven (which is my idea of what heaven is like) !!!
Starring Tamarind, Kaffir Lime, Coconut, Lemon Grass, Bird’s Eye Chilli and Thai Basil, different dishes have been created using each of these ingredients as the dominant flavor. And to enhance the experience, the food has been pertinently paired with exciting Cocktails that have a Thai influence.
I was recommended the Roaring Dragon, a tantalizing blend of white rum, muddled raw mango, mango juice and chilli flakes, served with a tongue teasing slice of raw mango sprinkled with chilli flakes. Well I don’t know about it unleashing my inner dragon but the cool and refreshing drink certainly helped douse the flames that my Indian Summer was breathing out !!! One can pick from other exhilarating combinations like the Som Tum Sling, Beast of the East, Siamese Storm and Bangkok Banger (because Bangkok itself was not innuendous enough 😛
The Thai coconut soup with flavors of galangal and kaffir lime in a thick creamy broth made from reduced coconut milk, was a dream in a bowl with its subtle yet distinctive taste and texture and I held it close and refused to let go of it till the very end, even though I could not finish it :-O This one is guaranteed to drive a coconut lover totally nuts !!!
The range of food that marched across to my table in quick succession, included the Tamarind tofu in crispy cups, Lamb satay with kaffir lime, Vegetarian Thai pot stickers with basil, Thai spring rolls with kafir lime, Chilean sea bass with bird’s eye chilli, Thai style tiger prawns with bird’s eye chilli and Prawn on sugarcane skewers with lemon grass. While everything was delectably faultless, the tiger prawns roared their way to the top of my list with their brilliance !!! The sea bass too, was delicately done with the spices not overpowering the fish. Of course my bias towards sea food does color my opinion but I refuse to be apologetic on that count 😉
Vegetarian choices are available with generic dishes and also as a few stand alone options. At the chef’s insistence I tried The Southern Thai curry which was a white, coconut based curry that was surprisingly bland, this being a deliberate attempt by the chef to showcase some of Thailand’s lesser known curries and to dispel notions that this cuisine is always spicy. However, if it is being paired with steamed rice, the Indian tongue might crave for an enhancement in spice levels.
Knowing my penchant for pan asian, the chef also urged me to try their sushi and dim sums (these are not a part of the current festival) … and despite being on the verge of bursting at the Sums … er seams, I did not require much compelling when it came to the California Maki with salmon and crab. Maki’kasam they were excellent !!! The Prawn har gao, chicken gyoza and Mixed chicken and prawn sui mai also found their way into the space that magically gets created inside me when it comes to these dishes !!!
Speaking of magic, despite the fact that the Thai menu strangely does not include desserts, the regular menu has the chef’s imagination running riot in a very desirable manner, resulting in the Mandarin Chocolate Velvet cake, a very decadent and gluten free almond and orange cake, bursting with home made candied peel and topped with a chocolate ganache as high as the giant statues … ok that might be an exaggeration but it was at least 2 cms high !!! And as every self respecting chocolate lover knows, chocolate and orange were born to wed. I have always maintained that I am not too much of a dessert person but once in a way something like this comes up and totally makes me reassess myself 😀
The festival is being hosted from 18th Feb to 31st March. So don’t miss this opportunity to go for it. This is not a cuisine that one will ever get T(ha)ired of !!!
For more pictures see My Facebook – Shiro-Thai flavors
Feb 29th, 2016
