As popular as Thai cuisine is in India, most
restaurants in Delhi either serve an Indianised version of Thai dishes or
overload them with coconut cream/milk. Neung
Roi at Radisson Blu Plaza,
Mahipulpar is a welcome change though.
“Neung Roi means 100 in Thai and has been
named after the 100 degree East longitude, which runs through Thailand. Neung
Roi celebrates the cuisines from across the length and breadth of Thailand…”
reveals the menu very aptly. So what you will find in this restaurant is a
taste of regional Thai cuisine from Isan, Lanna, Southern Thailand and Central
Thailand. Chef Yenjai Suthiwaja, who
hails from Phuket, learnt most of her cooking from her mum, as she started
cooking with her when she was just six years old! And now she is proud to run
this kitchen “like a mum” - where the love for traditional recipes and
authentic ingredients supersedes everything else. Chef even discloses that she signed her contract with the
hotel to open their Thai restaurant only when the management agreed to honour
her request of using authentic Thai ingredients. “Substituting other
ingredients changes the flavours,” she emphasises.
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Chef Yenjai Suthiwaja |
This is my
first visit to Neung Roi and I decide to go with the chef’s choice. My leisurely
meal thus starts with a choice of salads. From the vegetarian options we are served the Yam Som-O, which
is a pomelo salad with crispy onion,
garlic and palm sugar tamarind dressing, and the Phad Tuea Hrong or wok fried tofu, bean sprout and
chives with soya sauce. Both are delicious and the pomelo salad packs quite a punch and is a welcome
change from the usual raw papaya/mango salad. For non-vegetarian, we are served
the Krachai Gab Goong, or
stir-fried prawn with wild ginger and shallot; it is a little bland for
my liking. The Gai Louis Suan or
deep fried chicken breast with shallot and peanuts is more
flavourful though. Then comes the soup - Tom Kha Gai. While I usually go for the prawn version, this
chicken and coconut milk broth with mushroom, coriander, kaffir lime and
galangal is fresh and fragrant and showcases a beautiful
flavour balance.
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Left Top: Soup Tom Kha Gai; Left Bottom: Deep fried chicken breast with peanuts Center: Thai pomelo salad Right Top: Wok fried tofu, beansprouts and chives; Right Bottom: stir fried prawn. |
Amongst the mains, it is difficult to choose a favourite. I especially appreciate chef’s selection of dishes that include two vegetarian and one each of fish, prawn and chicken. Pla Neung Manao is steamed fish with a mildly flavoured but delicious lime chilli sauce; Goong Thod Ha Rod is fried prawn in a home made five flavour sauce and fresh coriander. The rich sauce highlights the winning combination of tamarind and palm sugar, and even though I eat it with a fork, it is finger licking good! And then there’s the universal favourite Gai Kraprow or minced chicken with long beans, hot basil and chilli.
Even
though I start with these fantastic dishes, the vegetarian fare is as delicious
if not more. The Phad Pak Kiew is fantastically stir-fried
kale with morning glory and pokchoy that is enhanced with soya bean sauce and
garlic and pepper. Mixed vegetables
in Thai green curry or the Gaeng Kiew Wan Pak is what makes me realise the difference between this restaurant and the
others that serve Thai in Delhi. The green curry is thin, almost watery, and
very flavourful. You will not find heavy coconut cream in this. And that is
just the way it is supposed to be, says Chef Yenjai. “Traditional Thai curry is
not thick and creamy,” she informs. The only exception to traditional recipes is
that Chef takes special care to ensure that no fish sauce or chicken
stock is used in vegetarian dishes. “Only when I came to India I learnt that
vegetarians consider fish and fish sauce to be non-vegetarian. That’s why in my
initial days here I never understood when people asked me if something was
‘vegetarian’,” she chuckles.
After this delectable meal we are served traditional Thai desserts. Now, these are certainly an acquired taste, one that I obviously have not acquired yet! So there’s Khao Tom Mud or banana leaf-wrapped steamed banana and sticky rice cake; Kanom Tom or jaggery-stuffed pandanus glutinous rice dumpling with coconut; Tub Tim Krob or water chestnut in coconut jasmine syrup; and finally
Khao Niew Mamuan or sticky rice with fresh mango and
coconut cream. If you ask me to recommend one out of these it would have to be
the last one. One can never go wrong with fresh mango, after all.
If you really want to taste authentic Thai
fare, ignore the traffic or the ambience of the hotel that it is housed in and
head to Neung Roi. You’ll be very pleased with the food. And while you’re
waiting to be served, do go through the menu, it offers an interesting read on
Thailand – about its culture, varied regions and their culinary differences.
Details:
Neung Roi, Radisson Blu
Plaza Delhi, National Highway -8, Mahipalpur, Near I.G.I. Airport,
New
Delhi -110037.
Ph: 011 – 26779191
Ph: 011 – 26779191
Timings: 12 noon – 3pm;
7pm – 11.45pm.
Prices: Starters Rs 400 onwards; Mains Rs 600 onwards; Desserts Rs 250 onwards.