The authentic Thai cuisine in a first ever culinary sojourn to showcase its signature dishes at the House of Ming at Taj Mahal was an experience not to be missed, says SHALINI SAKSENA
Thai dishes at House of Ming — a restaurant known to serve one of the best Cantonese and Sichuan dishes? Yes, that is correct. The Thai Pavilion at the Taj City Centre Gurugram in order to celebrate a legacy of 25 years came to House of Ming at the Taj Mahal to showcase some of its iconic dishes.
Elaborating on this culinary trail, Gaurav Pokhariyal, senior VP, Operations for NCR, UP, Uttarakhand, Jaipur and Ajmer, tells you that the idea of this culinary sojourn came up because food and beverage has always been and continues to be an integral function for them.
“Some of our iconic restaurants have brought about a wave of change as they introduced a whole new range of culinary experiences. The House of Ming that is celebrating 40 glorious years was the city’s first Chinese restaurant in a five-star hotel while Thai Pavilion was India’s first Thai fine dining brand. Spicy Duck has reinvented the flavours of Sichuan and Canton in a contemporary way,” he says.
As one is served Som tam — young papaya salad in sweet and spicy sauce which is a perfect blend of spice and sweet — one is told that the aim was simple.
“This initiative is a journey of oriental flavours crafted by the master chefs of House of Ming, Thai Pavilion and Spicy Duck. In it’s first phase Thai Pavilion showcased its signature dishes at the House of Ming which in turn travels to Taj City Centre Gurugram and Spicy Duck finds its way to Vivanta, Dwarka,” he explains.
The next dish that is served is Kai hor bai toey (marinated chicken morsels wrapped in pandan leaves and deep fried). This was a great appetiser and a perfect way to whet the appetite. Tom kha phak (Thai herb flavoured coconut soup with vegetables) was definitely not to be missed especially for those who love spicy food.
The main course — Chef Prajuab’s signature recipes prepared with stone ground spices and served with jasmine rice — left one craving for more. The Gaeng ped phak (Thai red curry with chicken) was a delight with a burst of flavours.
No meal is complete without a dessert. Tub tim grob (diced water chestnut with coconut milk) was sweet and refreshing given Delhi’s scorching heat. Khao maow thod — crispy fried banana served with coconut ice cream was another delicious and delectable dessert given the subtle flavours of the coconut in the ice cream and the fried ripe banana.
But to put up a culinary delight such as this comes with challenges but have been made easy due to team effort.
“With combined efforts, it has been a very smooth and a seamless process. This idea has been given shape with all the teams coming together and working towards this unique culinary initiative. We see this as a great opportunity to showcase our culinary excellence. It has also been a great cross exposure and learning for our associates.
However, this is not the first time that a special celebration was organised. “We have been hosting pop-ups with our Michelin Chefs Sriram and Srijith, Chef Gaggan’s homecoming at Varq. Showcasing progressive Indian cuisine has been a priority and this has been happening in full swing across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai. The Suhring Brothers visited Varq, showcasing contemporary German cuisine. Such events and pop-ups are a great way to engage with food connoisseurs. We have also had inter-city culinary pop-ups wherein our signature restaurants have travelled to different cities, for instance Karavalli travelled to Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai, Varq went to Taj West End Bangalore and Taj Krishna Hyderabad whereas House Of Ming was recently hosted by Jai Mahal Palace,” Pokhariyal says.
