Asian Station, KNK Road, Chennai

The Decor and the cocktail I had....

The cool menu..

Three different kinds of dimsums..

The clear glass noodle soup

Sushi...

Jasmine Rice and Thai Green curry..

Laksa..

Tab tim grob...

There I was, walking into this giant black gated space, with walls decked up in bright coloured murals and then finally the sun hits you as you turn the corner. This place used to be the Park Pod, and then it was known for The Slate, but today I was walking in to the newly opened Asian Station [adjoining The Slate]. 

They have a huge outdoor space downstairs, and a smaller indoor air-conditioned space upstairs. I noticed they had banners displaying the various IPL teams and a giant screen as well. Would have been good to have watched a few matches here. As I made my way upstairs, I couldn't help but wonder how at one point this entire place was Posh, looked world apart from the rest of the restaurants or hotels in the city and today it had a bit of run down look... Oh well~!! 

The closed space can seat about 25-26 people and is a long narrow hallway of sorts with cooling towers/Tower AC that helps keep it cool.. Their kitchen is downstairs[ Gulp, I cant imagine how the staff make trips up and down those narrow steps, sometimes carrying multiple dishes or plate].. The restaurant Asian Station, as the name suggests is all about the Pan asian cuisine- Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean and Malay. Infact, they have another outlet in Anna Nagar which is nearly 2 years old and doing pretty well I hear! 

The colours on the walls and seating was quite funky... But above it all, I loved their menu design. It was a simple one sheet, with flip option on each category. No pages and pages of complicated dishes, leaving you bamboozled.  From the soup section, I had the glass noodle clear soup, dimsums - I had a range of them, from carrots, to mushrooms to mix veg as well, each one came looking so cute and pretty in the bamboo containers. That apart I also tried their veg sushi, which was quite good [ packed with avocado and cream cheese] They were all yumm... 

For the mains, I had my favourite Jasmine Rice and Thai green curry... The other two at the table ordered Prawn red curry.. We did try their Laksa, but it lacked flavour punch [ the base needed more flavour, one of the friends dining with me was from Singapore and so she knew her Laksa...] In most pan asian places, the dessert section is quite small, we opted for the familiar Tab tim grob [ water chestnut] , which was alright [you cant really go wrong with it]... 

During the course of conversation with the man behind the brand- Rohan Ahuja, we came to know he had different chefs at the outlets and while Anna nagar one was doing very well, this one was about 2 month old and slowly picking up. He was looking at introducing a bento box style meal [targeting offices/corporate lunch] and making small tweaks to the menu as well. Coming from a completely non hospitality background, he was in love with food and so got into this business and had learnt the ropes of the business, and was quite kicked about the place. He also spoke about how that particular road had not one but nearly 5 restaurants serving asian cuisine and so it was going to be interesting to create a mark and draw crowds.... 

Well, next time you are in/around Nungambakkam, and looking for a new place to explore, head over to Asian Station~!

Address: 
Asian Station
#23, 13, Khader Nawaz Khan Rd, 
Thousand Lights West,  Chennai -600006
[Inside The Slate complex]

Disclaimer: The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember these were just my views!! Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)