Flavours of Bangkok- Part I- Pad Thai noodles

There we were all set to bid adieu to Bangkok and head back to Chennai. With about two hours left for our flight, we wandered about the airport- the stores, the big brands and that is when we spotted the restaurant with a board that said "Asian, Thai and Japanese cuisine". With hunger bells ringing away in our tummies we walked in and ordered food.

I ordered Pad Thai noodles in red curry sauce while my friend ordered rice and Thai green curry with prawns..

The Pad Thai noodles we get here in India is quite different from what we had in Bangkok- it had far less spice and was served with a side of fresh Chinese sprouts and a lime wedge.

The noodles was good and we slurped it up within minutes.

The one thing I have always enjoyed during my trips is exploring the local cuisine and in Bangkok we were I heaven- I Love Thai food.. :))

Sunday Lunch- Noodles, Schezuan style

I stood there in the kitchen wondering what to make for lunch when the doorbell rang. Glad to get away from the fridge and stove, I answered the door to find a courier. It was a set of Knorr sauce mixes. Nice. Just the inspiration I needed to make something new. It was going to be a one pot dish.  What did I make? 

Noodles, Schezuan style. How? Read on to know how... 

Ingredients:
1/2 onion [ thinly chopped]
2 cloves garlic [ finely diced]
6-7 button mushrooms [cut into small pieces]
6-7 beans [cut into 1inch pieces]
1 egg
1 tsp Olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 packet Haka Noodles

2 cups Water
2 tsp Knorr-Chinese-Schezuan mix

The process:

1) In a pot, add 1 to 1.1/2 cups of water and cook the noodles. I added the egg to the same water and let it cook for about 10mins and removed the same. 

2) In another pan- add the oil, saute the garlic and onions, before adding the remaining vegetables [you can add any vegetables to this dish], add some salt and pepper. 

3) Remove the veggies once cooked and in that same pan-- mix about 2 tsp of Knorr-Chinese-Schezuan mix to 1/2 cup of water and allow it to come to a simmer. Add the cooked vegetables to the sauce and check for seasoning. I also added the noodles and finally the egg to complete my lunch. 

How easy is that? I am now itching to try the others from Knorr range!!

Cooking time: 25mins
Prepping time: 15mins 
This portion I cooked serves - 1 

Food Trials at Wok a Toque

Practice makes perfect, right? And this phrase applies to pretty much every aspect of life, so why food be left out. Restaurants these days test the waters before opening the doors. This is not only to make sure the food they are serving works, but is more than welcome and is well received as well. Just as at home when we make a dish for the first time, we call our friends or family to be the guinea pigs, restaurants invite people they know and bloggers to run their trials on. 

Where am I going with this? I wanted to share the experience of a Food trial I was a part of that was held recently. Wok a Toque is the name of the restaurant and it is located within Hotel Chariot on Thirumalai pillai Road, opp Vidyodaya School. 

I have seen this Hotel quite a few times but never ventured inside. So, when I was invited to be a part of the Food Trials, I took this as the opportunity to check the place out. We were received by the Manager who told us how the group has taken over the F&B in the Hotel and is opening a restaurant "Wok a Toque" and a bar/pub "Elevate" here. 

The giant door is what you see as you get onto the 1st floor, and the decor inside is beautiful to say the least. Simple oriental light fixtures, textured wall, subtle art work is all you see. The music playing is also Oriental and quite mild. The main dining area is divided between the Lobby and 1st floor, with the 1st floor offering Lunch Buffet and dinner a la carte, while lobby offers only a la carte. They also plan to launch a Breakfast menu and Midnight buffet eventually.  The tables were dark brown with a beige sofa against the wall and red plush chairs on the other side. 

Moving on to the main aspect of the evening, the food. It was Indo- chinese, as is everywhere else but the food served was quite good, I loved it.

All the tables had a plate with three bowls- pickled vegetables, peanut based snack and Kimchi, except here Kimchi had a lot of sesame seeds on it. These are again typical of most chinese restaurants [atleast the ones I've been to]. We were then handed a makeshift menu that ran to nearly 9 pages. Quite an extensive one at that, and I also noticed the vegetarian items were just as many as the non veg [earlier it was very few veg to a lot of non veg items]

I chose the Burnt garlic soup and woah, it was divine. Loved the flavour of the burnt garlic and the sweetness of the chinese cabbage in the clear broth. Moving on to the starters, I once again opted for a dish that I havent tried before- Stuffed Lotus stem fritters that was served alongside chilli honey sauce --> The fritters were sinful, there was a stuffing of sorts between two lotus stem slivers and it just melted in my mouth. 

While the non vegetarians devoured the various meaty starters, I began scanning through the menu looking for the main dishes. There it was, new ingredients yet again. While we decided to order Kwai Teow Pad Thai Wheat Noodles, and a Ginger-Capsicum fried rice, for the side dishes I chose the Bamboo Shoot and Mushroom in Chilly Bean Sauce and Mapo Tofu. The former was a hit with all, we couldnt get enough of the dish, the latter was alright- tofu is an acquired taste and not many like it. 

The non vegetarians went rampant and ordered Duck, Chicken, beef and pork. They enjoyed some while they felt others were similar to the starters. By the time they were done, it was time for me to leave, I had a movie to catch and so I skipped desserts. Did hear from the boys that there were about 3 desserts which were decent. 

The doors opened on Monday- 24th June and I wish them all the best! If the food we had during the trial was anything to go by, am sure they would be a roaring success.. 

As for the price factor, most dishes are priced between Rs 250 to 400, while items like Lobster and crab were priced higher.  Am guessing a meal for 2 should work out to about Rs 1200 - 1500. 

Address:
The Chariot
#4, Thirumalai Pillai Road, T Nagar, 
Chennai- 600017
Phone: 044 2834 1212
URL- http://www.thechariotchennai.com/

Disclaimer:
The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember that restaurants and eat outs sometimes change with time, so does their food and service. So, kindly consider these factors while visiting the places. Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit  :-)