With swinging chairs and a vast rule book of life on a ‘blackboard’, Pan Chew Asian Café breaks the monotony of regular lounges. Karan Bhardwaj reports
The fascination for theme-based interiors is passé. The outlets in city are getting high on mix and match concepts. And somewhere in between, they rely on “unusual” elements to stand out. Stuff like treadmills and bikes are being used to up the glam appeal of interiors. So we were hardly surprised to find swing chairs at Chew Pan Asian Café, a new entry in the outer circle of Connaught Place. But we were glad to find that it helped to break the monotonous dining experience at the age-old CP. Chew Pan offers a perfect balance in interiors, offering equal space to ‘cool’ and ‘formal’ set up. It is nicely divided into two halves, one is pure café and the other is fine dining for families.
The huge wall next to the entry arrests your attention immediately. It highlights the new rulebook of life, how to stay de-stressed, which is all hand drawn by a street artist. All is written in white on a black-painted wall, just like a blackboard. The adjacent sides are covered by handicrafts, ceramics, metalwares and some antique artefacts handpicked by the owners from round the globe. “By the end of the day, we knew what we had in our mind. So while the interior was being designed, we shared our inputs. like for the wall, we only told the artist what had to be written. Since our family business is exports, we get to travel a lot and that’s how we choose collectibles,” says owner Salil Mehta.
The menu covers the whole of pan pacific rim. There is Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, Chinese and Korean cuisine. A rarity in Central Delhi, they have teppanyaki grills, prepared by a team of experts. “In the name of Japanese, restaurants are serving robata grill Japanese, which can technically be handled by any Chinese chef. It’s like a catch that you are offering Japanese. We have got chefs from reputed chains like The Park and Taj. So the menu might look extensive, there is compromise on the cuisine. Which is why our logo is also dedicated to the chefs,” he says.
Among the starters, we were impressed by the mushrooms and roasted chickens. They had a perfect blend of soy, black bean married with red chillies leading the delicious splash of flavours. Crispy chicken Thai style, chicken satay, Thai crispy tossed vegetables were cooked delicately, as came out while eating.
With cool music played around, the live kitchen, sprawling over 800 sq ft, also holds your attention. The façade of the kitchen displays a great variety if of pickles. “A lot of people do check out the live demo of food,” he says.
The restaurant was packed till late night and is already generating positive feedback. “What works in our favour is the café culture which allows to defy the rule book,” he says.