If you thought fancy Chinese dishes in five star eateries was all that there was to your favourite cuisine, think again. According to recent survey done by foodieme.com, a food ranking website, more than 300 Chinese restaurants have mushroomed in Delhi/NCR in 2013 alone.
While some of them are hole in the wall kind of a place, there are others which have opened and are thriving in upmarket regions. Most of them boast of affordable pricing. And their USPIJ Yummy food in a decent setting.
“I have grown up going to small restaurants to try out new Chinese and Thai dishes. But these days there are very few joints that are coming up. After a point in time it becomes quite a drain to visit five star properties to have authentic food,” Ayush Arora, a college goer, says.
There are many like Ayush who are missing the corner-wali-Chinese place where you can just step in your home clothes for a bowl of steaming soup. Well, there is respite for such foodies.
“We have only just opened and already there is a beeline of guests. Especially in the evening. People want to taste authentic oriental cuisine at affordable rates. Gone are the days when a person could find dishes of his/her choice only at a five star eatery. There are small restaurants and hubs that dish out yummy food,” Devendra Rawat, the manager of Ying Yang, at Malaviya Nagar, says. The restaurant by CDB Cafe has some finest Thai dishes on the menu as well.
“There are people who ask us about the lemon grass or the bamboo shoot that they find in their soups and meal. We need to be well prepared to give them the right answers,” Rawat says, adding that it is the training part that takes up all their time. Although he has hands on experience with the CDB crowd, this new role in a Chinese joint is treating him well.
Back to the food, there are many things that one can dig into — for starters there is tiger prawns with bird’s eye chillies that are extra spicy! The prawns are fresh and make for that perfect beginning. Then, there is the chicken with mushroom and baby coriander roots which tastes just as exciting as the name sounds.
“Our quest is to bring everything authentic to the table. So the names of the dishes may sound confusing. But actual oriental cuisine is all about flavours,” Rawat explains as he gets you the three pepper chilli paneer which is succulent and very high on Thai herbs. A must have for someone who has a thing for such a cuisine.
While at it don’t miss out on the fukien fried rice (mix of chicken, fish and egg) and some Vietnamese basa fish fillets which are the specialities of this small restaurant.
The fish, we are told is got locally and so are the other meats. The chef prefers to cook with fresh meats so they are brought in every single day. “It is difficult to get the Thai herbs for every dish but we try very hard to replicate these dishes. Most times we also import essential herbs from international markets. We have only just begun and plan on expanding,” Rawat says, adding that the green Thai curry rice is the hot seller. So, if you are in the mood for some great authentic Thai food at affordable price, this is a destination one can explore.