Stellar at The Ashok offers a combination of good food and fine dining. Ankita Jain reports
Usually, there is no recovering from a messy, loud, infuriating traffic jam which lasts for what seems like hours and probably is. And usually, we try to keep the distance between us and the waiting food to a minimum. But Stellar is an unusually good place, and all the usual rules don’t really apply.
Of course, we reached this newly renamed restro bar in The Ashok hotel fully prepared for a good meal. A huge spread with a subtle décor in earthen tones, sushi and dim sums were among some of the distractions we would not mind indulging in. We came back with most expectations met. “Unlike its Mumbai outposts, the restaurant is far more spread out. It was earlier known as Nom Nom. We have recently changed the name because we have added the dance floor. Overall we are no more just a restaurant now”, said the manager.
This dimly-lit Pan Asian restro bar has a circular staircase inspired by dragon swirls, which runs till the ceiling and creates nooks for intimate tables. Sprinkled with Asian artifacts, the overall look is chic and contemporary.
The instrumental music playing in the background was just the perfect fusion of traditional oriental mixed with a bit of trance. It blended well with the cozy ambience. We settled down and ordered their in-house concoctions of Thai Pirojka (vodka, lemongrass, rosemary, sweet and sour mix) which was addictive but it’s the Nom Nom Poison (white wine, vodka, fresh fruit, coffee powder) that had us swooning.
We started our food journey with the vegetarian dim sums with a variety of dips. We were served first with shimizi, cheddar, spinach skin which was a green dim sum with the stuffing of cheddar cheese and shimizi. The red dimsums comprised leeks, coriander and beetroot skin, prepared by marinating the stuffing of leek and coriander with beet-root juice. The dish exploded with myriad flavours in our mouths. The cheese and corn dim sum tingled our taste buds. The sweetness of corns and the cheesy effect made it stand out.
Among the non vegetarian ones, deep fried prawn money bag failed to impress us as the batter was too crunchy and didn’t blend with the prawn inside. lemon grass prawns tossed in Hangzhou sauce were an interesting twist. We loved the tanginess and flavour of the prawn. Shredded lamb was perfectly crunchy and had the right balance of the spices.
Moving to sushi, which is traditionally made using vinegar rice and raw fish, but it also includes vegetables and tropical fruits. While this may add to the texture and flavour, it doesn’t contribute much towards creating a more visually appealing dish to people who would like to experiment with a colourful cuisine. “We are using varieties of fish and ingredients to play with the colour of the sushis,” said the chef, clarifying any doubts regarding the use of food colours.
He further added, “We are using natural colours. For instance, we use beetroot for obtaining reds. To get a green, we use spinach.” We sampled California sushi which looked like a thumb-length pillows of rice with raw avocado stuffed and slices of ginger on top. It would make any non-sushi lover ask for more.
For the main course, we ordered Stellar signature fried noodles with chicken/prawn curry. People who like their food spicy should opt for spicy fried chicken with cashew nuts. Due to its thick soy sauce curry, it went well with fried noodles and completed the meal.
To undo the effect of the spice, we polished off our meals with a traditional tiramisu which was absolute bliss, considering it was a south Asian outlet. The New York cheesecake in its comforting classic texture with a hint of crunch and garnished with lemon zest was another sweet kick to finish the expedition.
Stellar is a place for foodies who love to explore new frontiers. As far as we are concerned, we saw our taste buds coming out of our comfort zones.