The dimsum festival at Radisson MBD, Noida, is ideal for a power lunch, says Saimi Sattar
A dimsum lunch sounds as perfect as it can get. For there can be varieties enough to cater to different palates, while at the same time offering you a timeout on a working day so that you do not feel completely submerged by their richness.
Master Chef Raymond Sim at R.E.D, the Chinese, Japanese, Thai and seafood speciality restaurant at Radisson MBD, Noida, has laid out a spread of 12 dimsums — six each in the vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections. A vegetable or chicken noodle soup is the prelude while desserts include a mud cake with vanilla ice cream or a choice of ice creams.
We started with chicken noodle soup — the clear broth was wholesome and filling with pieces of the steamed bird, broccoli, carrots and other vegetables. Not high on spices or any kind of excessive flavours, it was comfort food at its best. Though I am sure, if I tried to replicate it at home, I would fail miserably. The thing about soups is to get the ratio of stock ingredients right and let the vegetables infuse just the right kind of goodness and simplicity. Sims has always excelled at soups where he doesn’t use even a dribble of oil or fat to enhance the natural appeal and this continues to be a familiar draw with amazing consistency. The next in line was seafood sui mai which had a complex filling bursting out of wafer thin rice wraps. light and flavourful, the best part came in the form of dips they were paired with. In addition to the chilli dip which is the norm, there were two more — one with ginger garlic and honey and another called sweet chilli dip. This was followed by chicken and lamb dumplings. While the chicken one was good, the mutton, even though it is my favourite meat, was a tad heavy. This was followed by spring rolls which were fried to perfection but did not have any trace of grease which is usually the norm in other places. But the best was yet to come. A chicken bao, fluffy and plumped up with chicken mince that was well-infused with spices. Each bite was an amazingly sensory experience and neatly balanced the five flavours.
The festival is on till May 31