Harem Opiate, a newly-opened lounge, serves authentic Oriental soups and dishes. Prerna Sharma reports
So far most of us knew Sunder Nagar market for its chaat and jalebi. But now the place has an Asian joint too — Harem Opiate. The newly-opened lounge has three levels and serves authentic Oriental cuisine — from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
We visited the place recently and chose the top floor, that has Arabian tents as the seatings, to have our meal under the sky. Aroma from the live grill stations, filled the air. The menu has a balance — some known dishes and other not-so-known ones.
“This restaurant is owned by Sameer and Sachin Gogia, who are also the owners of Harem Meeza. This restaurant is inherently for people who have travelled all over the world and would like to try typical cuisines. When we talk about Chinese, people imagine veg/non veg noodles and manchurian. You will not get it here. If you will ask for a predominantly herb-based dish, you will get a variety,” said Chetan Swarup, manager of the place.
We started our meal with Thai Tom Yom Goong soup, which perhaps is the most famous Thai soup.The flavours of fresh ingredients such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice and crushed chili pepper dominated the broth. Burmese Khow Suey, was made up of lentils, curry powder, meat and coconut milk. It was served with accompaniments like egg noodles, boiled rice, garlic chips, chopped boiled eggs and cilantro among many other ingredients.
Swarup said they have an elaborate staff preparing each item. “Oriental food can’t be prepared in advance. Some dishes need atleast five people to complete it,” said he.
We tried various starters from almost every country’s cuisine. Yakitori — grilled and served on a stick with broccoli, tofu, mushroom and baby corn. Kothey dimsums — steamed dumplings cooked in a pan were crisped on one side. Harem Siew Mei — open dimsums from one side, belongs to the Canton region of China were equally delicious. The best amongst all were Por Phia Rolls. Wrapped in a paper like soft skinned phor-phia, it was a crepe made from rice flour with a stuffing. The steamy hot dish was served with chilli sauce.
We also tried pan fried noodles with chilli bean sauce — a combination of fried noodles, Japan special sticky fried rice and claypot vegetable — a mixture of carrot, lotus stem, brinjal herbs and beatroots. While ordering desserts, don’t miss Ice Kachang — a dessert that’s like a chuski with different flavoured juices topped with dryfruits.