Oriental Charisma

During my last visit to Delhi, when my friend Sameer Puri told me about his new restaurant - Near East - at Vasant Vihar I decided to land there with my brother Rajeev. That it served oriental food was definitely an added attraction.

At Near East you get a distinctive amalgamation of Chinese, Thai and Indonesian cuisines. This place is neat. Clean cut looks with contemporary décor which goes wonderfully well with the just-as-contemporary menu. We decided to start right away because the menu placed before us displayed a wide variety to choose from.

An excellent starter was Satay Lilit Ayam, a Balinese dish. But I also highly recommend the Sliced Fish with Roasted Red Chilli and Szechwan Pepper - it is hot but pleasantly so. Also in line are the Barbequed Spare Ribs with Honey done to a glazed crisp that were absolutely superb. And I especially liked the Pan Fried Fish Fillets with Butter - maybe because I have a preference for all seafood. But I think I overdid the starters a bit because I could not resist trying out the Steamed Chicken Dragon Roll which came to the table as a dragon, the head sculpted from carrots and cucumbers with a body of dimsums.

The soups too deserve special attention. Especially the Cucumber and Mushroom Soup. Also try the Chicken Lemony Peppercorn Soup. Indians can tolerate a lot of spice and this soup clears the throat like nothing else does.

For a change of palate before the main course, order the Far East Chicken Caesar Salad. Crunch through shredded chicken enveloped with aromatic galangal, kaffir lime and lemon grass. Now one can look at the main course. For me it was the Pla Chorn Nam Phrik, which was absolutely divine – a whole spicy fried red snapper served with tamarind, red chilli, garlic and the Nam Phrik sauce. Boy was that hot - I had to gulp down a few mouthfuls of cool water to soothe my tongue but it was well worth all that. We also had Prawns Szechuan, jumbo prawns cooked in a black pepper marinade. We followed this with Qing Liao Lamb made with fermented bamboo shoots and black mushrooms, soya sauce and spring onions and the Chicken Chengdu, which is sliced chicken breasts in mild chilli, wine, and sesame oil sauce with cashewnuts, spring onions and yellow capsicums.

Vegetarians will also not go back disappointed from The Near East. I liked the Stir Fried Vegetables with Sweet Chilli Lemon Sauce and recommend it highly. Also tasted Ma Pa Khapraw. It is a platter of stir- fried bean curd with shallots, garlic, red chilli and basil with a dash of wine and sesame oil. The Garlic Ang Pao which are steamed rolls made from fermented dough helped to wipe off the last of the sauces on the plate. I also ordered the Crackling Spinach because I always enjoy the way the fried spinach melts in the mouth.

Even if you are feeling too full, do not desert the desserts. For they are simply delicious. I dug into the Chocolate Mudpie. There is only one word to describe it - Excellent. I also had a small bite of the Fig and Raisin Ice Cream.

There is more good news in the form of a separate menu with salads, starters, main course veg and main course non-veg for calorie watchers. People who like to watch their weight can do so even while eating out. Near East might be looking at this as a strong attraction and smart marketing tool.