Restaurant Week is back and that means a celebration of the finest culinary experiences at formal fine dining restaurants in India. For details on the event check out this post but in essence, Restaurant Week showcases three-course set menus priced at a fraction of a la carte rates. Baan Thai at The Oberoi Grand is one of the participating restaurants and I went with my friend to savor the delicacies that are part of the special menu.
Baan Thai opened in Kolkata more than ten years back and it still is probably the best place where you can get authentic Thai food in the city. And the menu that has been curated for Restaurant Week includes some of their best and most popular vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Selecting what I wanted to have was proving to be a difficult task but thankfully I was rescued by the Chef who said he would send me an assortment of his favorite dishes.
From the menu, there is the option to choose an appetiser, a main course, choice of rice/noodles and a dessert for Rs 900+taxes. There are signature appetisers and main courses available as well and for them, the charge is Rs 200+ per head extra. If you are non-vegetarian, I would surely recommend the Satay kai or chicken satay with a lovely peanut sauce. I also loved Chicken hormok or steamed mince salad and kaffir lime with ginger, wrapped in a banana leaf. Think the Thai version of a Bengali ‘paturi’ :). I found Thod man pla or Thai fish cakes to be slightly tough and while the flavors were bang on, I expected the fish cakes to be softer in texture. If you want to go for a salad, I would highly recommend the Thai raw mango and cucumber salad. So refreshing in this weather. For the vegetarians, I would recommend the Thai sago dumplings with Asian salad, a take on the popular street food of Thailand.
We were already stuffed by the time the mains arrived but the sight and smell of the Thai green chicken curry, Stir fried lamb with ginger and spring onion and Assorted mushroom in hot basil sauce was too tempting to not want to take a bite. Hard to pick a favorite out of the three but if I really have to, I’ll surprisingly pick the stir fried mushrooms. A very simple dish yet full of salty, sweet, and spicy goodness.
There are four options to choose from the dessert section and I tried three of them – a Pumpkin brulee with lemongrass sorbet, an Orange cheesecake with berry yoghurt sorbet and a White chocolate and wasabi cream with dried berry meringue and red wine sauce. White chocolate and wasabi sounds like a weird combination but the sweetness of the chocolate and the subtle spiciness of the wasabi blends beautifully in this dessert.
Restaurant Week is on till the 1st of May and Baan Thai should definitely be on your list of restaurants to try out. To book a table, visit the Restaurant India website.
P.S – I was invited by RWI to review Baan Thai’s special menu