The main highlight which attracts us to this cuisine is
the spiciness and the tanginess. The Thai cuisine gives us the flavors of
Chinese sauces and techniques as it also has many types of stir fried dishes.
The other thing is that, it is quite close to Indian cuisine as it has many
kind of curries and gravies. So, we can easily conclude that, Thai cuisine is
an amalgamation of Chinese and Indian cuisines to a large extent. Being very
popular, internationally it has many takers in India too. But we could not get
anything more than a Green, Red curry or a Som Tam Salad till about few months
.Then, some five star hotels started speciality restaurants which were liked by
most but were not so cost effective.
Recently, an authentic Thai cuisine restaurant with a
twist opened its gates.
Looking for authentic Thai taste and
flavours? A visit to ‘Ziu’ – another innovative standalone Thai
restaurant, in the heart of the capital city, is worth a shot! The newest food
hub in town, Sangam Courtyard, RK Puram, Delhi houses many food joints and
speciality restaurants, including ZIU. It’s on the 1st floor, just
opp. to the elevator (centre). As u enter ZIU, you get a feeling of warmth. Not
a big place though, yet very beautifully done up in a Thai theme.
Gurmehar Sethi, the head Chef of the
restaurant, with a wealth of international experience, has started this innovative
Thai restaurant with a modern approach. He is a hub of talent, himself trained
at the Le Cordon Bleu, Bangkok and Nobu has come to his native place, Delhi to
start his own venture.
Looking at the menu at Ziu, one may
find some regular Thai menu offerings but be ready to be surprised. Their USP is
that, they are unique and different. Tom Yum soup was a nice flavorful pool
full of flavourful veggies placed in a polished coconut-shell bowl; the spicy
and sour soup was poured from a small decanter over the veggies at the table.
Subtle and flavourful, this soup makes you feel happy. You can top it with chilli
oil that is served on the table.
The
crispy Som Tam salad is actually air-fried shredded green papaya with roasted
peanuts, beans and spicy birds eye chilli lime dressing that would even work
well just as an appetiser which goes well with drinks. Khao Tang Gai Yang, another appetizer made
with rice cracker topped with tiny tofu pieces with a chilly on top, was
awesome too. The Chef guarantees the rice cracker cannot be found anywhere in
India as it is brought exclusively from Thailand. Paad Thai – Stir fried broad rice noodles tossed in tamarind
sauce could find a place in the list of best noodles. This was one of
the best, I had tried recently.
Also, an exquisite preparation was
the Lamb Curry, in which the lamb shank is cooked for 24 hours
with exquisite spices like star anise, cinnamon, cloves etc. The Aab Gai was
another preparation which was a very interesting chicken mince salad mixed with
mint and parsley in sticky rice dressing. Kraprow
Gae is a fabulous Thai preparation
of lamb where the lamb is stir fried in red bird eye chilly and crispy basil
leaves with lovely flavors. Burnt garlic fried rice, the best accompaniment
with mains other than noodles.
Coconut
Tiramisu infused with coconut flavour was definitely interesting. The other dessert, the coconut and palm sugar
Ice cream was also very good. Both the desserts are worth trying for sure. They
have nicely done Drinks menu. The cocktails have been innovated well, I forgot
to mention before that I tried the Whisky Sour which is done in a Molecular way,
and is nice. Though they can add more drinks to their menu in the coming days.
Overall,
one of the best restaurants in Delhi. The focus is seriously on food which
shows very clearly. I would love to
visit ZIU again, soon to try the rest of the menu. Wishing them all the best.
ZIU, Sangam Courtyard,
Major Somnath Marg, Sector 9,
R K Puram, New Delhi
Coverage By : Vickrham (vicky)
Email : vickrham.m@gmail.com