Pan-asia on your plate

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China has about 23 provinces. And most of them have their unique style of cooking. Picking up cooking styles from Yue, Chuan, Hui, lu, Min, Su, Xiang and Zhe provinces, Nom Nom is the latest pan-Asian restaurant in town. Located in the sarkari Ashok Hotel, the new joint is almost like an oasis in the otherwise non-descript options in the archaic hotel.
With plush interiors in red complete with a Chinese dragon, Nom Nom is warm and inviting from the word go. A joint-venture of Smart Global along with Silver Beach Hospitality, Nom Nom is already a popular name in Mumbai.
“The cuisine, like the interiors, is meant to stand out to bring authentic Asian dishes to the table. So you won’t get your standard chilli chicken or manchurian here. Neither should one expect the tadka wala Chinese food. But the variety of options is huge, right from the khao suey khao to wasabi prawns, cottage cheese Koh Samui to fish steamed in banana leaves and lots more,” says Dharmesh Karmokar, one of the promoters of the restaurant. And once you sit at the table you shall be pleasantly surprised that you don’t have the usual soy sauce and vinegar but three very interesting sauces — a coriander sauce, java sauce (star anise and garlic) and a sesame-peanut sauce.
Starting the meal with wasabi prawns and wasabi chestnuts (the latter had a little too much mustard for our comfort), chicken pepper, lettuce-wrapped mushroom tempura and pork ribs (made immensely well!), cheddar dimsums; we moved on to okra and potato in hot garlic sauce, cottage cheese in black-bean sauce, ginger-scallion lamb fillet (quite soft and succulent) and hakka noodles. The cheddar dimsums were just right with a super-thin coating and melt-in-mouth filling of cheese. Do not forget to try the khao suey khao, made in coconut milk. The place also has kebabs from the Muslim-dominated provinces of China. Also try their Yakitori, a Japanese specialty.
And finish your meal with a refreshing lemongrass ice-cream!