According to imgur user jamesn86, they paid 600 dollars for a 25-course meal that has been described as “a journey through modern Indian cuisine in 25 emojis.”
“When we arrived, the maître d’ told us that we were invited to the chef’s table and did we accept (of course!). The restaurant has changed a bit in the last four years, renovations etc. and the chef’s table was in the extension to the main restaurant and upstairs. We went upstairs with the 10 other guests and these were the menus placed before us — oh boy!”
“For our fourth anniversary, we made the trip back to Bangkok and before we had even booked flights, I had booked us in at this restaurant we had raved about ever since our honeymoon,” James shared.
First served was the Paan, a traditional Indian street food made with betel leaf, a variety of fruits, spices, seeds, and sometimes, tobacco.
“This paan had a small betel leaf prepared in a light tempura batter and some chilli dabbed on top — a far cry from the paan I had first tasted at about 1am on the streets of Delhi!” says James.
Then came the yogurt that explodes as you put it in your mouth.
“It is yoghurt (think raita) but spherified. The spherification (and reverse spherification) process is about the combination of a preparation including sodium alginate, and a preparation high in calcium. The sodium alginate and calcium solution react to form a thin skin around your solution and as you put it in your mouth, the yoghurt explodes and you drink it.”
Then came the Tom Yum Kung Cracker, which James jokingly described as “prawn heads with goo.”
“This is freeze dried prawn head with a concoction in an edible film wrapper which tasted like the most amazing tom yum soup!”
The “Eggplant cookie” which reportedly took 5-6 days to prepare.
“I cannot even begin to describe how painful the process of making these sounds… Congratulate the 8-9 chefs who worked on it for 5-6 days before serving to your guests to devour in one bite!”
Chilli Bon Bons!
“As with everything so far, not too spicy, a very delicate balance of flavors and textures — a beautifully firm but delicate shell with a creamy, slightly spicy inside.”
Goat Brain
“Apparently it was goat. Brains. What? I’ve eaten brains before and there’s quite a soft texture to them, I remember it being almost creamy which I didn’t think this dish had. On reflection though, I suppose it wasn’t a really meaty texture, just a hint of meaty flavor and a smoothness to the bite after breaking the shell around it.”
Idly Sambar
“Idli are a type of rice cake and sambar is a lentil-based dish cooked in a tamarind broth giving it a hint of sweetness.”
Chicken Liver Coconut
“These bad boys are chicken liver and coconut. If I’m being honest, I’ve kinda forgotten the flavours of this dish so I’m terribly sorry.”
Kebab Burger
“Burgers? Yes, please! I remember one of the sommeliers asking me what my favorite dish was and I didn’t want to say this dish because everyone else had said it, but it was a fantastic little burger. It was probably the surprise factor to an extent — just unassuming and then bam! Really terrific flavors and yet so simple.”
Fish (Akami) Tacos
“Fish tacos. Hands down my favorite variety of taco — a nice soft tortilla with perhaps a fresh mango salsa and some beautiful, fresh fish et voilà!”
Foie Gras and Yuzu Marshmallow
“This marshmallow was really well made (like, REALLY!) it was a little chewy, but only insofar as to offer the slightest resistance as you bit through it and took a small pillow of citrus with your foie gras and wafer. Incredible.”
Fish Cake
“Well, it was a cheesecake texture, and an interesting take on the fish cake!”
Uni (sea urchin) and Gin Tonic
“Honestly, not my favorite. People love it, and that’s cool. I’m just not one of them and that’s okay too. Those little balls on top? Oh hey, welcome back spherification! Those are gin and tonic balls. Aside from the fact that uni isn’t something I enjoy, I got this dish. It was serving some crisp flavors with the gin and tonic balls (and a bit of sorbet below the uni) to cut through the seafood-y flavor of the sea urchin all served in an easy-to-hold seaweed wrapper.”
Chutoro Sushi
“Fresh (I mean prepared right in front of us) medium fatty tuna sushi. I can’t tell you how good this was — you just have that feeling when you take a bit of something and know that everything is right in this world.”
Summer Matcha
“Everyone knows matcha tea, it’s made with…matcha? Well, this was a cold preparation made with asparagus, celery, and some other vegetables and herbs WHICH PERFECTLY REPLICATED THE TASTE OF MATCHA!! This is witchcraft. I honestly couldn’t tell you how surprised I was that he told us we basically just had vegetable soup.”
Pork Vindaloo
“You like pork? You like curry with a kick? How about a mouthful-sized serving of pork vindaloo served in a coating of panko breadcrumbs? Yum.”
Scallops Uncooked Curry
“An uncooked curry: yes it was served temperate, yes those scallops were to die for, and yes, that is a quenelle of coconut ice cream which combined with a slightly spicy green chutney to just remind you that this was a curry you were eating.”
Quail Chettinad
“Chettinad is a typically spicy curry from southern India, in this instance, that fire was reduced to a marinade before cooking, and then a small dollop of just-spicy-enough goodness beneath the quail breasts.”
Cedar Wood Paturi
“So this is Paturi. Paturi is one of those universal dishes which seems to have been simultaneously invented by every civilization around the world. Simply, it is cooking something in a banana leaf. This particular specimen was cooked sandwiched between cedar wood, with some rice and fish wrapped in the banana leaf.”
Asparagus Charcoal
“Essentially, it was this very crisp exterior which mimicked charcoal in texture, with some of this in powdered form on top. What was inside was this creamy asparagus, although not overwhelmingly asparagus flavored. A really, really interesting dish from a texture perspective.”
Lobster Dosai
“THIS was my favorite dish. Lobster in a delicately spiced sauce, on top of a dosa (an Indian pancake of sorts). You know how I said I like fish tacos except in the soft tortilla? Yeah, swap the fish and mango salsa for lobster in a curry-style sauce and that’s more like it. I tried stealing the wife’s portion again but almost got my hand bitten off.”
Beetroot Rose
“Roses. Hand-made. Out of…beetroot? Well, I couldn’t tell it was beetroot. A shame to destroy someone’s handiwork, but heck, I already ate the eggplant cookie so I didn’t feel that bad.”
Curry Mango Chocolate
” It’s amazing. It’s exactly what you think will happen when a team of passionate, top-notch chefs put their mind to creating a fusion of something we think of as earthy and spicy, with the sweetness of mango and then have the chocolate sandwich it together.”
Black Forrest
“Twist on the Black Forest cake anyone? I forget how the cherries were prepared, but they had that nice tang to them that cherries sometimes get, while the powder melted in your saliva to give a wonderful creamy texture to a classic dessert.”
Mango Ghewar
“Oh boy! More mango! For someone who loves mangoes, this was a treat. Ghewar, or ghevar, is a sweet biscuity-cake snack from northern India. In this case, combine this ghewar, which isn’t overly sweet, with a slice of mango to give it a little sweetness kick, results in a divine dessert to close off this epic culinary journey.”
James explained in the end that the servings were actually “larger than they appear”, noting that both of them were full by the end of the meal.
