Given that the last two years have witnessed Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex burgeoning with cafes and diners offering a variety of cuisines, it was just a matter of time that someone started a Thai restaurant. Not that the neighbourhood is devoid of places offering Asian culinary delights, it's just our weakness for Thai food that made us smile when we saw the menu at Nara. KA Hospitality's 60-seater restaurant (with a private dining room that accommodates 10) has a wide menu, which includes a wide variety of little-known Thai ingredients and techniques that we'll keep going back for.
Green curry with vegetables (Kang Kiew Wan) with sticky rice (Khao Niew)
If there's anything that comes close to dal-chawal as comfort food, then it's Thai green curry with rice. Make that sticky rice. Now, before you frown those brows, know that the sticky rice at Nara is a light dollop of small-grained rice that easily takes the curry's flavour when mixed. The curry itself is an aromatic bowl of select vegetables in a broth full of lemongrass and coconut flavour, yet none of the cloying sweetness of coconut milk.
Butterfly pea rice with Thai herbs (Khao Phad Samunprai)
We'd have likely skipped this intrepid gastronomic adventure had it not been for the manager's recommendation. The Butterfly pea is a tropical Asian plant. It's blue flowers are commonly used as natural food colouring agents. Nara's ingenuity lies in infusing spicy herbs with Butterfly pea coloured rice. The magical part: the purplish-hued rice turns bluish upon squeezing lime. Not only does the Khao Phad Samunprai look good, it tastes delicious.
Pandan wrapped chicken (Gai Hor Bai Toel)
Remember Nigella Lawson heaping lush praises on the pandan leaf? Well the South and East Asians got there centuries ago, and a great testament to this is Nara's offering of Chicken Wrapped in Pandan Leaf. Marinated overnight with aromatic Thai herbs and ensconced in screwpine (pandan) leaves, these succulent pieces of meat are then deep fried and served with their leafy jackets on.
Shrimp cakes (Tord Man Goong)
When the shrimp cakes arrived, we did a double take cause they looked an awful lot like aapna medu vada - of course, they tasted nothing alike. Deep fried again, the hole-some cakes were a combination of fleshy, slightly muted filling and a rakish golden exterior. Dunked in sweet chilli sauce, its the starter that can trick you into overindulging.
Crispy fried seabass (Pla Ka Phong Chap Sua)
The meet cute of tender-within fried fish and garlic-peppercorn, with a background score of suitable herbs, pushed our other non-vegeterian samplings to the margin. If our dinner at Nara were a movie, Pla Ka Phong Chap Sua would definitely be the romantic lead - glorious at first glance, and unforgettable thereafter.
Coconut ice cream with condiments
Even if you don't like coconut as a flavour, try the ice cream here for its creamy consistency and wholesome flavour. It's as smooth and refreshing as having cold, tender coconut 'malai' and leaves no greasy after taste that other coconut flavoured ice creams do. Skip the condiments while at it.
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