There is an amazing thing about food. It truly brings people from different walks of life together. It is a beautiful culinary journey, taken on the same table, sharing each other's world and often enjoying good food with good company. I call it "spice of life".
Spice of Life
My tryst with discovering and exploring "spice of life" has recently taken me to JW Mariott's JW Cafe, to a delightful and beautiful testing journey of "Thai Food". The popular restaurant is running "Thai Food Fest" in the city of Mumbai and invited few of us bloggers to come and relish from its marvel. The food festival is ably managed and hosted by a lovely [read warm] Chef Rungtiwa, who have churned up some beautiful recipe from her exotic Thai ingredients for this festival. And whoever thinks Thai is bland or purely coconut based, need to give this preconceived notion of theirs to rest and rush to JW Mariott's Thai Food Fest to discover and explore.
Thai Food Fest- The Decor
If you have visited JW Sahar Cafe, you would know about the good decor and lovely ambiance. For this ongoing festival, the lovely cafe had further been beautified and decorated with some Thai style boat, flower arrangements, status and ah those colorful umbrellas. Here's a dekko-
Thai Food Fest- Food
We started this culinary journey from the "fruit" counter that was set in form of a lovely boat, displaying the varieties of exotic fruit from Thailand [sans Durians] and some from India. I am not a very fruit person though but I love the Mangosteen and was quite delighted to found it there. Umm pleasure.
From the fruits counter, we moved to the salad counter where lovely Rungtiwa churned up a spicy Som Tum salad for us using raw papayas, Kaffir Lime [I just love it], chilly peppers and other veg condiments. The salad was top of town and in spite of being little, it appeased my taste buds and became a favorite.
Post Salad we moved to the soup section, wherein I selected a spicy version of Tom Yum soup over clear soup. The soup was hot and laden with fresh condiments including glass noodles and spinach noodles. Like Salad, it too did not turn us down and was quite palatable.
You, me and Khao Suey
Though it has an origin from Burma, Khao Suey do reflect in Thai food at times. Being a Khao Suey fan, I could not wait to try it. So as soon as I finished my soup, I headed to counter where Khao Suey was been made. I took my bowlful and must say it was worth every spoon and, was on the best Khao Suey that I had in the city. The crunchiness, the taste, the adequate mixture of ingredients in the right amount and the well-cooked broth, all were made to perfection [as far I recall over other experiences recently]
During the course, we also tried some Satay [pineapple] before moving to the main course wherein I had some noodles and stir-fried vegetables. The overall taste of the main course was mild and came with enough spicy pastes to up the hotness if required.
Here are few pictures-
We ended the dinner with desserts that left a little more to be desired though. Nevertheless, the overall fare was good.
Here's a snapshot of me with my blogger buddies at the Food Fest.
Haute Kutir Verdict: The Thai Food Fest at JW Sahar is indeed a good collaboration and culmination of flavors from the beautiful eastern country of Thailand, brought in Mumbai, on your food plate. The ambiance was quite pleasant and done in good taste. The food was palatable, rich in flavors and absolute appetizing. I loved the spicy flavor and overall concept that was neatly and skillfully designed and laid out. The Food festival is packed and running till August 1st week. The charges may be around Rs 1600 incl taxes [approx] per pax, while the charges for Sunday brunch may vary.
If you like Thai Food or want to try some of it, do go ahead and give your taste buds an experience of JW hospitality. If you ask me for choices, I loved the salad, the soup, and the Khao Suey. I did not like the beverages that were served and the Dessert much and think there is room for some improvement. The Mangosteen did pull me to the fest but unfortunately, they ran out of stock, making me plan a re-visit.
Do remember that Thai food is not the same as Chinese, though they may be bordering on few ingredients and taste, they are indeed worthy for your sumptuous dinner this Monsoon.
Do I visit again? Yes
Do I recommend my readers to try the Thai Food Festival at JW Sahar? Indeed!
My rating: 4/5
Haute Kutir Trivia: Do you know, the art of "vegetable carving" is said to have originated in the Sukhothai Kingdom, nearly 700 years ago?
Before I leave, here's the group picture clicked by another amazing chef- Chef Danish who had cooked us a good Sunday brunch at the sister concern last year. Yes, you can add him to my list of reasons to visit the JW Cafe again, as well.
Ah! Now that's me with the Chef Rungtiwa, in all my ethnic chic glories. Yeah, what better way to celebrate a food festival in an ethnic, traditional dress? Right!
Dress: Ethnic Silk Churidar from Pantaloons
Bag: Michael Kors
Makeup: Eyeliner - LA Splash and Cheeks/eyeshadow by Victoria Secret
So Friends, hope you loved my review. If yes, do "Thai Me up" at my social channels including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can follow me on social media #microblogging for more, faster and regular update.
Bon Appetite
Ekta for Haute Kutir
PS: All pictures are copyright protected. Kindly do not use without permission from Team Haute Kutir.
PS: All pictures are copyright protected. Kindly do not use without permission from Team Haute Kutir.
