Not wonderfully Asia

Asia 7 has a long way to go before they can qualify as serving Pan-Asian cuisine; or even delicious Chinese as authentic components miss more than they hit

Not wonderfully Asia

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Not wonderfully Asia

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Considering Asia 7 already has outlets in Mumbai and Delhi in addition to being functional in Pune since a month, the restaurant is still getting its food quite wrong.

We understand that they didn’t want to risk it by going all-out pan-Asian, so the menu is mostly Chinese, with some Thai, Japanese sushi and a few Malay and Korean dishes thrown in. Oh well.

Asia 7
Food: Under average
Service: Courteous
Ambience: Typicalu00a0

The typical ambience of the restaurant present in most cities

We began with a non-vegetarian Sushi Platter (Rs 850). The Salmon Sashimi was perfect and the Tuna came close. The Crab Maki and the Nigiri were delicious and perfectly executed as well.

The Wasabi hardly kicked in

Just one glitch: they need to have authentic Wasabi. Tried as we might, even after bigger serving, the kick of flavour in the Wasabi eluded us. After all, great sushi needs quality accompaniments as well.

Coming to the main course, it was all massive disappointment that we met. Our Malay Noyona and Chicken Rice (Rs 525) was regular fried rice a la any-neighbourhood-Chinese-eatery style.

The Sushi Platter had one glitch

Still. If you think this was bad, wait till you meet the disaster of the meal -- .Red Thai Curry (Rs 495). It lacked salt and the thick-cut multiple pieces of galangal were completely flavourless irrespective of their size.

Yes, the chef did oblige us by adding cauliflower and green beans to our request for “some extra veggies” but those weren’t exactly what we expected. As we spooned up each bite with our Steamed Rice (Rs 200), we couldn’t help but feel that what we were eating was bland hogwash.

Unfortunately, the Blackcurrant Iced Tea (Rs 100) that we ordered to wash it down with was equally under-average. It arrived as a pretty picture poured in an equally attractive glass but was a little mild, diluted version with the very hint of a blackcurrant flavour.

To top it all, when our server scooped us a second helping, he spooned so much curry into a puddle on our plate, that it became almost farcical. Maybe we are being too nitpicky, after all, the service was really courteous and obliging.

Perhaps, when a brand raises our expectations with fantastic properties such as Punjab Grill and Zambar; the sad, lack-lustre food at Asia 7 left us more annoyed.