Wok’s Cooking!

On a sultry September afternoon,the touch,feel and fragrance of the Orient ambience created at Bella Asia,the high-rise restaurant of Bella Vista,Panchkula,with bamboos,umbrellas and reclining Buddha soothes the senses. As one soaks in the cool space of the restaurant ,the ongoing food festival — The Wok of Life —regales the foodies with an array of aromas,flavours and delicacies. The festival offers a feast from the East,with Chef Manohar creating an exhaustive menu that boasts speciality cuisines from China and Thailand “It’s not a typical Thai menu with curry,rice,chicken,and vegetables that we are serving. The festival has a host of tempting options for those who like to experiment with their palate — salmon,duck,lobster and fish cakes,’’says the chef.

For starters,choose from satays,dimsums and wantons. “Satay,which originated from Indonesia is a dish of seasoned,skewered and grilled meat,served with sauce. This is popular worldwide and is known as Yakitori in Japan,Shiskebab in Turkey,Shashlik in Caucasus and Chuanr in China,’’ he explains. The diced chicken,shrimps and mutton satays are tender and the seasonings do not overpower the taste of the meat. For vegetarians,there is an option of tofu and mix of vegetables. The chef’s recommendations from this section are chicken lemongrass kebabs,Thai fish cakes on skewers and baby corn satay with lemon chilly sauce.

The menu also offers a variety of dimsums like Hargao,which have a smooth and translucent covering made of tapioca,potato,rice and lotus root starch. Siumai is an open cup or basket shaped dumpling slightly sweet in taste while Money Bag looks like a traditional Chinese string pouch. Try broccoli and corn hargao and prawn siumai for the filling.

The dishes in the main courses are either grilled or wok-tossed. For fish-lovers,there’s salmon grilled with tomato and tamarind sauce. Rock Lobster is cooked in white wine and presented in its shell while Fresh river Sole is grilled with chilli soya. The Wok-tossed sliced duck in teriyaki sauce and brandy-flamed lamb in soya sauce are two dishes that are exclusive in taste and presentation. Curry lovers can also savour the flavourful Thai curries,with regular side dishes of noodles and rice in various flavours.

The desserts featured in the menu are uniquely Oriental,like Tab Tim Grop,a refreshing way of presenting water chestnuts and Tropical Millie Feullie,where home-made wafers are layered with cream and fruits.A three-course meal at Bella Vista,Sector 6,Panchkula,will cost you approximately Rs 450 (plus taxes),per head.