Ooh Lah Lah!

We seat ourselves on stools made of dark wood as the owner,head chef and interior decorator of the restaurant,Anisha Maker welcomes us. Since it is a small restaurant,Maker personally welcomes all the guests. A small square shutter-door allows us a peek into the kitchen,through which,Maker was later spotted supervising the chefs. Near this door reads a notice: ‘We are not an authentic restaurant,we just cook great food.’ Slightly skeptical,we ask for the menu. Surprisingly,the line-up looks solid and the prices reasonable as compared to other restaurants in the vicinity,but there aren’t too many dishes to choose from. “I have used ingredients from all over Southeast Asia — Thailand,Malaysia,Singapore,Indonesia etc. These recipes are original and my take on a variety of Southeast Asian dishes,” says Maker

There are not many places where head chefs take down your orders,but the idea scored brownie points from our side,as Maker recommended a few of her favourites. We started off with marinated mushroom and crisp spinach salad (Rs 180) — a tangy mix of crispy spinach leaves and soft button mushrooms — indeed a vegetarian’s paradise. The lamb skewers with coriander and tofu salad (Rs 250) were good to taste but a tad chewy. Among the starters,the real winner was the caramelised chilli lotus stem (Rs 180). The spicy sauce with pepper and chilli powder reminded us of the classic crispy honey and chilli potatoes,but with a stronger sweet and sour interplay. We sampled the mini Thai rolls (Rs 180) too. The flavour of lemon grass seemed quite strong,but a perfect blend of a sweet and spicy sauce salvaged the dish.

For the main course,the menu has an interesting section — ‘Noodle Bowls’ — under which one can choose the preferred noodles. We chose a vegetarian combination of pok choy,carrots,button mushrooms and Chinese carrots mixed with plain noodles and soy garlic cilantro sauce (Rs 200). We then moved on to the last section on the menu titled Fixed Mains,which comprised different kinds of curries. We decided on the vegetarian Malay curry (Rs 240) and tamarind mutton stew (Rs 300). The former was a delicious thick and creamy yellow coconut curry with vegetables and is to be eaten with steamed rice. The mutton stew,on the other hand,lacked an element of zing and tasted bland.

We asked for the dessert menu in the end but unfortunately,Lah doesn’t serve desserts. “We are planning to introduce one signature dessert in the coming weeks,” said Maker,“a trifle with Asian flavours.” Still,we would like to give Lah a thumbs up; looks like an affordable Southeast Asian has finally arrived in Delhi.

Meal for two: Rs 1,000 (including taxes)

Address: Building no 6,2nd floor,Hauz Khaz Village

Contact: 8800958705

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