Bright interiors done up with a unique lattice of wood
work, tables set with crisp monogrammed napkins and cutlery that included
chopsticks; my attention was drawn to all these as soon as I walked into Gong, a modern Asian restaurant at Balewadi High Street.
I had been reading about
this restaurant for a while but as it is situated at the other end of town (a
side I rarely venture to), it remained on my ‘to-visit’ list… until now.
At the onset of the meal, a refreshingly delicious cranberry
sphere was served as amuse bouche.
Our first course was a Green Papaya Salad
which I did not eat as I am “allergic” to salads but everyone at the table
found the salad to be fresh, albeit a tad spicy.
For the second course we were
served Asparagus Tempura and Ebi Tempura Roll (Prawn), both of which were
absolutely gorgeous in flavour and texture.
I am a very big fan of Cheung Fan and I was ecstatic
when I saw it on the tasting menu.
They served us two varieties: Crisp
Vegetable Cheung Fan and Crispy Prawn Cheung Fan. As these were the Zhaliang
(also written as Zha Leung) variety of Cheung Fan it had a light and crisp
inner layer with a silken outer covering; they were perfect and a delight
to bite into!
Next, we were served Edamame &
Truffle Dumplings. These were steamed to perfection and the dumpling wrapper
was beautifully thin. The filling of Edamame & Truffle was smooth and lush on
the palate without being pasty. We all loved it!
The Asian Cottage Cheese Ravioli and the Asian Crab
Ravioli were served in a very unique way; in stem glasses. Both the raviolis
were lovely but of course the carnivore in me preferred the one filled with
crab.
I’m not a big fan of lotus stem but my palate declared the Crisp Lotus
Stem to be a winner among the vegetarian items served. Crisp, sweet and spicy;
the chefs had turned a humble vegetable into a delicious preparation.
The Vietnamese Fish Parma Fingers were also nicely done. The fish was batter
fried to a lovely crunch and served with crisp lettuce, sauces, kimchi and grated Parmesan.
For the next course we were supposed to be served a
Mushroom Cappuccino and a Chicken-Asparagus & Lebanese Cucumber soup but
that never made its way to our table. As this was a tasting invite, we decided
not to question our host about the same.
For the mains there were two vegetarian dishes which I
avoided as tofu and greens are not things I relish. I thought it would be
unfair to review something my taste buds cannot handle. As for the
non-vegetarian mains, the lamb shanks were delish but they would’ve been better had they had more meat on them.
The Burnt Garlic Fried Rice and
the Soba Yaki Noodles were an excellent accompaniment to the flavourful Chicken
Pixian which was cooked in special Chinkiang vinegar. The crisp tuile served
with the chicken gave a dish a very classy look.
The first dessert they served was the Chocolate Dome and
the only thing I can say about it is, ‘wow-wow-wow!’. (Do check out the uploaded video)
The chocolate log filled with
mousse was also quite nice. The only drawback was the chocolate log had a very
thick covering of chocolate which made the dish a bit clumsy. A thinner, more
delicate covering of chocolate would’ve worked better.
The mango pudding wasn’t
enjoyable. It was made of canned mango pulp which lent an unappealing
aftertaste to the palate; I’d give this a miss and exchange it for that decadent Chocolate
Dome on any given day. ;)
All in all, the chefs at Gong Modern Asian sure know
their food and that knowledge clearly reflects in the flavours and textures
they serve their patrons. I will definitely go back and try some more
non-vegetarian dishes from their menu as the ones they served were very good.
This was a food tasting invite via team #FoodProwl who
also happened to be celebrating their 100th food tasting event that
day. *a loud happy shout out to the entire team for being as awesome as it is*
Link to.... Chocolate Dome Video
