It’s not just Banng, It’s Bang, Bang! And Bang On!
Ok… that’s me going overboard with language quirks. But… yes… Chef Garima, aptly assisted by Chef Manav (or should I say Chef Manav, well-guided by Chef Garima?), have created menus that are bang on for taste, presentation and the works!
The menu opens win Kin Khao Reu Yang (Have you eaten yet?) – a traditional Thai greeting. Proof that Thai people take their food very seriously. The menu is different from the usual Thai outlets and their take on traditional Thai food while being honest to the basics.
Tom Kha Pani Puri |
They welcome everyone with their Tom Kha Pani Puri – a puri stuffed with mushrooms, herbs, served with chilled coconut broth. Refreshing on palate. Explosion of textures – puri crispness, mushroom smoothness with little punch of chilli and the texture of coconut.
They have an interesting cocktail program curated to suit the rustic Bangkok city menu. It comes in three parts – Fresh & Fizzy, Umami & Yummy and Moody & Boozy. I start with Pomelo Maa from the first – a mezcal and tequila cocktail with lemon grass. Starts smoky, ends spicy (probably the lemongrass and sumac together).
Duck Salad |
I find Raya more interesting – fresh yes, with a tang and saltiness of mushroom soy that lingers behind on palate. Bite into the pepper garnish if you want to spice it up a bit. Miang Kham, the fresh Thai betel leaf rolls with dried watermelon and Thai herbs, is a perfect company for this. It is one of the few pure veg dishes in Thailand. “Thai food uses more than one meat together,” informs Chef Manav. “And the flavours – sweet, sour and salty – rule.”
Yum Ma Ka Yao – grilled eggplant, minced chicken and prawns salad – is the next on table. Topped with coconut cream, laced with chilli oil, garnished with fresh lemongrass, fried shallots it is a medley of textures and flavours that stumps you. Veg people should eat Avocado Som Tum. Som means sour and Tum means pounded using mortar and pestle. “Som Tum can be made out of anything that comes from North-East Thailand,” informs Manav. “Northeast usually from tamarind or lime juice.”
Tomato on Vine |
Tod Mun Gai – red curry paste marinated chicken cake that wraps around prawns. Served with their version of achar – sugar n vinegar with shallots cucumber red chilli and a sweet sauce. Leaves the palate with kaffir lime taste thanks to the leaf pieces in the chicken cake.
“Also popular is samkal, in Thai cuisine. “Samkal means three friends – Coriander roots, garlic, and white pepper corns pounded together and used in sauces, salads, soups.” Manav continues with my education in Thai cuisine.
Silk & Spice |
The next dish, Seabass Ceviche, has samkal, red chilli and fish sauce as base. Salt, sour, chilli, and sweet is how the flavours come through teasing the palate one by one.
Vegetarians can’t miss Tomato On The Vine. Tomatoes are grilled with their vines and served on the bed of tom yum sauce with kaffir juveniles and candied tamarind. Juice of tomato, kaffir lime, chilli jam spice just leaves the palate wanting more.
Silk & Spice is a tequila-based cocktail with amazing five spice notes that unravel themselves slowly. Roasted pepper cashews, served as garnish, balance the molasses sweetness in the drink. A good main course companion.
Pomelommaa |
Manav suggested typical Thai way of eating… everything together with rice taking the center stage. “You keep drinking soup with the meal while you serve yourself like you do in India – everything together.”
Gaeng Om, soup, from NE Thailand has fermented fish sauce is the base that’s cooked with dill, eggplant, with chicken and roasted rice thrown in. Jasmine Rice takes the center. Pad Cha Lamb – fried lamb sauted with finger root, pepper corn, red and yellow peppers in a spicy sauce is one of the sides along with Cabbage Stir Fry. And… the experience is super satiating. Cabbage is subtle and adds umami to the entire meal.
Crab Omelet |
Banng offers a medley of Ping (favourite street food of Bangkok) and Omelettes, again popular on streets and homes. And I try almost all Pings and the Crab Omelette. Fluffy, fried, omelette with crab stuffed inside is garnished with coriander, pomelo, shallots, lime n chillies salad – termed to be a mix of two Thai dishes.
Pings – grilled skewers – are available only in the evenings at the Bar on ground level. And are served with varied sauces. Babycorn Ping comes with fresh Turmeric yellow curry sauce. Pepper leaf gives a peppery finish to the sauce which titiliates the palate. “Though we serve Pings at night, it’s something that’s eaten through the day on streets,” informs Manav.
The Royal Green Curry |
Okra Ping with Mala sauce is a delight for vegetarians. Mala paste – schezwan pepper n chillies – is cooked with cinnamon and star anise before marinating the okra in it. The sesame garnish gives texture to the ping. Tofu Ping with Lookchin sauce is another veg delight.
Lamb Sai Oua – galangal chillo lemongrass paste in lamb mince served with nim prik num (grilled chilli n shallots sauce) – is a ping for lamb lovers. Chicken lovers must try the Chicken Ping served with egg, rice, and a spicy salad. It is an explosion of flavours n texture. Bite the chicken and take a spoonful of rice, salad and egg mix. The greasy creaminess of egg, nuttiness of rice crispness, tang, and spice of salad.
The Andaman |
The bar also has other interesting appetisers. One of them is a vegetarian’s delight. Kanom Buang Waffles rice and tapioca starch waffles with a jackfruit, cherry tomatoes, grapes salad with coconut, galangal and palm sugar dressing.
Khau Man Gai Chicken Wings are stuffed with jasmine ginger rice. Dip them in fermented soy sauce. Ginger gives umami and a bite of accompanying cucumber adds to it.
Bloody Banng is a spicy mezcal based drink that’s served with spicy tomato garnish. Tomato and fried shallots come through first and leave a spicy note. Taste enhances as you go through it and ice dilutes it a little.
Another interesting dish is the Crab Cold Yellow Curry. Cold curry with yellow curry foam and crispies – the spice, coldness n crisp… dunk your spoon in and eat…all layers together to experience the myriad textures and flavuors.
White Curry is Garima’s exquisite creation. Subtle curry with grilled cherry tomatoes, adding chicken or seafood is a choice. I recommend just the original curry with plain rice.
Trio of Dessert |
Lod Chong Bingsu is a dessert that has to be shared because of its sheer size. Huge snowball of milk topped with pandan noodles, coconut cream! Exotic medley of flavours. You can also try Trio Of Desserts; actually convince the server to give you only one the trio – Thai Tea Mousse.
Average cost for two: ₹ 4000/-
Where: Banng, Hill Road, Bandra West, Mumbai
