Pan Asian cuisine has been taking over the city, and how! I'd like to believe, however, that any number of options are too few, as the diversity and versatility of Asian cuisine only provides opportunities for more innovation and exploration. The Oriental Hub, which is located opposite the Inorbit Mall in Vashi, is a new entrant in this space, and provides diners a variety of options in Pan Asian delicacies to choose from. The spread provides for both, a-la carte and buffet options. I was invited to a food bloggers meet at the Hub, and got to sample some of the dishes from their menu which I've listed below :
VIRGIN MOJITO - Loved it! The kick of the mint and freshness of citrus-y limes was just what I needed to start off the meal with.
MANCHOW SOUP - I found the soup to be a little too heavy on soy sauce - not an ingredient I'm very fond of. The soup was a disappointment.
TOFU IN HUNAN SAUCE - Tofu tends to have a chalky taste at times but this dish was (thankfully) very well prepared. The tofu cubes were generously coated in spicy hunan sauce which, despite all the spice, did taste very nice (oh.. that rhymed).
CORN FRITTERS - Evenly cooked, with the lovely sweetness of corn coming through in every bite, I enjoyed gorging on these fritters. The mint based dip was a nice accompaniment too.
CORN AND WATER CHESTNUT DIMSUMS - What a beautifully done dish ! I swooned as I popped the dimsum into my mouth. The crunch of corn and water chestnut, together with the perfectly thin dimsum cover was delight in a bite. The burnt garlic dip served alongside went well with the dimsums.
PHAD PHAK THUAI LISONG - This dish consisted of assorted vegetables in a mildly spiced coconut based curry. The curry was a bit runny but tasted quite nice. The vegetables had a nice crunch to them, and I could get a hint of the flavors of galangal in the curry. This curry pairs best with rice.
MIXED VEGETABLES IN CHILLI BASIL SAUCE - I liked the fact that the pungent flavor of chilli had not completely taken over this dish, and there was a good balance of flavors of both, basil and chilli. In fact, the taste of each ingredient in the dish was more or less distinguishable. This was a very well made dish.
VEG THAI CURRY (RED) - Although a tad bit thicker than the Phad Phak Thuai Lisong, the Thai Curry was prepared pretty much on similar lines. The creamy coconut milk base provided wonderful texture to the curry, and galangal and kafir lime provided the curry a typical Thai flavor. Again, a dish best had with rice.
CHOP SOY - This dish didn't impress me at first glance, frankly. But once I got over my (visual) displeasure and tasted the dish, I found it to be pretty good. A prominent citrus flavour dominated the dish which otherwise would have been bland. Not exactly a wow dish, but not bad either.
BURNT GARLIC FRIED RICE - Fragrant, delicious, and firm to the bite, I thought the rice was very well made. The flavor was garlic was not overpowering, which I found to my liking. The rice paired beautifully with all the curries mentioned above.
BURNT CHILLI VEG SICHUAN NOODLES - The noodles were spicy. And I couldn't have more than a few fork-fuls of it. No complaints about the taste as such, but if you aren't much of a spice aficionado, I'd suggest steering clear.
After trying out the many dishes from the lunch buffet, we moved to the dessert platter, from which I had a taste of the following :
STRAWBERRY MOUSSE - I found the cream used in the mousse to be heavy on the palate. Wasn't very impressed with this.
BLUEBERRY JELLY - The flavour of blueberry came through nicely, and the jelly wasn't excessively sweet as most blueberry themed desserts tend to be. I found this dessert to be pretty good.
ASSORTED (MINI) PASTRIES - While the chocolate pastry was a bit dry, the blueberry and pineapple ones were generously doused in sugar syrup. The taste seemed fine, but I think the amount of sugar syrup used can be cut down significantly. This can lead to further improvement in the taste.
MANGO MOUSSE CAKE - The biscuit base used in the cake was a downer, but the mango mousse was delicious. I scraped off and gorged on just the mousse, and the dessert didn't seem incomplete even so. Would suggest doing away with the base altogether.
DARSAN - A very standard preparation of a scoop of vanilla ice cream placed over a bed of honey-sesame coated fried flat noodles, the darsan, although not a terribly exciting dish, didn't disappoint either.
In terms of food, The Oriental Hub has done a good job on the appetizer and main course options. However, I think the dessert menu needs to be given a little more attention, as diners would want the last part of their meal to be the highlight. A little more innovation in this respect would provide a big boost to the overall satisfaction level from the meal.
The service was quick and I thought the servers were doing a great job. No complaints whatsoever in that department.
With regard to the interiors, the Oriental Hub provides a standard layout as seen in many other restaurants. The open kitchen allows you to see your food being prepared, which is a step towards ensuring transparency (quite welcome). While I don't think anything stood out in particular from the set up of the place, it doesn't take away from the fact that you are @assured of a great meal in a standardised, but wonderful setting.
Overall, I had a nice experience at The Oriental Hub, and would recommend the place to folks who wish to explore Pan Asian cuisine in the satellite city of Navi Mumbai.
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