The season of summery food pop-ups is upon us, and The Fatty Bao has made its return after a brief hiatus with a South East Asian curry festival. The beloved Asian joint’s contemporary menu (featuring signatures like baos, dim sum, Asian salads, pairable small plates, Asian-inspired cocktails, authentic stir fries hearty ramens and broths from South East Asia) can now be availed at Monkey Bar. The month-long ‘Curry Up Fatty’ festival features an interesting range of delicious, hearty curries from the streets of Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines, that will be available from February 25 - March 28, 2021, for dine-in at Monkey Bar and delivery through food apps.
The curry festival menu of course, syncs up with The Fatty Bao's contemporary Asian palate and there's nothing too overworked or pretentious about the curation. But the menu does manage to move over traditional Thai curries and explore some of more obscure recipes which are very difficult to score in the city. The curries are also portioned to be versatile, so they can fit into a family-style brunch and pass as a shareable entree with bread. Each curry comes with a choice of steamed rice, jasmine rice and fried garlic rice along with a selection of accompaniments including green sambal, roasted minced spicy peanuts, cucumber, fried onions and crackers.
We did spot one old school Thai Green Curry that’s made with slow-cooked Lamb Meatballs, prepared in green curry paste and coconut milk, and was simmered to perfection. But the Gulai Ayam got top priority at our table as its reputation preceded its arrival; the buttery, Indonesian spicy chicken curry is cooked with baby onions and is famed for its rich but balanced flavour. Though we paired it with some aromatic rice, it also works well as a standalone soup-based entree. The Malacca Nyonya sweet and sour Curry Laksa with Seafood is a household favourite across the Malay peninsula and can also be consumed with a simple Asian salad or thin breads.
We also sampled the Javanese Sayur Lodeh with Vegetables, a simple veggie curry often prepared like a braised soup with six key ingredients, namely chayote, beans, eggplant, chili pepper, tofu and a coconut milk base. Pork-lovers can’t afford to miss out on the Pork Humba; the Filipino pork entree is enormously popular in the Visayan and Southern regions and features tender braised pork belly with black bean, pineapple, red chili and soy. We also spotted the Ca Ri Ga, a wholesome and filling Vietnamese chicken curry with potatoes, carrots and green peas. Hot Tip: Do take some time to note the difference between the Malay and Indonesian curries vis-a-vis flavour and texture of the gravy, and also how different they are from Japanese curries from the far east.
Price for two: Rs 1,400