Asia! Asia! Asia!'s Vietnamese menu has unique dishes

With incessant rains leading to frequent mood swings, hot, brothy, flavourful dishes act as comfort food and this is exactly what led us to check out the menu of the ongoing Vietnamese Food Festival in Asia! Asia! Asia!

Abhimanyu Maheshwari, founder and CEO, Zing Restaurants, says, “Asia! Asia! Asia! is an ode to the food streets of popular Asian destinations like Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia. Our latest fest Nom Nom Vietnam is an extension of that. The specially curated festival menu showcases classic Vietnamese items from Pho and Lettuce cups to Claypot fish, and Com tam, accompanied by Vietnamese coffee.”

With heavy spells of showers outside, we felt like having something as comforting as a Pork dumpling Pho. A classic staple, the pho was savoury, slow-cooked, rich, and had a clear broth with herbs, rice noodles and soft pork dumplings dunked into the broth. We slurped up every bit of this classic Vietnamese staple while nibbling into a plateful of Prawn Vietnamese summer rolls on the sides. Loaded with rice noodles, chunky prawn pieces and strips of fresh veggies, these rice paper rolls, served with a honey chilli dip and Nam prik, make for the perfect conversation starter.

For the mains, throwing dietary caution to the winds, we went all out tasting the best of the Vietnamese flavours with Bun cha. Apparently, it’s the very same preparation that made late American chef Anthony Bourdain fall in love with Vietnam. A flavour bomb, this brothy delight from streets of Hanoi, traditionally features grilled pork patties, fresh herbs, vermicelli, and a savoury dipping sauce, traditionally made with fish sauce and other spices. Here, you will get paneer and chicken variants too. We washed everything down with a glassful of Nuoc mia — a refreshing sugarcane juice with a hint of lime and mint.

Despite overeating by all measures, we couldn’t give the toothsome Chei Chuoi a go. A local dessert available at the floating markets of the Mekong Delta is an age-old delicacy made with tapioca and a mix of ripe bananas and rich coconut milk. Yummy, we say!

Price for 2: Rs 1000+