This new restaurant brings a fresh take on Southeast Asian street food to Bandra

Mumbai has no shortage of restaurants serving Southeast Asian food, which makes opening another one a risky proposition. Seasee, the latest venture from the team behind Mirai, gets around that by avoiding the obvious. Instead of building a menu around dishes people already know, founders Saamir Chandnani and Rinchen Angchuk have filled it with the meals they kept coming back to while travelling across Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The result feels personal without trying too hard.

How a travel-inspired menu is redefining Mumbai's pan-Asian dining scene

We sampled almost everything on the menu and later spent time with the founders, hearing the stories behind the restaurant. It quickly became clear that Seasee wasn't put together around a mood board or a list of trending dishes. Every plate comes from somewhere they visited, someone they met or a meal they couldn't forget, and that thoughtfulness carries through from the first course to dessert.

The Tom Yum is exactly how you want to begin. Bright, punchy and fragrant, it wakes up your palate without knocking it over. The Pho follows with a broth that has clearly been given time, carrying plenty of depth while staying light enough to finish every last spoonful. Between the two, we'd struggle to choose a favourite.

Among the small plates, the Singapore Chilli Crab deserves all the attention it gets. Sweet, spicy and gloriously messy, it's the sort of dish that leaves everyone reaching for extra bread. The Chicken Satay arrives beautifully charred with a rich peanut sauce that you'll inevitably scrape clean, while the Honey Lotus strikes that satisfying balance between crisp, sticky and savoury.

The Mee Goreng is another standout, smoky from the wok and packed with flavour in every bite. The biggest surprise, though, was the Thai Green Curry. I'm usually not someone who orders Thai curry, let alone finishes it, but this one changed my mind. Rich without feeling heavy and layered with fresh herbs and gentle spice, it was one of the dishes we kept going back to.

Dessert offers an embarrassment of riches. Mango Sticky Rice remains exactly what you'd hope for, though the Coconut Cloud French Toast steals the spotlight. Rich, unapologetically indulgent and finished with just enough tropical freshness, it's the dessert everyone at the table kept returning to.

The cocktail list deserves similar curiosity. Rather than settling on one drink, ask your server to surprise you. It's difficult to go wrong. If you insist on recommendations, order the Missed the Tuk Tuk for something bright and tropical, then finish with the beautifully bitter Grind On My Thai.

Restaurants often talk about bringing the flavours of a place to Mumbai. Seasee feels more interested in bringing back the memories attached to those flavours. After spending an afternoon eating our way through the menu and hearing the stories behind it, that's exactly what stayed with us.

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