Meat done the exotic way at Salt Co. 531's Eat East Street Carnival

Meat and eggs cooked and served in bamboo and coconut shells — that’s all the convincing we needed, without that pinch of salt.
The Eat East Street Carnival
The Eat East Street Carnival

This might just be your only chance at tasting a handful of rare Oriental speciality dishes, especially the meat offerings. This year’s edition of The Eat East Street Carnival at the Salt Co. 531 restaurant, the Radisson Blu Hotel GRT Chennai, offers selections from the cuisines of Japan, Thailand and Korea, with the promise of affordable street-style fine dining in a charming poolside setup of live counters.

The recipes are all authentic, though the preparation styles have been slightly modified with a preference for slow-cooking methods. The result is in outstanding offerings such as the Yaki Tori Peneang Watermelon, of the juiciest chunks of chicken baked inside a scooped-out melon shell.

<em>The Eat East Street Carnival </em>
The Eat East Street Carnival 

The steam that emanates from the shell is delightful as it’s opened up and served, while the flavours are mellow with a hint of sweetness.

At a private tasting last week, we also got to sample the Gai Yang in Bamboo — quail cooked inside hollowed-out bamboo stems, rendering it uncommonly tender and full of juice.

Yet, the highlight here was the sinful Chawan Mushi, of scrambled eggs cooked inside a tender coconut — the eggs are prepped with sake (Japanese fermented rice beverage), rice wine vine-gar, soya and dashi fish stock.

Interestingly, there isn’t a single grain of salt added to the mix. A good amount of trial and error went into balancing the natural salts in the dish, doing away with the need for any additional salt, we’re informed.

<em>The Eat East Street Carnival </em>
The Eat East Street Carnival 

Satay as you are
Natural salt is, after all, the calling card at this restaurant that has built a reputation for exquisite comfort food cooked and served on pink Himalayan salt blocks, brought in from the Khewra Salt Mines of Pakistan.

What’s more, the kitchen gets its salmon from Scotland, tuna from Japan, lamb from Jaipur and pork from Spain. (They also have meat coming in from Bengaluru; we confirmed.)

Also, in keeping with their unique proposition, they only use gourmet salts (in a dozen varieties); there’s no table salt on any of the tables either, as a deliberate choice of the hosts.

The hotel has also begun a host of initiatives such as, No Bin Day where you’re encouraged not to waste food, and Digital Detox meals where guests deposit their phones at the reception.

<em>The Eat East Street Carnival </em>
The Eat East Street Carnival 

Our main course options included stir-fried noodles such as the Korean Jabchae (sweet potato), the thick, smooth and white Japanese Yaki Udon and the Bami Phad Thai dried rice variety, with curries like the Yukgaejang (Korean spicy beef) as well as Thai fish curries like the Chuchi Pla (in red curry sauce) and the sour-spicy Kaeng Khae.

While for dessert, we sampled the Dorayaki (red bean base and jaggery) and Sangayi Fakthong (coconut, pumpkin and happong or Japanese steam bun) — both retaining the meal’s overall mellow flavour profile.

`1,799 plus taxes. The Eat East Street Carnival is on until Aug 22 at Salt. Co. 531, Radisson Blu, 531, GST Road. Details: 30853545

— Jaideep Sen
jaideep@newindian
express.com
@senstays

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