A flavourful feast from Eastern Asia at WelcomHotel Devee Grand Bay in Visakhapatnam

The ongoing Year of the Tiger festival at WelcomHotel Devee Grand Bay brings a blend of spicy and sweet-sour recipes from Eastern Asia

Dinner on a weekday is a deeply relaxing affair at The Residency at WelcomHotel Devee Grand Bay. When I walk in for the ongoing South-east Asian feast at the restaurant, I’m immediately drawn to the warmth of the interiors after a hectic day at work.  Here’s a feast that celebrates the Year of the Tiger featuring exotic flavours from the Far-East. The menu is a variety of rich dishes representative of the intricate connection between heritage and food. It is a combination of familiar and exotic flavours.

I take a table with chef Lok Thapa, who from his experience of working at ITC Grand Chola’s Pan Asian restaurant in Chennai, is now armed with a sound knowledge of cuisines from East Asia. I begin the culinary journey with a neatly laid out sushi dish — prawn tempura kamikaze roll. Conditioned by the notion that Japanese food was about raw meat, relished largely by those more experimental, I had been cautious about trying out sushi. But here, sushi attains a flavour that appeals to a global palate. “I have tried to experiment with the flavours to tweak it in a way that people who are trying out sushi for the first time will get to relish the dish,” says the chef. Prawn tempura kamikaze roll is crunchy and has the sweetness of fresh tempura prawn, creaminess of crab surumi, combined with mayonnaise. The flavour was refreshingly subtle and yet inviting.  For the experimental lot, there is the spicy salmon uramaki, one of the authentic traditional Japanese sushi rolls. 

“One of the most important parts of sushi is the Koshihikari rice. It is a short grain rice that retains moisture longer than other varieties of rice to give the perfect sushi shaping. The texture and the taste of the rice makes the difference. It is soft, moist and slightly sweet,” explains Thapa.  The service is highly efficient, and my food arrives at a well staggered pace, giving me enough time to relish a dish before moving to the next one. The menu has some delicious dimsums, and I quite enjoyed the buo cai bao, filled with crispy, fresh vegetables and water chestnut. The sushi and dimsums make for a pretty great start to the meal. Another exceptional preparation on the menu is the Cantonese chilli pepper prawn, which has a fiery flavour of black pepper crumble and roasted chilli flakes. 

Chicken with preserved fresh chilli is also a highlight. “The sauce of this dish has a unique method of preparation. Crushed spicy red chilli is fermented with vodka for five days to develop a sour and salty taste. The chicken is tossed in this along with other accompaniments,” says Thapa.  Not too much of a lover of vegetarian, I reluctantly try the tossed sichuan water chestnut, which delights my tastebuds for its sweet and crispy flavour. In the main course, a must-try is the braised lamb nam prik. The tender and juicy dish goes especially well with the traditional yaki soba or buckwheat noodles. With a sweet and smoky flavour, this noodle is yet another favourite of mine on the menu. I make my way through what had first looked like a formidable portion with comfortable ease, and before I know it, my meal is at its end, and a portion of the dessert arrives. A must-try in the dessert section is the thob thim crob, which are steamed water chestnuts and tender coconut in jasmine flavoured cream. Here’s a feast which I’d definitely go back to try again. The festival is on for lunch and dinner till April 24 at The Residency at WelcomHotel Devee Grand Bay.