Pan-Asian at Asian Station, Nungambakkam

Asian Station has just opened a second branch at Khader Nawaz Khan (KNK) Road. It's located where The Park Pod once stood. Imposing black gates lead into the compound and since we were not familiar with the place, took a bit of time to locate the restaurant. There's a roofed outdoor seating  and the PDR downstairs, the air conditioned restaurant is up the stairs. Surprisingly, we had the place to ourselves. We also got to have a chat with the owner, Rohan Ahuja. In spite of coming from a non-hospitality background, he has clear plans of where he would like to steer the restaurant. The popularity of the first restaurant at Anna Nagar has been a deciding factor.

Flip card menu

The menu is a series of flip cards divided into various sections, which is a really neat idea. Being a pan-Asian restaurant, the usual suspects - Malaysian, Thai, Korean and Japanese favourites, from salads to desserts, were listed.

Tom kha gai

Salads - Thai larb gai; glass noodle salad with prawns

We shared a bowl of tom kha gai - Thai coconut soup with chicken. The soup was a little thin and would have been nicer if it had been served hot. However, the flavours were balanced perfectly. We also opted for 2 Thai-style salads; the glass noodles were a tad overcooked and the dressing in both salads lacked punch and zest.

Veg dim sums - we tried broccoli, corn & water chestnut & it was really nice  

Non veg dim sums - chicken & prawn siu mai; xiao long bao; spicy siu mai; gyoza

Of the dim sums, the gyoza was the best. All the dumplings had good amounts of filling and the pairing dips were tasty. My vegetarian friend also liked the ones made for her. If you're wondering about the single and small portions of each of the dim sums, it's because that was what we asked for.

Sushi - shrimp crunchy roll; caterpillar roll 

Asian Station makes really good sushi. Initially, we were a little diffident about ordering it but it turned out to be a good decision. It was very fresh and well made, the rice stayed intact and the prawns were fresh. The Japanese mayo was especially delish.

Thai veg curry, prawn red curry with steamed rice

We chose a Thai green veg curry and a red curry with prawns for the main course. Both were served with steamed rice, while my veg friend liked the green curry, I preferred the red one which had been cooked with large, succulent prawns. The curry was so delicious that you can drink it up like soup! 

Laksa

I love a good laksa but what's served at most places in the city is not really laksa. Asian Station's version had yellow noodles, chicken, beansprouts, tofu and a boiled egg. Even the gravy had been thickened with coconut milk but it just isn't laksa without the aromatics and herbs. In fact, it tasted more like curry mee. 

Tub tim grob

Dessert was tub tim grob, also called red rubies or mock pomegranate. It's a popular dessert and except that the rose flavour was a little too strong, it was cold and refreshing dessert that we did enjoy.

Asian Station
The Slate Hotel,
#23, 13, Khader Nawaz Khan Road
Nungambakkam, Chennai.


*This was an invited review