Mumbai food: Enjoy value-for-money veg Asian cuisine in Fort

38 Bangkok street Food TastyService EfficientAmbiance DingyJava Lotus StemWe stepped inside 38 Bangkok Street a threeweek old eatery at Fort expecting to be teleported to a street in the Thailand capital However this outpost their first outlet was in Thane was anything but that No orblike Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling no typical stirfry aromas wafting from the kitchens and most importantly no meats Serving vegetarian fare from a mix of Asian cuisines the eatery presented a slightly fancy albeit dark vibe As we settled in we were served a warm herbinfused concoction to clear our palatesThe stem stormFor a restaurant serving vegetarian fare we braced ourselves for a small unexperimental menu However the menu wowed us with its wide selection of soups starters noodles curries rice wok meals and desserts We spotted Korean Indonesian Thai Burmese and Japanese mentions too with ingredients like lotus stems water chestnuts and jackfruitInteriors of the eateryFor starters we picked Gamajageon Rs 160 and Java Lotus Stem Rs 200 Koreanstyle grilled pancakes made of potato chillies and chives Gamajageon were basically grated potatotikkis our waiter had warned us when we ordered and high on vinegar The dish failed to impress The Java Lotus Stem was an instant perkup The crunchy thinly sliced lotus stems stirfried in a sweetandsour soy sauce with hints of ginger and garlic made for an amazing starter As the eatery doesnrsquot serve alcohol our poison for the night was Virgin Bay Breeze Rs 90 that had cranberry pineapple juice and a hint of triple sec We could barely taste the triple secShan Tamin Chin a wok meal was the highlight of our dining experience PicsBipin KokateMuch ado about momosWe liked that the eatery had a wide variety of momos usually underplayed in such spaces Our attendant suggested we order an assortment of six varieties Rs 220 The piping hot dumplings arrived in a bamboo cane box with three sauces mdash soy sweet chilli and tomato garlic Quite like the different shapes they were fold in the flavours were a mixed bag too Our picks were minced vegetable dimsums low on cabbage slightly spicy button mushroom momos and water chestnut with bokchoy variety The one with glass noodles was high on soy and the bean curd variety was average An interesting inclusion included rice black bean and fresh turmeric banh bao wrapping cake that didnrsquot feature the traditional momo covering Instead it was a mound of rice with pungent black bean flavoursTek thatPiqued by their exoticsounding names we ordered two mains mdashTek Tek R280 and Shan Tamin Chin R280 The latter featured in their wok meals section and it would be served with paneer satays Not too large a portion Tek Tek comprised a small bowl of traditional Indonesian noodles with tofu and vegetables Topped with crisply fried tofu baby corn bell peppers and other veggies the noodles were well cooked Despite a dry preparation we didnrsquot need any accompanying gravy as the dish was flavoursomeShan Tamin Chin Burmese rice covered with a layer of veggies cooked in tomatopeanut sauce could easily serve three Packed with wholesome veggies and a coconutey flavour the tomato sauce resembled the red Thai curry and went well with the beautifully cooked flavoursome rice The peanuts added to the crunch while the spicy paneer satay coated with a spicy red gravy were delish We rounded off our meal with Sangkaya Rs 150 a slice of Thai coconutpumpkin cake topped with vanilla ice cream This nottoosweet fresh coconut goodie along with the spongy cake was of meltinthemouth varietyPacking in authentic flavours in most dishes some of their experimental offerings were letdowns especially the Gamajageon Itrsquos valueformoney pricing would tempt an encore but wersquod go for their typical entrants instead