You may find Zen at Zao Cha
You know sometimes you don’t have enough words to express your feelings? That’s what I felt at Zao Cha! A hidden, unassuming eatery that does a tremendous job at recreating Asian flavours in India. (Bandra to be specific)
I have heard real Asian food is nothing like you get in India. But who cares, as long as it makes my tummy happy and heart sing. The dumplings had gorgeous colour, fluffy on the inside and velvety on the outside. the first bite was soft, melt-in-the-mouth. Sadly, both sets of dumplings had only 3 pieces, which we hated. Somehow, we made our peace by sharing the last piece.
Dumpling 1: Vegetable and Chive dumpling ( Green colour)
Dumpling 2: Corn and Water Chestnut dumpling ( Yellow colour)
Next, we ordered avocado spring roll! Unlike its Chinese counterparts, this one was not dripping in oil. It was super light, crispy. Loaded with mushed avocado it was served on a bed of small pieces of avos. It was a great one-ingredient dish! And the mayo dip served alongside was OUT-OF-THE-WORLD! Sweet with hints of tanginess. Beautiful.
Then, we tried their Yam Chow rice with tofu & wild mushroom clay pot with bok choy.
Yeah, bok choy needs a special mention. We usually don’t bite into big leafy things from our gravy, thinking it’s too much of work. And that’s what I did until my friend insisted, I have a go at it. And Wow! It was fresh, chewy and absorbed the sauce so well. I loved it. Overall though, I found the gravy a bit sweet for my liking. I expected a fiery punch, but that didn’t happen. The tofu was super soft! Wild mushroom… You may have to ask my friend that. (I don’t like mushrooms) The gravy had a nice colour, thickness and tons of vegetables.
The Yam Chow rice was really good. They were sticky (which is a good thing, trust me) and cooked in broccoli stem, corn, kidney beans and iceberg lettuce. I had 2-3 spoonful of rice on its own, very nice.
We washed down our food with their Yam Cha ice tea! It was sweet-tangy, fresh and summery. It was like drinking tangerines.
Two big tips when you visit there:
1. Go by their recommendations. They really do know their food and can help you. Most of our food was recommended by our server.
2. Sit by the windows. The windows are designed in a way that makes you feel like you are in the flintstones era. It’s quite fun.
