Oodles of Noodles at Oberoi Grand

When it is raining and streets are water logged, with work and traffic both moving at a snail’s pace, a hot soup, some exotic noodles and some innovative spirits may lift up your day. Baan Thai, the legendary Thai restaurant in Oberoi Grand Kolkata, has come up with a noodle festival called Oodles of Noodles which is the best answer to the otherwise grey skies to lift up your spirits. 

Baan Thai has been serving the most authentic Thai cuisine in the city for a long time. The plush restaurant which is the pride of the Oberoi Hotels Kolkata, has some signature dishes such as the Thai green curry, phad Thai to the papaya salad and assortment of soups, each having its own set of loyal and dedicated fan following.

The 8 course menu is like a symphony and the purpose is to have the noodles cooked in Thai style. The menu starts with appetizers which has look sin taohookab sen, essentially a stir fried tofu dumpling with Thai chilli on crispy noodles. While the crispy noodles add the necessary texture to the dish, the medium soft tofu maintains the perfect balance. The non vegetarian answer to this is look sin pla kab sen or the fish dumplings (bekti in this case), which is stir fried with Thai chilli and crispy noodles. Koong pa woonsenor – deep fried prawns wrapped in glass noodles is a crispy variety which will surely be a delight for prawn lovers. There is a noodle soup which comes with this and the kaeng sen kai teang kwa or the cucumber stuffed chicken with glass noodles is worth trying out.

The main course has only 3 types of noodles but each one with a distinct flavour profile. While the phad woonsen shriracha phak is the beautifully stir fried glass noodles with vegetables in chilli garlic sauce, the kimao soba thalay has prawn, bekti and calamari stir fried with soba noodles with chilli garlic. The presence of hot basil adds the kick in the flavour. The final in the mains is khanom sen kew wan kai which is the legendary green curry with chicken and rice noodles. This is a very humble way by Baan Thai to make the guests taste one of its signature creations. It is worth mentioning here that the fusion of the noodles and chicken pieces in the green curry is nothing but seamless and the distinct flavour of the green curry is evident.

One of the many reasons for Baan Thai becoming a cult place is for the taste of the food and their effort in keeping the ingredients authentic by even importing a few of them. This is evident in this festival also, where each ingredient used balances out the overall taste and creates a great sumptuous dish to devour. One understands that while cooking Thai or any South East Asian cuisine, creating authentic dishes and multiple choices for the vegetarian eaters is a bit complex; however, one can safely say this festival has nailed it in getting the vegetarian dishes to please their patrons as much as the non vegetarian ones.

Walk in to Baan Thai any of these days and get a taste of this delicious fare.

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