Located at The Imperial, Delhi, the Spice Route is one of the most well known restaurants in Delhi for its cuisine. The temple art that resides on the walls of the restaurant are inviting, beautiful and warm just like its food. We were recently invited to try their new Asian Market food fest.

Chef De Cuisine – Chef Veena Arora, the face of the restaurant introduced the first-ever Asian Market at the restaurant. The menu explores the best of South-East Asian Cuisine and has been beautifully crafted to present native food of Thailand, Vietnam, Kerala and Sri Lanka to its guests. The ingredients used are fresh and fine. The recipes on the menu are traditional, unique and healthy with diverse flavours. They are crafted to perfection with a deliciousness that may literally make you lick your fingers.

Trust us when we say that the delicious fragrance is just the beginning to the delicious food, every dish that was served to us was unique, fragrant creating an excitement that made it hard to wait for the tasting.

It began with a welcome drink that was green and fresh made with khus khus and mint leaves setting the tone for the delectable dishes that were to follow.

The menu included many local dishes of the above mentioned countries such as Pla Nil Krob- crispy whole Tilapia served with whole mango dressing. The mangoes had been preserved by the chef since summer. The fish was soft and cooked to perfection. With every bite you could taste the flavour.

Another very interesting dish was the pre-dinner snack called Khao Tang Naa Tang - crispy rice cake served with shrimp sauce. It was a wonderful appetiser and we just could not stop snacking on them.

Also there were the fresh green morning glory, which is such an essential part of Thai meal and exactly what is needed to complete the Asian Market plates on our table.

We also tasted the vegetarian Temperado - assorted vegetables with Sri Lankan curry powder and we cant stop raving about the Chef's special noodle soup for which she also did a small live cook out session for us. In almost every Asian cuisine the noodle soup is a known favourite, loved equally by Thai and Vietnamese. It was served to us with roasted garlic, fresh coriander, shallots and soft noodle piping hot, we tasted warmth and love of an Asian house!

-Akshika Sharma

The Asian Food Festival is on till 20th Oct at the Spice Route, The Imperial Hotel, Janpath, New Delhi