Thai flavours like chilli, lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime have found favour with the Indian palate, and the multitude of Pan-Asian restaurants popping up all over Bangalore bear testimony to that. Tim Tai takes up the beautiful bungalow space in Koramangala that once housed another Asian restaurant. Let’s just hope this newcomer can brave the heat from the competition.
DÉCOR
A small garden serves as a backdrop to a rather large signage that says Tim Tai — Asian Deli. A passageway offers seating options overlooking the open kitchen.
It’s bright, cheery with splashes of bold colour, blackboards with drawings of chopsticks and soup bowls hanging cheerily over the counter that give it a casual café-like vibe.
The lime-yellow theme probably looks less jarring in the daytime, but you can’t deny that it somehow makes you feel upbeat. All the action seems centered around the tree in the faux courtyard that makes communal dining look like fun.
FOOD
The modern theme is reflected in the two menus presented, including one exclusively for dim sums. You could probably make a meal out of dim sums and soup, but we chose to save that option for another day. We however couldn’t resist ordering the Shanghai Chicken Dim Sum — a piquant little chicken dumpling. The filling was satiating, but a thinner skin could have preempted us from making comparisons. We were urged to try their popular Tim Tai Chilli Chicken with Hot Chilli Bean Sauce and Sesame Seeds, and found it rather ordinary, but would be appealing to many who are familiar with its more popular analogue. The Prawns with Chili Sambal, Long Beans and Cherry Tomatoes was an ensemble that worked quite well. The one starter that ticked all boxes was the Banana Leaf Wrapped Fish with Balinese Spices. Hot, tangy and aromatic, this steamed fish filet deserves a repeat order and we didn’t want to know what fish it was. For main course, the Chicken Grapow with Hot Basil, Chilli and Kaffir Lime was predictably good. This simple stir fry of minced chicken is a popular Thai street food favourite and is eaten with sticky rice. Fresh ingredients are a key to this dish and they had got it right here. We ate this accompanied by Garlic Fried Rice with Broccoli, resulting in a happy match. Thai Chili Basil Noodles and Thai Red Curry with Prawns were excellent. Our lament of restaurants using canned coconut milk in Thai curries still remains, but considering this is a practice even in five-star properties, we have to let it pass. Desserts in an Asian restaurant are always a sticky proposition. The traditional fruit-and-jelly combinations found in South East Asia might not really coincide with our sugar-loaded idea of dessert. So we chose to play it safe and ordered their ice creams. This is where they hit it out of the ballpark. While the Pandan Leaf Ice Cream highlighted the subtle vanilla-like flavour of the Pandanus leaf, the Kaffir Lime Ice Cream and the Orange Lemongrass Ice Cream were complete flavour packages. Light, refreshing and plain delightful — it was a great way to end the meal.
PLUS AND MINUS
Cheery décor, efficient and friendly service and value-for-money offerings in the restaurant hub of Koramangala make this a good contender for a night out. The restaurant is kid-friendly and does not serve alcohol, which can be a plus or minus, depending on which demographic profile you belong to. Its offerings are tuned to satisfy the popular palate. However, the discerning customer can always spot the stars in the menu that will make their dining experience here worth it.
Must try: Banana Leaf wrapped Fish with Balinese Spices, Lotus Stem with Honey Chilli, Larb Gai, Massaman Curry, Ice Creams mousse.
Meal for two: Rs 1500
For more details: Tim Tai on TimesCity
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