Asia! Asia! Asia!, Sector 5, Salt Lake, Kolkata Street BBQ & Buffet

Restaurant Name: Asia! Asia! Asia!, Sector 5, Salt Lake, Kolkata
Phone: +919903100886, +919903100887
Address: DN 37, 1st Floor, DN Block, Bidhannagar, Sector 5, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700091 West Bengal India
Time: 12:00 Noon – 04:00 PM, 06:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 1,500
Cuisines: Asian, Beverages
Facilities: Indoor Seating, Family Friendly, Table booking recommended, Buffet

When was the last time you got over-whelmed by food? Though buffets came into existence much before the time-crunched Americans expressed their love for excess in a lucrative combination of variety, speed and low prices, the concept has actually ridden many high horses of convenience to feature in the culinary world to satiate large appetites with unlimited options. I, for one, do not think buffets are worthy of anything more than breakfast layouts. The backlash on quality freshness, gone overboard with menu innovation jumbling and the sheer wastage of scale, not to forget queuing up for food is cringe worthy for my standards. Yet, I’m pleasantly surprised by the genius of Asia! Asia! Asia! – the all-new confluence of Asian street-barbecue-refined flavours lashing out with amazing accuracy of concept and casualness. ft is the voguish dine-in experience no doubt The decor creates fantastic snatches of streetwise Asia. Graffiti brick walls, spacious openness, unadulterated colour palette, Tokyo neon signs, Thai inspired wood and metal flexi roadside seating, Japanese robatayaki, Chinese wok hei and indigenous version of carbonated peach and lychee Ramune with the pop of a marble.

Asia! Asia! Asia!, Sector 5, Salt Lake, Kolkata: Food

It’s a simple, straight hit idea controlled by pricing. An all day classic buffet features set appetizers of veg (Rs. 475) and non-veg (Rs. 525) and a swanky table grill buffet with unlimited roll out of appetizers with differential pricing, of veg (Rs. 700 / Rs. 750 on weekends) and non-veg for (Rs. 800 / Rs. 850 weekends). The menu changes every fortnight to keep things exciting and experimental.

Plus & Minus:

The sole server assisting the whole outlet briefs us of our choice of weekday non-vegetarian table grill with ample proficiency. He’s courteous enough to add vegetarian options for sampling on our request. Mini QR codes stuck on the tables give access to the day’s flow of the menu, fuss free self serve needs on the table, spaced out table service wherever required with minimal contact makes it a no chaos and no queue up kind of experience. We begin with golden fries; pepper garlic cottage cheese, crispy Mala Chongqing chicken popcorn with dried chilli pepper, sans the numbing Sichuan peppercorn, thank heavens and the Thai sizzling Seafood Pad Cha, an insipid version of the usual full-on heat and aromatics of mortar-pestle pounded Thai herbs seafood stir-fry freshness by roadside Thai aunties. Next, our robata or fireside cooking on the table grill brought in apparently pre-cooked, chicken sausages, Indonesian grilled fish, braised Bangkok pork belly, along with juicy pineapple satay sticks, honey chilli potatoes and sweetness of chilli lime corn on the cob. And then, it rained dumplings! The 10 varieties of veg, chicken, seafood and roasted pork stuffed mini dumplings tasting was overpowering alright, but unfortunately nothing really tingled the palate. The self-serve salad counter lacked punch, inspite of all feisty intent with the Thai Som Tam and roasted chicken salad, Korean Kim-chi and Miso Coleslaw, but the clean broth of the noodle laden Bhutanese Thukpa soup renders a heartwarming touch. In the mains, the Calcutta Street Chow Mein out-shines the Chicken Ginger Udon and the veg Nasi Mushroom daypot rice comes with wok tossed airiness. For sides, the Thai chicken green curry strings in the rustic notes, yet the show kitchen fails to deliver a simple bok Choy & mushroom in oyster sauce making it a mixed vegetable jamboree. Live desserts delight, with Japanese Dorayaki or warm mini pancakes stuffed with sweet azuki beans and drizzled in chocolate sauce and the much hyped home style, sticky rice dough Mochi ice creams in butterscotch and vanilla flavours beat the refrigerator full of cool display desserts.