ITP Indian Travel Places: Food, Travel, Tourism Business Events and Trade Shows
Address: 2/10, Gandhi Mandapam Road, Kotturpuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu India
Time: 12 Noon to 3:30 PM, 7 PM to 11:30 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 1,400
Cuisines: Burmese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Singaporean
Facilities: No Alcohol Available, Table booking recommended
Soy Soi, Kotturpuram, Chennai: Decor
This is the street where Soy lives. In other words, Soy is, well, Soya in any form and Soi is street. Black walls and ceilings in all its rooms make me feel like soya sauce has taken over. At its entrance, the restaurant has this polished, classy long table running across one whole room, literally occupying centre stage. This table is part of fallen tree that met its end during the cyclone of 2016. In the other rooms, I see polished gold wood, an abundance of cane lampshades hanging from the ceiling, a stunning painting with dragonflies, and a lovely face make for the décor of this rather large and buzzing place. Everybody is sitting on red or beige upholstery, some of them on cane-backed wooden chairs.
Soy Soi, Kotturpuram, Chennai: Food
Soy Soi’s founding team of four spent weeks of intense eating in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, resulting in the restaurant’s menu, its authenticity of flavors and textures. I listen to these food stories as I sip on my Citrus Cucumber Cooler and chew on the perfectly fine Satay Aayam Madura, chicken satay prepared the way it is in the Madura region of Indonesia. First, I dip my glistening brown, smoky, crisp-around-the-edges satay into the reddish, thick sambal. The sting from its chilli is dulled by an inherent sweetness that offers comfort to my fired-up taste buds. For milder nutty flavors, I dip the satay into a thinner peanut sauce but find myself liking the intricacy of the sambal more. Prawn and fish mince make Satay Lilit interesting. Even more interesting are the skewers they come on: lemon grass sticks. Fresh lemongrass seeps into the satay, making it that much more interesting, mildly intense if that is even possible. I like it by itself, but if you need something, there’s always the peanut sauce… or sambal, which in my opinion, overpowers the Lilit.
I love the transparency of the Vietnamese Goi Cuon. Each rice paper roll is chiffon sheer and thin, showing the colours and shapes it clads: sprouts, greens and onions. It sits on a sweet chilli garlic clear sauce, which neutralises the blandness of the veggies without taking away their moist crunch.
Fresh coconut milk, even if it’s just a dash, makes a whole lot of difference to this Tom Yum Soup. Three variations are on the menu — veg, prawn and chicken. In my mind, prawn is best suited for Tom Yum, so this is the one I opt for. Am happy to report that the prawn is succulent, with flavours going all the way. I love the lemongrass and Thai basil, but that chilli kick, in the end, takes my breath away.
The ‘Char’ in Char Kuay Tiew, could be from the charring of the sweet soy sauce. Kuay Tiew comes from cut rice noodles. This is a Malay street food, a one-dish meal, with just the right char flavour complimented by garlic overtones and crunch from freshly mixed in sprouts.
During the mango season (may it last forever) the Khao Niew Mamuang or sticky rice with mango comes in a cute little serving contraption with two sections. One holds the steaming sticky rice with coconut cream. The other, on top, has mango cubes and ice cream. A thoroughly enjoyable dessert I can eat every single day.
Soy Soi, Kotturpuram, Chennai: Plus & Minus
The restaurant itself is relatively new, and I’m hoping they maintain the high standards they have set for themselves. I haven’t mentioned the Dim Sum as their machine was out of order..
