Honk at the Pullman New Delhi Aerocity, has been a well-known
Oriental restaurant in Delhi NCR since the time it opened. There have been no
two ways about the fact that the food is great here, and I have heard from
multiple people that the food here can give a run for its money to so many of
the places we rave about for their Oriental fare in Delhi. They have recently
come out with a new menu and I tried a couple of dishes from that.
I chose the Celebration Menu as per the chef’s
recommendation. A set menu which consisted of soup, salad, dimsums, sushi, main
course, accompaniments and desserts. So it was a full-fledged course wise meal
and I didn’t have to rack my brains to decide what to order and what to spare.
The menu has pre-decided choices for both vegetarians and nom vegetarians, and
there’s nothing you have to do once you place your order. Just relax and wait
for the food service to begin.
First up was an amuse bouche which was watermelon with
chipotle dressing. Bursting with flavours, set the tone right for the meal
ahead. A Som Tum Salad which was a raw papaya salad, rightfully denoted a red chilly next to it, and was
exceptionally good. I particularly loved it even more because even if the salad
was spicy, they still didn’t lose out on balancing the flavours. Sweet, sour,
spicy, everything was spot on! The peanuts was a lovely crunch to the salad.
But it is indeed spicy, so ask for a less spicier version if you have an aversion
to it.
The sushi here is phenomenal! You might see yourself longing
for more after quickly finishing the two pieces that come, but the meal ahead
tells you why the portion is just right. Spicy Salmon Roll with tempura and
asparagus, made so well. Loved the freshness and the spicy mayo!
You cannot come to Honk and not try the dimsums. Non
vegetarians get the Prawn Har Gao Dumplings (2 pieces). Being huge dimsum fans,
we ordered for the dimsum basket that has 10 pieces of dimsums in it. Ordered for
5 veg and 5 non veg apart from what the set menu offered us. Each dimsum was
too distinct in its flavours. Made with perfect finesse, such mind-blowing stuffing,
my favourite was the Duck and sour cherry dumpling, but every dimsum I tried
was superlative! The accompanying dimsum sauces are chilli, blackbean and soy,
and they’re perfect to go with the dimsums. My favourite was the blackbean.
Once you’re done with the salad, dimsums and sushi, a very
light soup awaits you. Good to wash down the strong flavours from before and
get you ready for main course. The soup is very comforting. After a delightful
few dishes that are strong on the palate, the soup comes as a sweet welcome. Don’t
undermine the flavours of it, look at the way the menu has been curated and appreciate
the fine nuances the chefs know about our palate. Loved how they kept the soup
light yet flavourful, and didn’t fill us up by giving a thick-textured heavy soup.
Asian green vegetables, lemongrass, celery. I’d say even if you’re not opting
for this menu and go for ala carte, you should definitely go ahead with this
soup.
Because non vegetarians have an advantage of trying the
vegetarian food as well, the main course that was ordered between my mother and
I was shared amongst us (only for me though). Cultivated mushrooms, garlic
chives, oyster sauce, chilli was what we ordered in vegetarian, and Thai Basil
Singapore Chilli Shrimps were ordered in non-vegetarian. Now, I hate mushrooms.
Like really. But given that I’m a blogger, I have to try everything that comes
my way. And my mother on the other hand loves mushrooms, so there was no way we
weren’t choosing this for main course. But one look at the mushrooms and I was
sold. And one bite of it and I was thoroughly impressed! A gorgeous sauce with
a balance of chilli and oyster, just as the menu read, but way way better than
I could have ever imagined. A curry to die for! Blended the flavours in so
well. Relished this with some outstanding Stir fry vegetable noodles which didn’t
need any curry to be enjoyed. They were amazing just by themselves too.

The Thai Basil Singapore Chilli Shrimps came with a steamed
bread- something like a mantao, and the shrimps were as delightful as I was
expecting them to be. Fried juicy shrimps in a coating of chilli sauce balanced
with slight sweetness, and a thick mix of onions, bell peppers, with lovely flavours of garlic. Went so well with the steamed bread. Once again, I could
have both the prawns and the bread just by themselves too. The prawns had a
slight crispiness on them from the stir frying, which was really good because
they weren’t very crispy, and they weren’t even dry because of excessive
cooking. Too good.
The chef also got us a portion of Nanjing Style Duck and a
small portion of Red Thai Curry. This place sure as hell knows how to get their
food spot on. Mind-blowing duck, cooked absolutely perfectly! A thin crisp
coating, the meat inside so soft that you could try pulling it apart with a
broken plastic spoon and even that would do the trick. Came with a sweet thick
sauce on top and the complete package was beautiful to say the least! No
surprises about the Red Thai Curry too. You can blindly go with this option for
main course and you’ll see yourself beaming from ear to ear.
Dessert is Caramel Chocolate and Peanut Parfait in the Celebration
Menu, but we also tried the Jasmine Crème Brulee, Ginger Medallion, Honey
Streusel. The Caramel Chocolate is a sphere of chocolate with Peanut Parfait
inside it. Hot chocolate poured on top to break open the ball, and the thin
crisp caramelised layer underneath also breaks into pieces. Lovely to dig into
and end your meal with. Didn’t like the Jasmine Crème Brulee as much even
though it was prepared perfectly- all the technical points like the texture,
the caramelisation, the taste of the streusel (which is the crumbled cake mix
on top) so good. The only issue was that the taste and aroma of jasmine was too
much. Couldn’t have more than 2-3 bites. So I’d say stick with the Caramel Chocolate.
All in all, the new menu at Honk is simply phenomenal. If
you’re a fan of Oriental food, you must must try this menu and you must in
general try Honk. Even if you’re not a ‘fan’ of Oriental food, you must still
go try the place. Both my mother and I are die-hard fans of Oriental food and
we didn’t find even one flaw in anything we ate (except for a slight issue with
the jasmine dessert), but our entire meal was so so good that we can’t wait to
be back. I’ve been raving about their food to everyone I’m eating, and they
honestly deserve this praise.
Address: Asset 2, Hospitality District, Aerocity, New Delhi
Contact: 011 46080808
Timings: 7PM to 11:30PM
Contact: 011 46080808
Timings: 7PM to 11:30PM
Disclaimer: The review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. All views expressed are unbiased in nature but readers are advised to exercise their own discretion.
Connect with me on:
Twitter: @sahibagursahane
Instagram: @thetastingfork
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thetastingfork
Snapchat: @thetastingfork
Instagram: @thetastingfork
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thetastingfork
No comments:
Post a comment