Fire Monkey - Flaming Fatty, The Chinese New Year Celebrations At The Fatty Bao

Starting February 8, 2016, is a Year of the Fiery Monkey on the Chinese calendar. To celebrate this, The Fatty Bao, Bangalore, welcomes the Chinese New Year with a flaming special menu and some truly fiery cocktails. I was invited for a preview of ‘Fire Monkey- Flaming Fatty’ their special Chinese New Year Festival from February 8-14, 2016 exclusively for lunch and dinner.

Started the meal with Dragon Sushi which is believed to be symbols of power, dignity, fertility, wisdom and auspiciousness, dragons are used in dance to bring luck too. The vegetarian version had Avocado, cucumber, pickled carrot and spicy mayo and non vegetarian version had Spicy salmon, avocado, tobiko, crab meat, spicy sauce and tenkasu. I am not a sushi fan but this was the best sushi I ever had and asked for another helping of the same. These were my favorite from the menu.

Next on the table were Jiaozi which are dumplings. binged on some chicken and asparagus jiaozi while the vegetarians were taken care with broccoli and almond jiaozi. As I don't eat pork, others on the table enjoyed Baozi, smoked BBQ Pork, which were very cute looking piggy faces and made it straight to everyone's tummy.

Next were golden fried crispy Spring Rolls served with a homemade dipping sauce. While I ate the veg version which had wild mushroom, vermicelli, spinach and tofu, others enjoyed spicy minced lamb, black bean and mint spring roll. The rolls were crispy and crunchy, cooked to perfection.

Cantonese Sweet and Sour Chicken was next which we had with steamed rice. Crispy fried chicken with pineapple and vegetables made the dish a little sweet.

Ramen Noodles was served in a fat round pot, the uncut Ramen noodle in an aromatic duck broth with fresh coriander, soft boiled egg, crispy garlic and poached duck meat was delish as I enjoy duck meat.

Lastly, Steamed Red Snapper, a whole fish steamed with Chinese black vinegar and chilli sauce and served with stir fried vegetables. I savored every bite with steamed rice. As this signifies increase in prosperity, one can enjoy this with full family.

No meal is complete without dessert and similarly no Traditional Chinese New Year is complete without the ‘Moon Cake’, they had their version of moon cake which is served with strawberry compote and black sesame ice cream.

We couldn't leave without having Fatty Hill which is from the regular menu, yes I had my own guilty pleasures.

Few refreshing mocktails which is not part of the festival menu.

Some refreshments after I end my meal.

So head to The Fatty Bao (3rd Floor # 610, 12th Main Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar, Bangalore- 560 038), wish them Nian Hao between 8th Feb and 14th Feb for lunch and dinner and relish this festive menu before they take them off.

Lingering Lunch at Shiro with GourmetItUp experience

Mid week blues hit me and I wanted some change in my routine. Shiro was at my rescue service. I was invited by GourmetItUp for a review of the Lingering lunches at Shiro. I have been to Shiro many times and I knew my afternoon is going to be good with Chef Priyank taking care of the menu.

A little bit about GourmetItUp, it creates and curates customized food experiences. They are in their third year currently and have a strong hold in Mumbai, Delhi and Pune, entering the Bangalore market. They help in creating unique and exclusive dining experiences for its members, from off-menu meals to tasting experiences.

You must be wondering on how GourmetItUp works? Here is the answer: Diners register at GourmetItUp.com and browse through an extensive set of exclusive dining experiences. Diners can make a reservation at the click of a button and payments are made directly at the restaurant. Each experience clearly displays the menu, pricing and table availability and the GourmetItUp concierge can be easily reached via a call or live chat to answer any questions about an experience or to suggest experiences that best fit the occasion. 

I starter my meal with a refreshing mocktail names Orange and min virgin mojito. This is also Chef Priyank's favorite and has been on my order every time. It is refreshing and pairs my food well. During my meal I also had a mocktail with watermelon and soda.

The lingering lunches have 2 options for unlimited food apart from ala carte service. One can choose from Unlimited dim sums special and Unlimited Sushi and Maki special, both priced at Rs.850 plus charges and taxes. 

I started with the assorted veg dim sum platter which had Zucchini and coriander dumpling, spinach and corn dumpling, celery and pepper mushroom dumpling and chi chow dumpling. Can you believe that I enjoyed all the veg dim sums? I was very amazed with the taste and authenticity of the dim sums that I loved every bite. Without any dip, I enjoyed all, you can try with soya sauce or chilli paste which is served with it. Even I find it hard to believe that I enjoyed a veg platter more ;)

Next came the assorted non veg dim sum platter which had Celery and prawn dumpling, sui mai, hargau and chicken gyoza along with steamed chicken and shitake mushroom. I personally did not like marinated steamed chicken and shitake mushroom much. But the dumplings were amazing. As a prawn person, I loved hargau which had marinated prawns and steamed inside a translucent wrapper. While Sui mai had minced chicken and prawns and shitake mushroom steamed in a wonton wrapper. Given any weekday, I would prefer a dim sum special and have unlimited dims sums which floored my taste buds.

Steamed chicken and shitake mushroom

Next was Sushi and Maki Special. Starting with Veg sushi, I tried the cucumber, asparagus and shitake mushroom. I enjoyed the cucumber and asparagus sushi more than shitake mushroom. In non veg, I tried the red snapper sushi. I do not have taste buds for non veg sushi so I was hesitant to try tuna, spicy tuna mayo and salmon sushi.

Veg Maki and Veg Sushi (Left to right)

Non veg Sushi

Then came Maki. I have had Maki many times earlier but nothing tasted as good as Shiro. In veg, Crispy spicy avocado, vegetarian spicy California and Kappa maki was served which tasted exceptionally well. In non veg, california maki, tuna maki, prawn maki, new york maki, spicy chicken with shitake maki was served. I have developed a strong taste for Maki. I never knew they could be tasty especially when Chef Priyank has got his innovations too.

Non veg Maki

Ended my meal by having a cup of green tea which was very refreshing. I rarely have enjoy a good cup of green tea but Shiro did a fabulous job in bringing this lunch together. 

I had an amazing lunch taking my mid week blues out and raring to enjoy the weekend.

You can check the menu below for lingering lunch (ignore the spelling error in my name)