BENGALURU: Shizusan Shophouse and Bar hosted a series of food festivals called the Travelling Series, which included baos, sushi, dim sums and satays with flavours from across Asia. Now, the pan-Asian spot has selected the stars from these festivals for the Travelling Stars festival.
We started the meal with some cocktails from this menu. The Soum Tum Sling, an ode to the iconic Thai papaya salad made with gin, chilli and lime, is a good option for someone looking for a light, fresh drink. The Soho Sling Punch was next, which had vodka, blue curacao, lychee and coconut to bring out those Asian flavours. It was a little strong for our taste. From the sushi selection, we tried the vegetarian Chiang Mai Uramaki that had crunchy asparagus and avocado. But the real star of the dish was the bird’s eye chilli that gave the sushi an unexpected kick. We also tried and loved the Norwegian Salmon Maki, and while it had some traditional flavours, the cranberries set it apart.
Among the satays, the Kushikato Lotus Root skewers was a good vegetarian option with loads of crunch. We tried the Chicken Kaprow next – the meat was soft, infused with lemongrass flavours. We also liked the Udong Bulgogi – shrimp in Korean Bulgogi sauce on lemongrass skewers – but found them a little difficult to eat. The Activated Charcoal and Crab Xiao Long Bao, stuffed with steaming hot pho, is for those who enjoy seafood, as the crab flavour in this dim sum was quite strong. The Asparagus and Fragrant Rice Baozi was a good vegetarian option among the dim sums, and comes with a broth of its own. We had tried the Banh Bao Chay at the Travelling Bao Festival, and were happy that the flavours of this wild mushroom and glass noodles bao had been retained.
Coming to the desserts, we were served the Golden Pumpkin Custard with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. While you’d be instantly reminded of a creme brûlée when you see this dish, the flavours were completely different, and the best part was that the dish wasn’t too sweet. Green Apple Moneybags were next, which were basically tiny apple pie dim sums served with caramel sauce and ice cream, and it’s hard to disappoint with this combination of flavours.
The festival is on till August 26.
Cost for two: `1,800