BENGALURU : We’ve heard of dim sum, but ‘dim sip’? This happens to be the name of pan-Asian restaurant Shiro’s new venture – the Dim Sip Festival. The reason – a giant soup dumpling that is the highlight of this limited- edition dim sum menu. With over 30 varieties and several options to choose from in the vegetarian, non-vegetarian and seafood categories, there’s something to suit every taste. The menu also features some special cocktails, which pair well with these parcels of goodness.
From the vegetarian section, we tried the Edamame and Truffle Dumplings first, which had a generous filling of edamame beans and the subtle but noticeable flavour of truffle. One vegetarian dim sum that we’d recommend is the Beetroot Crustal – a translucent wrapper around softly cooked beetroot – as the texture and crunch of the beetroot were on point. We also tried the Miso Vegetable Dumplings, which had a stuffing of assorted vegetables cooked in miso sauce. The meat section also has plenty to offer, and we started with the Smoky Pork Gyoza.
The pan seared pork dumpling comes on a bed of chilli pepper sauce, but we found the stuffing to be a slightly on the pasty side, which is where the sauce comes to the rescue. The Hot Spiced Chicken dim sums are a good option for someone looking to heat things up a bit. The star of the menu – the XL Xiao Long Bao Chicken – did not disappoint. The massive soup dumpling comes with a straw, which is where the name of the festival suddenly makes perfect sense, as the broth in the dim sum has to be sipped through a straw before you can eat it. You have to wait a bit till it cools down, but the wait is definitely worth it, as the broth is absolutely delicious.
The rich, earthy flavours – owing to the wild mushrooms in the broth – are comforting on a cool Bengaluru night. From the seafood section, a definite winner is the Steamed Fish in Tamarind Laksa Sauce. This wrapper-less dish gives that much-needed break from all the dough, and we loved the freshness of the fish and the lip-smacking, creamy laksa sauce. Other seafood options are Kaffir Seafood Dumpling, Lemongrass Infused Prawn that are wrapped in cabbage leaves, Singapore Chilli Crab Dumplings, and much more.
From the cocktails on this menu, we loved the Citrus Smash, which has a Bacardi based and is infused with blood orange syrup and yuzu juice, and the Mystery Merger, which has tequila, Old Monk, cinnamon and bitters. While the first is light and summery, the second is a stronger cocktail with rich flavours.
We picked two desserts from the regular menu and were instantly transported to chocolate heaven. So if you haven’t eaten their desserts before, do give them a try.
We had the Mandarin Chocolate Velvet Cake – a flourless almond and mandarin cake topped off with a dark chocolate mousse – and we loved the perfect combination of mildly bitter chocolate and citrus. The Chocolate Cherry Bomb, which is essentially a dark chocolate mousse stuffed with pitted sour cherries and sitori sauce, is also divine. The Dim Sip Festival is on till July 31. Cost for two: `3,000 for two.