At Hotel Green Park’s pan Asian restaurant Mekong, there’s never a dull day for the dedicated team of chefs. The restaurant that completes one year this August has won the hearts of gourmets in the city and has already set itself high on the list of places to visit in Vizag.
From film celebrities to cricketers, Mekong’s deliciously wide menu has become the top favourite of all. Named after the mighty Asian river, Mekong serves cuisines from the six countries that the river charts its course through – Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, China, Vietnam and Myanmar, along with popular Japanese delicacies.
Right from its décor to the ambience, Mekong exudes a modernistic and Oriental touch. The restaurant has an indoor and an outdoor seating arrangement and also offers a space for a small gathering or get-together at the private dining room.
Our exquisite culinary experience here started with the California sushi roll, which is made out of avocado and crab meat wrapped with tobiko and a refreshing bowl of yam taohu salad, green vegetables, silken tofu and straw mushrooms with chilly jaggery and lime dressing. “We get all the ingredients imported from places like Thailand China and Vietnam to lend the authenticity to the tastes.
When the concept of Mekong was actually being planned, we made a conscious attempt to keep in mind the Indian palette and gave some interesting twists to some of the traditional Asian delicacies,” says Dipankar Saha, Manager F&B, Hotel Green Park.
It is no wonder that each and every dish in the menu tastes so appetisingly distinct.
The prawn starter of Hanoi toi tom was an absolute delight. The king prawns tossed with Hanoi garlic sauce has a mildly sweet flavour to tickle the taste buds. Next to arrive on our table was the yunnan kou rou. If there is one restaurant in the city to boast of the best barbeque pork spare ribs, Mekong would easily get my vote.
The waft of aromatic rice fills the air, as the Laos rice bowl arrives. This is jasmine rice topped with bean sprouts, bell pepper, straw mushrooms, bok choy, chilli bean sauce and you can choose between pork, chicken or seafood variants. The traditional Thai lamb massaman curry was a perfect combo with the steamed jasmine rice. You can pair your grub with a selection of wines that are handpicked to go with the menu.
Mekong springs up a surprise at every course of the meal and this time it is with the restaurant’s special in-house dessert the coconut jaggery ice-cream, one of my favourite flavours.
One visit to Mekong would not do justice to the wide options of dishes it offers. While its exhaustive Sunday brunch may be a good way to try out, if you want to take a peep into what’s in store you may as well get a taste of its latest offering, the compact Bento Box for lunch served in Japenese style.
Ever since its launch last month, the Bento Box has also soared in popularity with the restaurant getting many corporate orders from the city.
Mekong is open from 12.30 p.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch (Monday to Saturday), a special Sunday brunch and dinner from 7.30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
