Those who have visited northeast and enjoyed more than a meal or two in the many friendly neighbourhood restaurants will perfectly relate to the clutter-free, easy-on-the-eye humble interior of Zing’s North East kitchen at Kondapur. Contrary to the name Zing’s North East kitchen, it also serves a bit of Japanese and Korean. Considering the eatery’s size that can barely seat 50 people at a time, it will be wise to be early for dinner or choose to go at a time when the place is not very crowded, which is during lunch.
Started by chef Achung who worked with many star properties in the Asian kitchen as a chef, the restaurant caters to the true northeast flavours. So the moment you enter you get to smell traces of fermented bamboo shoot mixed with smoked meats and herbs that is not an everyday affair if you are not from northeast.
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Every dish that comes out from Achung’s kitchen is prepared by him and presented with no frills. So, even if the chilli pork/beef comes out looking a bit like the Indian chilli chicken from the kitchen, be assured it tastes nothing like it. The fact that the meat is not coated before frying makes it different and gives the toothsome feeling.
Why a restaurant for northeast food? Achung says he wanted to make it clear that northeast cuisine is beyond momos and the food from the region is nowhere close to Indian chinese. As a chef he was driven by passion to introduce the flavours of northeast to the people. Most of the ingredients are sourced from Manipur. Achung also makes generous use of the king chilli/raja mirchi or bhoot jolokia in his fiery hot curries. Those with less tolerance for spice worry not, the curries that consists of this chilli is clearly mentioned in the menu.
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Zing’s NE Kitchen isn’t a fancy place for a fine dining experience. It is run by three people with the chef doubling as the cashier and captain at times.
A lot of regulars also frequent the place for the momos that are served with a bowl of clear soup.
This is no place for those who want to catch a quick bite. Each order takes quite some time considering they run with a small team. Apart from the momos, the best picks for starters are chilli beef fry and the sticky pork ribs. For mains, the best option is to go for the dishes from northeast. The steam country chicken curry is a pot of flavours that will stay with you for long. This curry that comes packed with a hot punch from the Raja mirchi might appear bland(because it is steamed with vegetables) to look at. Don’t be misled with its look if your spice tolerance is low. The other curry that is a must is the beef curry prepared with Naga pepper. Another dish to try is the smoked pork with king chilli.
Wash down the spice with a glass of fresh lemon water and then order a bowl of Korean non-veg Ramyun noodles. The spice will make you tear up. Made with Ramen noodles and after you have cleaned the bowl of the last drop of soup you will see that it was worth every tear drop.