XII Zodiac’s Indian creation at the New Town area is one of the best. I still swear by its Pardewali Chicken Biriyani. With this perception, foodies from PanchPhoron responded to the invitation for Asian Food Fest menu launch hosted by XII Zodiac. The menu was a 3 course spread without any dessert.
To start with soups, we were presented with Tom Yam Kung and Miso Soup. Tom Yam Kung is a hot and sour Thai soup flavored with lemongrass, lime juice and chilies while Miso Soup is a traditional Japanese soup.
Followed by starters, we encountered Thai Corn Cake, Oyster Chicken Stick and Asian Chicken Flower Dumpling. Thai Corn Cake as name suggests is mixture of corn kernels and mashed up batter to deep fry. Oyster Chicken Stick is stir fired of julienne of chicken breasts marinated with oyster sauce, chili paste, lemon juice and crispy fried. Asian Chicken Flower Dumpling is spicy chicken minced ball covered with soaked rice and prepared within steam.
Finally, getting into main course with Asian BBQ Chicken, Slice Chicken in Thai Basil Sauce, Stir Fry Tofu in Lime Curry and Nasi Goreng. Asian BBQ Chicken is sliced chicken with bell pepper and diced onion tossed in barbeque sauce. Slice Chicken in Thai Basil Sauce is pan fried chicken infused with fresh basil leaves cooked traditional Thai curry. Stir Fry Tofu in Lime Curry is silken Chinese tofu cooked in tangy lime flavored yellow Thai curry. Nasi Goreng is well known across the world as an Indonesian delicacy of non-veg fried rice.
Dish presentation shows the creative side of the creator. But all that glitters are not gold and this goes well for these dishes. We were offered may be couple of dishes for tasting in the above menu and didn’t find anything to be excited about when it comes to taste.
Now let’s come to some rudimentary things in hospitality industry. Food in display for this kind of event goes through introduction round and background about the dish. Menu displayed for the invite shall be tasted by the food critics. In general, table servers shall be attentive to look for tumblers to be refilled or waiters knows the dish that they are serving. Overall, a restaurant manger is always on top of the things. Surprisingly! XII Zodiac has scored zero in each of these department apart from their food presentation. The management either has become too complacent or they are too busy to look after their invited guests.
I would suggest XII Zodiac to stick their strengths like Indian or Bengali food. Asian or Oriental cuisine is not their forte yet till they have correct talents and knowledge inside the kitchen. XII Zodiac’s own stars are not in best of their position now.