An authentic touch of Thailand

An authentic touch of Thailand

It is small, tucked away in an inconspicuous corner of the sprawling DLFdevelopment in Gurgaon and can barely seat 18 people. But going by theauthentic Thai food it serves, it's worth looking for this needle in thehaystack.

Red Hot Cafe, located in DLF II's Park `n' Shop behind Privat Hospital,which opened about a year ago, is run by three women entrepreneurs, SuneetaChopra, Ritu Mehra and Sudha Kukreja. The trio did not have any previousrestaurant experience, though Mehra's father owns one of Delhi's most famousrestaurants, the Standard, in Connaught Place.

Mehra and Kukreja are also cousins and both have grandparents who migratedto Thailand years ago. So, they have been eating Thai food since they wereknee-high and when they thought of starting a restaurant, Thai seemed theobvious choice. Kukreja also has an outdoor catering service, specialisingin serving Thai food, which started much before the cafe was born.

The little restaurant has an extensive menu, with 59 Thai specialitieslisted. And what's more, 50 per cent of the dishes are vegetarian, as two ofthe partners themselves are vegetarians. The three entrepreneurs make allthe sauces and pastes themselves and have done away with the ubiquitousshrimp paste in the vegetarian dishes. Instead, they serve fish sauceseparately on the table, in case diners want to add the flavour to theirfood.

I had a Chicken Satay (Rs 100), which had five sticks of well-done bonelesschicken with a tangy peanut sauce. For the main course, I opted for Prawnsin Spicy Green Curry (Rs 225), Stir-Fried Chicken in Herb Sauce (Rs 145),Flat Thai Noodles with Chicken and Peanut Topping (Rs 125) and Stir-FriedVegetables with Basil and Chilli (Rs 100).

When you visit a Thai restaurant, you need to be prepared to have the steamcoming out of your ears. But here, the chilies have been toned downfollowing requests from customers. But there's always hand-ground chillisauce handy on the table if you wish to set your stomach on fire.

The advantage of Red Hot Cafe is that it has a very personal touch, with thepartners making sure that the food is being cooked the way it should be andnot leaving the onus to their cooks.

-- Vidya Deshpande