It’s raining dim sums at all the outlets of Zorawar Kalra’s Asian bistro Pa Pa Ya, as it has come up with the World’s largest dim sum menu. Around 68 varieties of delicious dumplings have been passionately curated by Chef Sahil Singh and warmly served by the friendly staff. Curating this mélange with different flavor profiles must take a lot of research and Chef Sahil informs this has been painstakingly done by their team of chefs who travelled to the tiny recesses and restaurants of China to turn up with these parcels of absolute gastronomic delights.
We visited their BKC outlet and were ably guided through the menu by affable Manager Anush Salian who also familiarized us with the difference in the casings of these dumplings. Rice paper rolls, lotus leaf wraps, rice-coated, open-faced and more enhance the texture and feel on the palate, as we discovered. The filling ingredients are assorted veggies and non-vegetarians can choose from bbq pork, chicken leg, braised lamb, grilled fish, prawns & chives, along with chestnuts, shiitake. They are fresh and sourced from the place of origin which explains the authenticity of the fare.
Some of the signature Crystal dim sums we tasted were Carrot Truffle and Cream Cheese; Cheung Fung is a selection of veg / chicken/ prawns hugged by rice paper rolls served with seasoned soy sauce. The open-faced dumplings, known as Shao Mai lent a crunch while Lo Mai Gai is classic lotus leaf wrapped glutinous rice dumplings. Glutinous Rice are aromatic dumplings steamed in own stock. Ever tried soupy dim sums – that’s what Xia Long Baos are. All these were washed down with delicious pine ginger passion mocktail.
To break the overload of dim sums, we gorged on scrumptious Crispy lotus stem, Sushi with asparagus and cream cheese roll, burnt garlic fried rice with braised water chestnuts, pokchoy and fresh sweet corn for the mains. A delightful dim sum date with showstopper of a dessert – Chocolate ball on fire – made our day!
Where: Pa Pa Ya at Colaba, Lower Parel, BKC, Mumbai
