Mr. Hong, Orion Mall, Bangalore: Oriental Time

Think Oriental and you think of the run of mill dimsum, wonton and the likes. It rarely ever happens that you see people experiment with the various techniques that exist in Oriental cuisine. I too fell prey to the same mindset when I was invited to review Mr. Hong, an Oriental all-day dining restaurant and bar in Orion Mall, Bangalore.

The first time I came across Mr. Hong is a funny incident. A few weeks ago, I was at PVR, Orion to watch a movie. Since I had some time to spare before the movie began, I hit the ‘store’ with the lovely china on display. And that place turned out to be Mr. Hong. Now, how many times do you end up in such a funny situation? J

To cut the long story short, let’s get to what I saw and ate the day I finally visited Mr. Hong. Mr. Hong’s interiors are done up in warm colors, with a beautiful bar table, the top of which is made out of a single plank of wood, standing in the center corner of the restaurant. The seating is comfortable and the place is pretty cozy.

To begin with, I ordered the Orange Chilli Lemon Grass (Rs. 155), a mocktail (they serve only beer otherwise). This was a well-balanced drink, with orange juice dominating the palate, with a subtle hint of the lemon grass and a slight kick from the chilli towards the end. Together with it they also got the appetizers that included Crispy Lotus in Shiracha Chilli Sauce (Rs. 345), Som Tum Classic Salad (Rs. 195) and Veg Wonton in Chilli Oil dressing (Rs. 295). Now’s when the surprise element kicked in. Mr. Hong imports a lot of their vegetables and groceries from abroad to ensure consistent quality of ingredients and taste of their food. The Crispy Lotus in Shiracha Chilli Sauce was probably the best I’ve ever had with the lotus stem being twice the size of what we get in India. To top it, the lotus stem stayed crisp despite me taking almost 10 minutes to click a photograph. The Veg Wonton in Chilli Oil dressing was another stunner. Think of a wonton and one usually thinks fried. But this one was poached and oh so perfectly. The sauce and the stuffing complimented the dish well. The Som Tum Classic Salad was also well made with a subtle balance of sweet, sour and chilli that’s typical of most Thai dishes. I also tried the Chicken steamed Dumpling (Rs. 325), which was one of the only dishes that was a little off the mark. The chicken filling was a little too dry though the outer covering was thin and moist; the way it’s supposed to be.

Having had a good experience with the appetizers, I was already looking forward to the main course. For main course there was Veg Green Curry (Rs. 315) with Jasmine Rice (Rs. 145) (thankfully no basmati here :P), Penag Curry Chicken (Rs. 385) and Stir Fried Kai-lan, Sliced Lamb (Rs. 415). The Green Curry was just the right consistency, one could smell the aroma of Kaffir lime leaves and the lemon grass and taste was well balanced too. The Penang Curry was an absolute delight with the chicken strips being nice and juicy and the flavors subtly balanced. The Stir Fried Kai-lan, Sliced (Lamb) added to the much needed freshness on the table.

All works in Mr. Hong’s favor except for the desserts. There are just basic brownies, cheesecake, fruit salad, etc. I am sure Mr. Hong could do better than this. Even if they continue doing the above they should probably add an Oriental touch to it. This is purely the reason why I skipped the dessert course entirely. To sum up, Mr. Hong is definitely one of the better Oriental restaurants in the city and they do manage to stun their patrons. But things would surely be better if they did a little tweaking on the dessert bit.