Mastering the Art

Review: Masterchef Brunch @ Shiro

Don’t we all just love Masterchef? Not the American or the Indian one but the Australian one!  I know I do! I love watching Garry’s friendly anecdotes, George’s energetic demeanour and the his softer side when he talks about his Greek roots and mom’s cooking and Matt Prestons colourful attire or just the way he stands – with one foot forward as if he is always posing!

Masterchef Judges

Every year Masterchef brings you something new and exciting and when I saw the last season with Nigella, Kylie, the Dalai Lama featuring as judges and I didn’t think it could get any bigger. But Season 4, gives you as much a kick as the last one, what with nationalist feeling you get when you Dalvinder or the salivation when Aminah cooks up some yummy Egyptian Asia fare or the really graceful Deborah works her magic in the Sandwich round!

Season 4 Top 24 Contestants

Just the sound of that song - Come on Come on (not many of us know it is composed by Katy Perry!) on Star World India makes me want curl up in front of the television prepared with my dinner and watch! To me thats my ‘me time’, distressing as I watch what they call amateur cooks (hell they are not!) cook beautiful delicacies most importantly with the love for food in their hearts!

So this year I thought why not try the Masterchef Australia inspired brunch at Shiro.

Shiro has this beautiful Zen like interiors. Wooden walls and flooring, huge Buddha effigy welcoming you into the dimly lit ambience. It is so dark you can barely see the food your eating! But CM isn’t complaining the less people see how much she is eating the better J

So we begin with a Vietnamese soup: Pho – a clear broth served with rice noodles and beef or chicken, delicately flavoured you could taste the hints of basil and lime in it. The next was the famous Otak Otak Kukus (no I am not chanting an African curse) – a cake made of fish and spices. Do you remember the flamboyant Chef Wan teaching this to Kate in Malaysia in Season 3! Well while this looked really different from the original dish (see comparison below) this was the softest thing i have put in my mouth! The dish just beautifully melts in your mouth. Coupled with the sweet chilli sauce it is delectable.

Otak Otak Kukus @ Shiro

The Hanoi Parcel’s – a spring roll filled with chicken, shrimp and crab meat was crisp and delicious as well.

Hanoi Parcels

 On the Vegetarian Appetiser’s side there was Tofu with Spicy Korean bean- something was really off about this dish either the tofu was stale or the black bean however it tasted awful. The Mushroom Dumplings & Aspragus Dumplings were a refresher – soft parcels of yumness in your mouth! The Sweet Chilli Potato was nice too! Although it tasted a bit like Indian Chinese straight out of the Five Spice kitchen!

The Salads both Chilli Calamari with Watermelon and the Veg one (don’t know the name) were insipid! The calamari was rubbery and chewy a clear indication of it not being well cooking!

In the main course, The Garlic Chicken and Greens – roasted chicken breast sliced to perfection with stir-fried broccoli mushrooms and baby corn  was very okay! Not theflavourfu kind! The Sweet Corn Chicken with Ho Fun noodles – stir fried chicken with flat rice noodles lacked any kind of distinguishing flavour!

Sweet Corn Chicken with Ho Fun Noodles

The Thai Curry was beautiful and fresh a little on the sweet side though. This coupled with Hibachi Rice – sticked Japanese style cooked rice made a delectable combination. The Masamann curry was also flavourful too. The Beef Curry with Daikon was to blah!

Massaman Curry

Hibachi Rice

Overall while the starters were packed with yum quotient, the main course was a disappointing! I would rather recommend eating the al carte fare! I pray any of the three judges never see this, they may die of embarrassment!

The Masterchef meal is priced @ Rs 1750/-. The brunch is on every Sunday from July 01 to August 26, 2012

Verdict:

Food: Mixbag

Ambience: Zen

Service: Helpful

Quick Tip: Go there strictly for the appetisers. The Otak Otak Kukus is a must have!

The Co-ordinates:

Shiro

Where: Bombay Dyeing Mills Compound, Pandurang Budhkar Marg, Worli, Mumbai

Tring Tring: 66511207, 66511208

Timings: 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM, 7:30 PM to Midnight

Food Type: Asian Fare

Payment Methods: Credit cards accepted

PS: Some of the pictures are close representations of the dishes, it was too dark to click!