Yum Yum Cha @ Cyberhub, Gurgaon

I have the good fortune of working in a location where there are some top-notch restaurants just few feet away. It is but natural that a lot of the official lunches, dinners and dates happen in this amazing hub of eateries. and after having tried and tested almost all of them in my last 2 years in my current location, I was waiting for a long time for a new restaurant (worth my time and interest) to open up...and my prayers were answered recently.

A couple of months ago, I saw a banner announcing that Yum Yum Cha was opening up at that location soon. I was super excited, to say the least. I had been waiting FOREVER to try their much publicized dumplings and sushi.

Once the restaurant opened, so did the stories about the loooong wait to get a table. I was able to beat the lunch crowd by reaching at Yum Yum Cha for lunch at 12:30 pm. Perfect timing.

The restaurant is clearly a small but the decor and good lighting (natural and artificial) makes the place bright and spacious. Not to mention their bright origami (metal) decorative items that I absolutely adored.

And the Menu has good range of items and nice pretty pictures of what we could expect and their description. For a visual person like me, and those who were not very familiar with more authentic Japanese and Chinese flavors, this is a very safe place to start. 

My friends and I immediately got down to business. We ordered their Crystal Duck dumpling (Peking duck, hoisin, cherries), Rainbow Vegetable sushi (I know. I cringed too at the thought of vegetarian Sushi but it was for the vegetarian friend who had never tried sushi) and Red Thai curry and rice.


I had some concerns about the dumpling, I mean cherries and duck as a combination didn't exact conjure the best images but once I look a bite of it, I was stunned by how much I loved it! The balance between the salty pieces of duck and the sweet ripe cherries merged beautifully. Each bite was flavorful and the sweet-salty juices burst through the thin dumpling skin. Look at those beautiful dumplings below:

Moving on to the vegetarian sushi, quite frankly, I have had better and I have had it at Yum Yum Tree. I think  the joy for me was a little less since it was vegetarian sushi and there is limited magic that wasabi can do here. Nonetheless,  the sushi novice was thrilled by how wonderful it was. I will be going back for more sushi (non-veg, this time) to make up my mind about it.

The Red Thai curry was one of the best I have had in India. The spices were balanced just right with the coconut milk such that the spices didn't overpower the dish and neither did the coconut milk hijack the same.

One thing we did not anticipate was the good helpings. the 3 of us found ourselves feeling full but we just HAD to have something sweet at the end of a very satisfying meal and hence we ignored our newly acquired muffin tops and daringly ordered a New York Cheesecake.

I think I fell in love when I saw the Cheesecake accompanied by some sweet mango pulp. Once I had a bite of it, I was ready to write an Ode. No kidding! The smooth slightly sweet cheesecake and the rich mango pulp had me dreaming about it for days afterwards.

What tried the entire experience together was the very friendly bill that we received for a very filling and satisfying meal.

My ratings:
Price for 2 : INR 1500
Ambiance: 4.5/5
Food: 4.5/5

Quick and easy Mutton do Pyaaza

Ingredients

• Mutton or lamb : 1 kg
• Red onions : 3 large
• Fresh ginger-garlic paste: 2 tbsp
• Red chillies : 4-5 (depending upon your preference)
• Cloves : 8-10
• Black cardamom : 2-3
• Cinnamon : 1 stick
• Salt to taste
• Turmeric powder: ½ tsp
• Cumin powder : 2tsp
• Mustard oil : 2-3 tbsp

Instructions

1. Wash the meat pieces well and rub it with salt, turmeric powder and one teaspoon of mustard oil. Cover it and keep aside for 15 minutes.
2. Finely chopped one large onions, minced the cloves of garlic and soak the red chillies in water for 20 minutes.
3. Lightly roast the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Grind them to a fine powder.
4. Grind the red chillies to a fine paste.
5. In a deep bottom vessel, heat the mustard oil till it reaches its smoking point.
6. Add the finely chopped onion, saute for a while till it becomes translucent. Add the ginger and garlic, continue saute on medium heat.
7. Add red chilli paste and ground spice mix, fry for couple of minutes and add the meat pieces.
8. Braise the meat on high heat, till the rawness disappear.
9. Continue braising the meat on medium heat for around 10 minutes till it releases some water.
10. Add cumin powder and continue braising the meat on low heat now till the oil comes out.
11. This will take some time.
12. Meanwhile finely sliced two other large onions and in a separate non stick pan, caramelise the onion. A tiny pinch of sugar and salt helps to get nice caramelised color and also quicken the process.
13. Once braising is done, add enough hot water just to cover the meat pieces.
14. Cover and let it simmer for half an hour or more till the meat is tender.
15. Check the seasonings, stir in the caramelised onions and cook for 2 more minutes.
16. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.