As the city wilts under the summer sun, Taj City Centre New Town’s weekend dining experience offers a refreshing escape, with lunch and dinner menus built around cooling flavours and fragrant ingredients such as coconut milk, lemongrass, kaffir lime and fresh herbs that bring the light, tropical cuisines of Southeast Asia to the table.

Flavours of Nostalgic Asia is how the experience has been styled. The menu is, in effect, a curation of the popular dishes once served at Wykiki, the hotel’s rooftop restaurant that shut down a year ago after a three-year run following a citywide government order against rooftop eateries.

The menu is on offer at the sixth-floor restaurant, Shamiana, where a soaring glass-roofed atrium floods the space with natural light. Choose a seat overlooking the soothing greenery beyond the glass wall and begin the meal with a choice of soups, from Miso Ramen to Tom Yum (priced Rs 767 for the chicken variety).

The starters span the continent — Satay from Thailand, Katsu from Japan, Scallion Pancake from China, Yakitori from Japan and Goi Cuon from Vietnam. Crisp on the outside and juicy within, Chicken Katsu (Rs 1,003) begins with chicken thigh marinated in ginger-garlic paste, eggs, salt, refined flour and potato starch. The pieces are then coated in panko crumbs and deep-fried. One must mention the dips that are offered — especially the black bean sauce, Katsu and chilli tomato — that add flavour to the starters.

“Do not think that our Chilli Crab (priced Rs 2,124) is anything like Chilli Chicken,” sous chef Gopi Chatriya warns. “To begin with, the sauce is different. We prepare it Singapore-style, using beaten egg white mixed with red chilli paste, chicken stock and chopped ginger-garlic. This is not used in Chilli Chicken. Also notice how red this is, unlike Chilli Chicken, which is usually darker.”

The crab itself comes from Mumbai. “This is a baby crab with a soft shell, which can be consumed in its entirety,” he says. The switch to baby crab was made after receiving too many customer complaints at Wykiki about the difficulty of tackling hard-shell local crabs. “Uss liye hum woh hata diya menu se,” he states.

The bao from the Taj City Centre kitchen also stood out at the tasting table. Unlike many run-of-the-mill baos, whose outer shell is bland, the Baozi served here had flavour even in the dough.

“We don’t use maida,” the chef explains. “This is lotus flour, to which we have added milk, sugar and a little salt. See how nicely it has steamed.” The filling can be tofu (Rs 885), chicken (Rs 1,003) or pork (Rs 1,121). The non-vegetarian versions are sealed with egg yolk.

For the main course, diners can choose between the Korean mixed fried rice, Bibimbap, and the Indonesian stir-fried noodles, Bakmi Goreng (Rs 1,003 and Rs 1,121 for veg and non-veg versions, respectively, of both dishes). Chatriya explains how the latter differs from the more familiar Nasi Goreng.

“Nasi Goreng is a complete meal with rice, fried egg, chicken satay and peanut sauce. Shrimp paste is a mandatory ingredient, which is why it is difficult to serve to vegetarians. Bakmi Goreng, on the other hand, uses flat udon noodles cooked with scrambled eggs, peanuts or shrimp,” he says.

Though Green Curry and Red Curry are more familiar Thai offerings, the menu here has Thai Yellow Curry, available in veg, chicken and prawn variants (priced Rs 1,121, Rs 1,298 and Rs 1,770 respectively). “Green curry gets its colour from coriander and red curry from dried red chillies. For Yellow Curry, we use turmeric powder. Otherwise, all the curries contain lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime,” says Chatriya.

Though only Yellow Curry is listed on the menu, guests may choose between all three variants.

The chef also points out that the kitchen is happy to adjust spice levels according to customer preference. “Those who use ready-made pastes are unable to do so. But since we make everything in-house, this is our advantage,” he says.

Perhaps the best part of the meal is saved for last in the form of Thaptimkrop and Khao Niao Mamuang (both priced Rs 767). The latter pairs sticky rice with mango pudding topped with fresh mango slices.

In the summer heat, it is Thaptimkrop that truly rejuvenates. Crunchy water chestnuts are served in a short glass of chilled grenadine syrup and coconut milk.

“We coat the sliced water chestnuts with potato starch. Upar soft ho jayega, andar crunchy rahega. But first we boil the coconut milk to thicken it, adding a little sugar along with crushed kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass for aroma. Then we chill it till it is time to serve,” the chef says.

The menu is available for lunch and dinner through the weekends of June.