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Photos By:: Adil Arora
 There had been requests for encore ever since the first dinner we organized in May 2014 at Neung Roi where the Chef from Phuket, Yenjai Suthiwaja won the hearts of the members through their stomachs. As she coyly admits, the strength of her cooking is she does not compromise on authenticity-whether in ingredients or the recipes. She refuses to tweak to satisfy the local clientele. In fact, it was due to the restraints on the import created by the FSSAI that made it impractical to have a Club dinner for months and then the scheduling problem with other venues waiting ahead.
It was our mandate that this Chef must be present for the dinner even though she had trained the staff. She had been on her annual vacation and as she came back, the year was soon to be over as I was planning to visit Thailand to visit some wineries there. We thought it to be an opportune moment to have the dinner and taste some Terre Siciliane IGT wines as well and talk about them with the members as Sicily is my favourite Italian wine destination too and they produce excellent value-for-money wines.
 The evening started with an unending stream of delicious snacks that handled Danzante Prosecco DOC from the House of Frescobaldi rather well. Saku Sai Gai, Steamed Sago dumpling filled with chicken was soft and delicious with just the right spices for the bubbly. Goong Pan Oi, Prawn & Sugar cane Skewers was the clear winner for me though Peak Gai Thod Nam Deang, Deep fried Chicken Winglets with tomato sesame sauce were so good, one could not stop at two! Although non-vegetarians with the option of having the vegetarian snacks as well, the latter needn’t have complained either. They were busy and happy being showered with the vegetarian fare of Hed Yang, Grilled mushroom skewers with coriander roots & roasted chili sauce, Porpia Sod ‘Phuket’ style fresh vegetable spring roll and Tod Man Khao Pod Corn fritter with sweet chili sauce which were so different and delicious that no one realised that they were exactly the same snacks served at the previous dinner!
Then came the salad. Yam Som-O, Pomelo salad with crispy onion, garlic & palm sugar tamarind dressing is the signature salad of the restaurant and a specialty of Chef Suthiwaja and I won’t mind admitting I sneaked a second helping. Som Tum Raw papaya salad with peanut, chilli & light soya sauce was a typical Thai fare but Labb Gai Minced Chicken salad with long coriander, mint, shallot & roasted rice powder was another repeatable salad in the trinity.
 Tom Yum Goong –Spicy & Sour Prawn Soup with lemongrass, kaffir lime & galangal that followed, was seductively hot with the Thai spices doing a melody on the tongue with lemongrass keeping an overview domination of the flavours-so you never lost sight of the Thai flavours. If soup is supposed to be an appetiser, it has to be this Tom Yum Goong- yum and spicy to open your taste buds, I thought.
Main course was a kaleidoscope of different dishes which the members welcomed to pair with different wines. I usually avoid pork but could not resist Gaeng Prik Moo pork curry with raw papaya, kaffir lime & spices. Gai Yang Krung Gaeng Grilled Chicken marinated with home-made curry paste served with papaya pickle was finger-lickin’ good. Even Pla Neung Manao Steamed Sea Bass Fish with lime chilli sauce had a nice body and flavour.Phad Pak Banjarong Asparagus, snowpeas, mushroom, babycorn & cauliflower with garlic, soya sauce & pepper and Gaeng Kiew Wan Pak Mixed vegetables in Thai Green curry were delightful for the vegetarians. Mee Spum Stir fried egg noodle with black soy & bokchoy Khao Suay Jasmine Rice did a good job as condiments but I wonder if members did justice to all the dishes-so tasty and yet so much by this time.
 That the dinner was exquisite was not a surprise after our previous event but what was a pleasant surprise was a gift box for each member enjoying the evening- a plum cake packed in the box signifying the spirit of Christmas that was prevalent at the hotel. The gesture was really appreciated by the guests and was a sign of magnanimity on the part of the hotel and especially Sumit Bansal, the F & B Director who was present almost throughout the evening making sure everything was a perfect 10!
 After tasting the authentic Thai food at various levels in Thailand, one can safely deduce that her food is as authentic and delicious, perhaps slightly less spicy but equally flavoursome and slightly more modern and elegant - call it refined if you will. My visit to Thailand a week later validated the authenticity and integrity of her food although unknown to most of us, different parts of Thailand have different spice tolerance levels with Bangkok and the central areas being neutral and the Southern parts being big on chilies. North prefers comparatively less chili-hot food, I was told.
Whereas most restaurants –especially the 5-stars, which reach the pinnacle start to slide because of distraction in terms of quality due to the eye on the bottom line (Sakura Restaurant at the Metropolitan is a glaring example of Japanese cuisine) and it still rules as the topmost Thai cuisine restaurant in Delhi NCR. Neung Roi is not an exception that proves the rule but the rule itself that if you maintain your eye on the quality, and continue to provide professional service, your stellar reputation will always keep you at the top.
Subhash Arora |