So Nara Thai finally made its way to Mumbai, lets see what it offers…

Neil Patil
Sep 2, 2018 · 3 min read

Authentic Thai food has taken a long time to catch the eye of the Mumbai palate, but finally you see the audience accepting it and more and more restaurants concentrating on this cuisine alone, are popping up. With this background, the same group that brought Yauatcha and Hakkasan to Indian shores has now opened Nara, the famous Thai restaurant with outlets across Thailand, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong & Vietnam. This was my second visit to Nara Thai, the first being during the opening week. I held out the writing of a review until my second visit just because I am of the opinion that one can’t truly judge how good or bad a restaurant is in it’s first week. Finally I got a chance to visit a second time.

Yellow Crab Meat Curry

A number of Thai food enthusiasts were eagerly waiting for the opening of Nara in the hope of having some really authentic thai food, which is quite rare in this city. Set in BKC, right below the famous Yauatcha and the newly opened Cin Cin, the first thing you notice about Nara is its simplicity. Cozy interiors that are not too over the top make it a real homely experience.

Thai Fried Rice

Lets come to the food. When it comes to Thai food, I am at times overly critical, just because it’s my favourite cuisine. We ordered for the Tom Kha Chicken Soup, Chicken Satay, Chicken Basil Chilli Stir Fry, Crab Meat Fried Rice, Som Tum (spicy raw papaya salad), Chicken wrapped in Pandan Leaf, Stir fried Crab with Yellow Curry, steamed John Dory with spicy lime sauce and the stir fried Morning Glory.

Crispy Morning Glory

The best dishes or the real MVPs of the night were the crab meat fried rice and the stir fried crab with yellow curry. Perfectly flavoured and decently sized portions. The chicken basil chilli stir fry (my usual go-to dish) was a tad sweeter than normal. A lot more spice would have been appreciated. The steamed John Dory or as the Thais call it Pla Nuang Ma Nao, was nice too and very well plated. Nara’s version of this dish, which otherwise usually comes as a whole fish topped with lime sauce, is a bit different. At Nara, you get fish fillets rolled and plated vertically and then topped with lime sauce. It was quite nice and would certainly recommend ordering. The Tom Kha Chicken Soup had the perfect blend of spice and coconut milk and tasted really good. The Tom Yum Prawn/Goong on the other hand was a tad overpowering with the Tom yum paste.

All time favourite, the Thai Basil Chicken

With a good menu that is not exorbitantly priced, Nara offers a great Thai food option for you to try in the BKC area. A reservation is highly recommended. Would love for more local Thai dishes to be featured on the menu in the future.

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