PaPaYa Modern Asian Bistro — Restaurant in Kolkata

If you are looking for Modern Asian concept food in Kolkata, well... this is the place. Pa Pa Ya - A head-turner of a bistro for Asian cuisine and another masterpiece from Zorawar Kalra. Situated on the 11th floor of the Magna House in Park Street this restaurant has an insane bird's-eye view of the Park street and adjacent esplanade area and Kolkata-Howrah skyline.

Place has a nice minimalist decoration with a classy and sophisticated ambiance with a cozy feeling about it - definitely a nice place to be with your family, loved ones or office colleagues. Seating arrangements are quite spacious and comfortable. A well-organized bar is at the center of the entire floor with enthusiastic peoples greeting and welcoming the guests. All the attendants are highly courteous, professional yet very friendly and ready to help.

Coming to the main story - FOOD. The food here is hands down out-worldly and fantastic. Not only the taste or the food preparation, the way the dishes are served deserves a great applause. Every dish was presented in a unique, eye-catchy and artistic manner.

We started our lunch with a palate cleanser (a neutral flavored food or drink that removes previous food residue/taste from tongue allowing to more accurately taste/experience a new flavour). This was repeated before main course also and I must say is a very unique way to be prepared for the next course of menu.

There were 2 of us and from the menu we ordered the following -

Hotate - It is a sushi, to be more specific Nigiri with salmon as the Neta, servers with a dollop of washabi, gari and soy sauce. (Sushi is an widely popular Japanese preparation made of white rice, typically seasoned with vinegar, sugar and salt. Nigiri is a type of sushi classified based on method of it's making. Nigiri means to squeeze, to grab in Japanese, referring to the movement a Chef makes to form Neta and Shari together. Neta is basically the toppings on the Sushi Rice and it can be fish, egg, vegetables or meats, however fish is being most widely used.) Food was of fantastic taste, yummy and even before we realized we have already finished everything on the plate. 4 pcs/plate and 8 pcs/plate can be ordered.

Crab and Scallop Ravioli - You must be thinking what a ravioli is doing in Asian bistro? Ravioli, even though name suggests Italian was fantastically fused and given an Asian taste makeover in this dish. Served with soya foam, it was light, yummy and you can feel the taste and the texture of the crab meat and scallop filling inside the ravioli. (Ravioli is a dumpling made of pasta dough, usually square in shape, filled with minced meat, fish, cheese or veggies and is a popular menu of the Italian cuisine).

Khao Pad Kar Pao - This is the typical Thai fried rice with basil we order as part of main course. Three options are available and we opted for the seafood, where prawns and squid are the accompaniment of this fried rice. The dish was really tasty with the feel of burnt garlic added an extra notch.

Braised Lamb Chops - Nothing much to say about this dish as the name itself says it all. Softest lamb chops I ate in a while. A caramelized texture added an extra layer on the taste. The presentation of the dish deserves a special mention.

Chocolate Ball on fire - The show stopper is this signature dessert- The Chocolate Ball on Fire and it's literally on fire! The flambé is done with Cointreau poured on a huge ball of smooth glazing chocolate. As the chocolate melts away, you find the dry fruits and nuts, chocolate crumbs, chocolate brownie, vanilla ice cream and caramel hidden inside the ball. Heavenly!!!!! Must try!! (It's quite sumptuous even for 2)

A little costly but worth every penny. Waiting eagerly for my next visit and already prpearing my...

Before beginning the review i would like to warn that this place is no where cheap. It's really expensive. So i would suggest that you go here on special occasions only. So with that being said let's get on to the review. It is my birthday and I had a really bad craving for sushi and was looking through when i glanced upon this place. Ambience: It's is situated on the 11th floor and has really nice views especially on a clear day when you can see the clouds clearly and create a very nice stage for your meal with the rays of the sun peeking from the clouds. Staff: The staff are extremely friendly and courteous and if a new comer then you can trust their recommendations with a double blindfold on. They clearly know how to treat the privacy space of their customers well. Food: I clearly mentioned that i was craving for sushi but was open to other recommendations as well and left the ordering based fully on their recommendations and boy was i glad i did that. Ordered

1. Fruits de mer xo : It is a tempura shrimp warpped in rice served with a sweet and sour seafood sauce. It was really awesome. The sauce balanced the dish perfectly and the daikon served with it had a nice ginger kick to it. The wasabi was strong but the kick was a bit weak which suited the dish very well.
2. Crab and Scallop Ravioli : My only complaint in the whole meal. The skin of the ravioli was very thin which made it very difficult to pick up with the chopsticks and with the fork as well and the stuffing was falling off as well. The cavier sprinkled on top tasted a bit premature and hard. 3)Penag Styled Grilled snapper: The fish was really flaky and hardly needed effort chewing and the mushrooms were really tasty but the sauce was the star of dish. It really bought the dish together. It would have been nice if they had pickled the vegetables stick they provided as sides 4)PLA Samrot Gung Mandarin prawns: Big prawns stir fried in some kind of thick satay sauce. The meat on the prawns were really succulent and would have been mistaken for chicken if you were eating it with your eyes closed
3. Chocolate Ball on fire: The dessert to wrap up this wonderful journey. Vanilla ice-cream on a bed of brownie and nuts encased in a big chocolate ball. You have the option of using igniting it on fire with alcohol or melt it with hot chocolate. It really is the perfect ending. The way the chocolate dome melts away presenting its contents to the diner to taste is really something. They give a side of sugared nuts and mashed brownie. Drinks: As i had to travel immediately after i went with mocktail named Exoctica. It was nice but didn't quite hit the spot so again asked for a light cocktail and was recommended with The Lighthouse which was perfect. Mildly strong with freshly squeezed orange juice with a piece of pineapple made the drink worth. On a side note if you really crave for sushi try their sushi boat and...

Delectable Food with an Exceptional View.

Another masterpiece from the house of Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd, that operates several upscale fine-dining restaurants across India. Pa Pa Ya brings Japanese and Chinese cuisines on your table. It cannot get more authentic than this. There is something more to the authenticity. There is some tinge of Indian flavors here. The highlight here will be the magnificent view of the Kolkata skyline (it’s not like Manhattan, but not bad at all), extremely well presented dishes and superb decor.

There are two parts of this restaurant, one is the pub area which has the bar and smoking area, and the other is a fine dine restaurant where you can talk and have awesome food. The decor has been done tastefully, keeping in mind the tagline, Modern Asian Cuisine. Reservations are highly recommended, since they run full house on all days, especially weekends. The food is like 7 out of 10. Those who have an inclination towards Asian/Japanese cuisine and can gobble down cold food, like sushi and sashimi, will love this place. Others might not find it stomach-worthy. I don’t remember the name of the Sushi that we had. It was a cold Sushi, sticky rice with pickled onions and a tinge of Wasabi. Starters had to include Dimsums, and my, what Dimsums they had. We had the Asparagus & Spinach Dimsums and Sauteed Leeks & Water Chestnuts Dimsums. They were exceptional, somewhat warm when served. The presentation was crazy. The preparation was intricate and a bit of froth added to extend the flavor. The soups included the Ramen and Laksa. Both were truly authentic and I personally loved the presentation of the Laksa. A ceramic bowl containing the soup, atop a small flame, served with cilantro, spring onions, burnt garlic and a slice of lemon. What a concoction. The Ramen had a lot of veggies to gulp down, with a warm clear soup. 5/5 to these. We couldn’t resist delving into the Tapas Bar, where we found Asian Margariete Pizzarie, which is a round taco crisp, with toppings of cream, avocado, couple of jalapenos and herbs. Nothing much here as the taste was on the sweeter side. We had also ordered a dish which was way off the target. Completely bad taste and not suited for our palates. But all-in-all, the food items here have been created with a taste of finesse and bringing all of Asia under one roof, Pa Pa Ya has done justice with it. The service is tad slow and many-a-times the waiters can’t explain the menu. They need to be trained on this. Although the service here is fast and steady. They also serve Palate Cleansers before the Starters and before the Main Course. These were kind of Sorbets with the tingling taste, and were watermelon and litchi based.

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