Loy Krathong – Festival of Lights | Banh Mi And Wok | Bangalore

Being in the food scene in Bangalore for a while now, I have come to realize that my current favourite cuisine is Pan Asian as Bangalore seems to have finally got it right and as authentic as possible.

Indira Nagar is probably one of the neighborhoods closest to home and I almost never miss trying out a new restaurant which opens in this area. So when a fellow foodie suggested we check out this Pan Asian restaurant, I just couldn’t say no!

Banh Mi And Wok is very much the new kid on the block located below the decor boutique ‘The Wishing Chair’ a place I have been eyeing to visit for a while now. The location seems to be spot on with Toit next door and definitely visible to all the crowd that flock to Toit. Luckily enough there is ample car and bike parking, a must in this area.

The restaurant is quite unassuming from the outside but as you walk in the bright interiors seems such a contrast to that first impression. I loved the use of the central space for a large bench with an equally bright natural background which is probably the highlight of this place.

Being a QSR, the ordering is fairly straightforward and quick with a touchscreen providing all the options including pictures of the dishes. Instead of the usual menu, we decided to try the dishes from their Thai Festival Of Lights – Loy Krathong an opportunity I wouldn’t miss as I love Thai food.

We begun our meal with a few beverages such as Mojito, Bubble teas of different flavours – Tiramisu, Vanilla etc as well as a refreshing Thai Iced tea made with condensed milk. Initially I refrained from trying the bubble teas assuming it was made with milk but was pleasantly surprised to hear it was non dairy. For all you vegans out there, do give their bubbles tea a try especially their Tiramisu (finally one that’s not too sweet)!!

I love appetizers and was glad when we managed to order almost every starter on the festival menu. For the vegetarians out there, they have these delightful potato wedges tossed in a sweet spicy sauce called Man Thod Samros. Though I’ve had my fair share of Thai food during my extended visits to Bangkok, there’s always something you miss and that turned our to be Tod Man Pla which are essentially spicy prawn cakes. Something as simple as that made many of us groan with pleasure with every bite. 

While we did try a raw papaya salad (Som Tam) and spicy ground minced chicken salad (Larb Gai), the appetizer which I loved was the simple Chicken Satay. The flavours were spot on and definitely my choice for a repeat the next visit.

Not a big fan of coconut milk probably because I use it in abundance in home cooking, I normally stay away from Thai soups but was I glad to have their Tom Yum soup loaded with mushrooms and prawns. The soothing flavours after every spoonful is a feeling you don’t want to miss.

Once again, we managed to try quite a few dishes from the main course including Tao Hoo Prik Kaeng (stir fried tofu) , Gai Pad Med Mamuang Himaphan (lip smacking Thai cashew chicken), Pad Phak Ruam Mitr (Thai stir fried veggies) along with the usual Pad Thai. I just couldn’t have enough of the cashew chicken with sticky rice and quite understandably asked for a second serving.

Desserts are not usually the highlight of my meal though their Tab Tim Krob with rose flavoured water chestnuts soaked in coconut milk with a teeny bite of jackfruit just did me in that evening. Not far behind is their Fried banana with Coconut ice cream which turned out to be crowd pleaser once again.

My idea of a QSR is simple, quick, reasonably priced food with taste and quality being an after thought. Banh Mi Wok is a QSR like no other where the emphasis is on quality, taste and authenticity. There’s a lot more I want to try here and there’s no doubt I’m heading back soon.