Fatty Bao...again!

Truth be told, it was not food but an ache to behold my city in daylight from 8th floor that brought me to ‘Fatty Bao’ again. The plan was to enjoy the view, keep the Monday meal as spartan as possible and leave like a ghost. But love intervened – love for food! [And the privilege of playing the sole guest to a battery of genial waiters was too scarce to let go of.] 

Finding me annoyingly engrossed in the panoramic skyline of Kolkata for over 30 minutes, the waiter muttered – ‘Sir, are you here to lunch?’ I repeated my script – ‘Surprise me. But I need to wrap it up quick. So, keep it short and delicious.’ He nodded! 

I jumped the Bao. 

‘Egg Noodles with Chilli, Basil and Chicken’, served on a quaint aquamarine plate, tasted unusually hot, risking the collective hints of subtler ingredients. Overcooked and flaccid Basil failed in adding green-peace to the dish. Noodles were well-cooked though. ‘Three Cup Chicken’ it was – Taiwan wok tossed chicken chunks in soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil with dried chillies and basil, that indeed, like a trusted side, redeemed my meal. Feisty, piquant and dominant Soy sauce, naively passing off as fine Teriyaki, staggered the blooming of unobtrusive Rice wine. Together they fared well as a rounded and satisfying course. I rested my nimble chopsticks to turn to the sky! 

Chocolaty, sweet & elegantly salty - these are a few of my favourite things! 

Fatty Bao’s Cocoa Caramel – a definitive pièce de résistance, surprisingly rich, poised and decadent, had it all - modestly dished up with a silky clump of milk chocolate cream delicately resting on a thin flourless chocolate cake, brittle Hazelnut praline crisp [couldn’t they crush and sprinkle it on top?], toasted meringue and salted caramel gel drops with a salted caramel ice-cream to match! The mouthfuls melted unhurriedly leaving a creamy sensation evenly smeared across my tongue. I took time to savour [cursing alongside the elitist molecular-gastronomy for rendering desserts so short-lived and discreet]. It was to die for! 

My puny agenda yielded to a bigger one blowing the planned 30 minutes to an hour. The smile that the delicious dessert had put on my face remained till sundown.